Discussions

I had my 15 month old on the registry list for those daycares and more since before he was born (even before we announced the pregnancy!) and JUST got a call last week about an opening. You may want to start looking into some home daycare options.

My son goes to KEEP2 and it is amazing. My other children have gone to other centers mentioned above and KEEP2 is by far the best. They do have cultural teachings and smudge daily with the kids. They get tons of outdoor time and have an all natural playground. mud pits, sandbox, underground sprinklers and go on lots of field trips to wpg zoo, reptile gardens, and winter fair just to name a few. The daycare is always clean but dont expect your child to come home spotless as they are allowed to play in mud, snow and in summer always in the water. They do have a long wait list though. Best to be on the registry and then call lots. i have been on the online daycare regisrty for over 4 years with some of my children and never got a call.

I have only heard good things about Kokum’s but it’s been a few years since I’ve had to look for daycare. Best to call centres direcly if you want a spot rather than relying on the online wait list.

You will be so lucky if you find a spot at a licensed centre at all. Start looking for home Daycare’s. The ratio for centres for babies under 2 is so small that they can only accept a few, and current families/siblings get first dibs on spots. I registered before we announced our pregnancy as well and still haven’t been called and he’s over a year old. I registered for every single licensed centre in town. Good thing we found a great home daycare!

Call the centres also don’t just rely on the online registry. Get your name on home daycare wait lists, some are licenced and some aren’t.  
 
Has it changed at Crocus? I thought it was meant for students with babies.

I think that registry is basically useless...unless you have forever to wait to be called. I would call and then schedule in person meetings. I don't know if we were just lucky, but that's what I did for my 2 year old and we got into the Y South right away.

I work in the field, you will soon find out that you don’t have the privilege to be picky, if you even get a spot at all. If I’m being honest the likelihood of you finding an infant spot is well, very unlikely. Siblings get seniority in most cases, so if there is a family already attending the centre and they have a baby, they will get the spot before the spot is open to the general public. Another point to add is some centres do not use the online registry, so your best bet is to call and see if they do, and call, call again. Once your child turns 2, you have a better chance of getting a spot in a centre. Brandon has a major shortage of infant spaces. I would recommend you making an ad on eBrandon or joining Brandon MB & Area Child Care and begin looking at other options such as a private home daycare. To answer your question about KEEP, & KEEP 2. They are a great centre. KEEP 2 has many unique attributes to offer. They have strong core values. If their values don’t match with yours, then no it won’t be a good fit.

I’m curious to know which centres don’t use the registry. When my first born needed daycare I called all the centres and every single one of them told me I couldn’t put my name on the list through them and they told me over the phone I had to register online through the child care registry. I also always asked to speak to the head daycare director at each centre.  
 
So if people are saying you don’t have to use that, it’s probably because they knew someone who works at said centre. I’m gong through the exact same situation with my second born. Every licensed centre keeps telling me to to register online.

Most centres require you to be registered online. What they do with the registry is completely up to each centre. Some are fair more or less. Some are not. Phoning every week or two will help you get in.

Infant spots are hard to come by in this town. I’ve had better luck with home daycares.

I’m just wondering how some are registering before giving birth? The first page asks for the child’s name and birthday.

I believe it says to give your due date if you haven’t given birth yet and then to update it once you have given birth. We registered when we were fifteen weeks pregnant and I have received three calls from three different daycares saying they have a spot open and my daughter is just over a year old. They called too late because I was back to work already but I still think we lucked out compared to some people. Get your name on list and then you have to go in the site every ?3 months I believe to say that you are still looking for care otherwise they take your name off the list which is probably why some people never get called. I also was very diligent about calling the daycares and asking the directors themselves about open spots and to keep me in mind.

You should consider yourself very lucky, and unfortunately sometimes it’s just the way the cards land. If you think about how many women have babies here a month, a year, there is just no way that the registry and centres can meet everyone’s needs and offer everyone a spot. That is an excellent point you made about the registry though and a good reminder for all is to update your information. You may not even know you got kicked off if it the reminder to update gets lost in your emails.