Part time students-childcare?

[Angelorum]

How do you handle child care as a part time student? My classes will never be scheduled in nice easy chunks, it's just not possible with the classes I need to take. What kind of childcare can you get when you need an hour here and two hours there 4 days a week?

[Sara_Schu]

Are there any drop-in centers near you that are designed for short term care? (In NY they can do up to 3 hours per day, not including any meal or nap times.) Or maybe you can find a college student in the area to take your child when you're in class?

[nextcommercial]

Look into home daycare that doesn't mind being flexible. They might not want kids coming or going during nap time, but maybe they don't mind at all... you just need to ask.

Hourly is a pain in the neck, but not impossible. It's all doable if you find the right person.

[dislocator3972]

A mom from LLL is watching my DD. I work full time, but DH is a grad student and only on campus for odd chunks of time here and there. We do schedule some kid free study time for him before and/or after class so that we don't have to take DD to the sitter's as often.

Know any SAHM's that could help you out? Neighbor? Another student with whom you could trade babysitting hours?

[Gator-mom]

I'm going to chime in on the home daycare as well. Ds goes to a home daycare as well. Some of them have rules for themselves about either paying for a whole day or only taking a certain number of hours, but there are more flexible homes out there (probably the ones who have been doing this awhile and are not worried about month to month income). When I first went back, I had ds go just while I was in class and she charged me $5 an hour. Now I have him go a whole day, even if I don't need it, because it gives me extra study time.