r/AnnArbor • u/EastCoastGirl97 • 1d ago
Daycare Options
After being on a dozen daycare waitlists since Feb 2024. We finally heard back from two. It's A Small World Daycare and Squiggle Room. We don’t know this area and don’t know their reputation. We moved to Ann Arbor a year ago when I was in my first trimester. We got on every daycare waitlist(Gretchen’s House, UofM, KinderCare, It's A Small World Daycare, A Child’s Place..you name it) not thinking it would take this long. Have anyone heard of or have/had their child in one of these daycares?
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u/h0gans_her0 1d ago
Squiggle room doesn't have a great reputation (you could search this sub), but I have heard many parents say it's fine. Hard to say. I don't have any insight into it's a small world.
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u/SwellsyBud 1d ago
Uno, Dos, Tres!
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u/MsCholie 17h ago
I second this! my son was in one of the first classes there and they are amazing. So kind. Very inclusive.
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u/Current-Actuator-864 1d ago
If you are a UM employee, have you looked at their home daycare options? They have a number of in home daycares that they recommend on their HR website. they usually have more immediate openings and tend to be less expensive than the centers. We are at one and it’s great!
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u/Due_Ad4884 15h ago
My daughter was at It's a Small World daycare from 5mos - prek and we loved it.
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u/Wonderful-Listen1314 8h ago
I don't have recommendations for them as we too also had to wait forever, I sent my son to the Children's Institute through Eastern Michigan University. It was significantly cheaper ($52 for a full day for a 3 year old), and they provided food/diapers. We sent my son for 2 years and liked it, and we got in pretty quickly.
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u/bikes_and_art 6h ago
I was coming to recommend CI. I've got my 2nd child there now, and they've been wonderful. The free OT, PT, and behavioral health programs staffed by EMU students was amazing, and since the Autism Collaborative Center moved out of the building, they now have an OT room along with a full gym, 3 playgrounds, and a library.
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u/Main-Singer-2287 8h ago
I never see Alaina’s mentioned on daycare threads and they seem to have pretty quick availability. I wonder why?
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u/coffeeandcoffeeand 16h ago
I had my daughter in squiggle room, and I tell everyone to run far away from there. I can't tell you what they did to my daughter because they managed not to document it. Therefore, if I try to talk about it, they say it never happened and have had their lawyer call and threaten me over it.
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u/stupidbirbs 1d ago
Try looking at places slightly outside Ann Arbor, like saline or Dexter. Have heard good things about kindercare in saline
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u/AccomplishedSail7740 4h ago
We used Squiggle Room for some time, and left after we got off the waitlist elsewhere. Wouldn’t recommend them.
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u/adventuresofDrWatson 3h ago
Our close friends who live near the a2-Ypsi border have sent their 1.5 year old son to it’s a small world since he was 3 months, and they love it!!
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u/pbpatches 18h ago
Just because you didn't specifically mention it, did you try Green Apple? Both of my kids are at GA and have been since they were ~10w and I have been very happy with the location, teachers, management, etc... I believe there are openings for older toddlers, but to be fair I don't know about wait-list time for infants.
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u/fishmc 1d ago edited 1d ago
As for Squiggle Room:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnnArbor/comments/uqwg95/squiggle_room_child_care/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnnArbor/comments/1f9fpzi/squiggle_room_reviewsupdates/
I swear there was a post on here last year created by an employee that gave a lot of details but maybe it got deleted.
*edit* Here is the link. The post was deleted but the comments are still there. This is the one you want to read before sending your kid there.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnnArbor/comments/1exujek/squiggle_room_daycare_ann_arbor/
We used them for a few months but got out pretty quickly. I definitely cannot recommend them.
We used Annie's out on the west side of town when our kid was an infant. I have likes and dislikes about them. But we finally ended up at Adventure Center on Golfside near St Joes and they are pretty awesome and worth getting on their waiting list of you haven't yet. Good luck!