Unavailable, unaffordable: Polk parents struggle to find, pay for child care
April 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM EDT
The wait list for infant care at Precious Children in the Highlands Preschool is two years long.
For a spot in the baby room in the spring of 2027, parents should get on the list now — more than a year before conceiving.
“I always feel bad when people call and want to put their child here,” Precious Children co-director Kelly Dorfman said. But, she added, “there’s nothing we can do.”
Precious Children is not the only local child care center with a daunting waiting list. Six to 12 months is common among local providers.0
Pregnant and stressedLike most expectant moms, 32-year-old Rebecca Gardner worries. Her first baby is due in August and she’s trying to prepare.
But the single biggest stressor — the one she doesn’t yet have a plan for — is day care.
Gardner is a paralegal. Her husband is a fleet mechanic. She will need to return to work in December or January, but none of the dozen day care centers she has tried so far can help.
Some don’t take infants. Some have long wait lists. Some are way too expensive.
She didn’t call the ones with bad reviews.
“The cheapest has been $260 a week,” Gardner said.
That’s more than $1,000 a month — almost double the $6,380 annual cost of in-state tuition at the University of Florida.
But the north Lakeland couple is prepared to pay it because they don’t have a Plan B.
“I was hoping one of our parents would retire,” she said. But the baby’s grandparents are in their late 50s and early 60s and still working.
How to find child care
The Florida Department of Education has an interactive website to help parents find quality care.
“There are no child care providers that can work with a hospital schedule of 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. shifts three to four times a week and rotating weekends,” Brown said.
“You need a massive familial support system for that — or to work nights, which isn’t an option for everyone.”
Brown said she looked for six months for child care for her toddler.
“A couple of the schools were $1,500 or more a month,” she said.
Paying that for two kids would be impossible.
A U.S. Census Bureau “household pulse” survey last September found:
For families earning less than 150% of the federal poverty level — $38,730 for a family of three— the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County can help with child care costs.
‘A horrible situation’Lucila Triador, 38, is trying to return to the workforce. She is a pediatric nutrition and metabolism expert who has worked in hospitals and universities.
Shortly after her son’s first birthday in December, she enrolled him in the same south Lakeland center as his 3-year-old sister. However, she started to notice problems.
“They have 30 children in one classroom,” Triador said.
There are two teachers, so it satisfies the state-mandated ratio for 3-year-olds of one adult per 15 children. But she said it is chaos.
And then a preventable accident injured her daughter and sabotaged a job prospect.
“I was five minutes away from my interview,” Triador recalled. “It was a huge opportunity with a private research entity. I was really excited.”
As she was driving, she got the call that someone had closed a heavy door on three of her daughter’s fingers.
“There was no pinch guard on the door,” Triador said. “It was a horrible situation. We had to run to the ER for an X-ray.”
The fingers weren’t broken, but Triador said her daughter still talks about it. And someone else got the job.
Now she’s moving her kids to a center with smaller classes. Her son started in January, but her daughter has to wait until a space opens in June.
To report a concern about child care
Many concerns can be handled by speaking with the director of the child care center. But parents can also submit a complaint to the Department of Children and Families.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting initiative is made possible by the Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy Glover is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
For a spot in the baby room in the spring of 2027, parents should get on the list now — more than a year before conceiving.
“I always feel bad when people call and want to put their child here,” Precious Children co-director Kelly Dorfman said. But, she added, “there’s nothing we can do.”
Precious Children is not the only local child care center with a daunting waiting list. Six to 12 months is common among local providers.0
Pregnant and stressedLike most expectant moms, 32-year-old Rebecca Gardner worries. Her first baby is due in August and she’s trying to prepare.
But the single biggest stressor — the one she doesn’t yet have a plan for — is day care.
Gardner is a paralegal. Her husband is a fleet mechanic. She will need to return to work in December or January, but none of the dozen day care centers she has tried so far can help.
Some don’t take infants. Some have long wait lists. Some are way too expensive.
She didn’t call the ones with bad reviews.
“The cheapest has been $260 a week,” Gardner said.
That’s more than $1,000 a month — almost double the $6,380 annual cost of in-state tuition at the University of Florida.
But the north Lakeland couple is prepared to pay it because they don’t have a Plan B.
“I was hoping one of our parents would retire,” she said. But the baby’s grandparents are in their late 50s and early 60s and still working.
How to find child care
The Florida Department of Education has an interactive website to help parents find quality care.
- You can filter by location, age range, budget and program offerings.
- Pages for each center include prices, inspection reports and contact information.
“There are no child care providers that can work with a hospital schedule of 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. shifts three to four times a week and rotating weekends,” Brown said.
“You need a massive familial support system for that — or to work nights, which isn’t an option for everyone.”
Brown said she looked for six months for child care for her toddler.
“A couple of the schools were $1,500 or more a month,” she said.
Paying that for two kids would be impossible.
A U.S. Census Bureau “household pulse” survey last September found:
- 2.56 million adults have cut work hours to care for children under the age of 5.
- 1.36 million adults have left a job to care for children.
- 443,176 have lost a job because they didn’t have reliable child care.
For families earning less than 150% of the federal poverty level — $38,730 for a family of three— the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County can help with child care costs.
- The ELC pays up to $250 per week per child, depending on the child’s age and the family’s income.
- Both parents must be working or in school full time to qualify.
- Most, but not all, local child care centers accept ELC vouchers.
‘A horrible situation’Lucila Triador, 38, is trying to return to the workforce. She is a pediatric nutrition and metabolism expert who has worked in hospitals and universities.
Shortly after her son’s first birthday in December, she enrolled him in the same south Lakeland center as his 3-year-old sister. However, she started to notice problems.
“They have 30 children in one classroom,” Triador said.
There are two teachers, so it satisfies the state-mandated ratio for 3-year-olds of one adult per 15 children. But she said it is chaos.
And then a preventable accident injured her daughter and sabotaged a job prospect.
“I was five minutes away from my interview,” Triador recalled. “It was a huge opportunity with a private research entity. I was really excited.”
As she was driving, she got the call that someone had closed a heavy door on three of her daughter’s fingers.
“There was no pinch guard on the door,” Triador said. “It was a horrible situation. We had to run to the ER for an X-ray.”
The fingers weren’t broken, but Triador said her daughter still talks about it. And someone else got the job.
Now she’s moving her kids to a center with smaller classes. Her son started in January, but her daughter has to wait until a space opens in June.
To report a concern about child care
Many concerns can be handled by speaking with the director of the child care center. But parents can also submit a complaint to the Department of Children and Families.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting initiative is made possible by the Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy Glover is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.