🌱 Free Charlotte Childcare Guide & Daycare Research Template

Finding childcare in Charlotte can feel like a full-time job. Between the waitlists, the costs, and the emotional side of handing your baby to someone new, it’s a lot.

After months of researching, calling, and spreadsheeting my way through the process, I pulled everything I learned into two resources to make the search a little simpler for other Charlotte parents:

1. A full guide to childcare in Charlotte — explaining every option (daycare, nanny, au pair, preschool, and more).
2. The exact daycare research template I used to compare programs, tuition, and waitlists - the same one I’ve shared with friends who are now using it for their own childcare searches.

Get the Free Charlotte Childcare Toolkit

Enter your email below, and I’ll send you both resources:

• 📘 The Charlotte Sprout’s Guide to Choosing Childcare in Charlotte (printable PDF)

• 📊 Daycare Research Template (editable Google Sheet you can copy and customize)

You’ll get an instant email with links to download the guide and open the Google Sheets template.

What’s Inside

📘 The Charlotte Sprout’s Guide to Childcare in Charlotte (PDF)

A parent-to-parent resource full of practical details and explanations including:

• Typical childcare costs across Charlotte

• North Carolina’s star rating system and state-mandated ratios

• How to read inspection reports and identify red flags 

• Real-world pros and cons of every childcare type

• Local resources and links to verify licenses

It’s everything I wish someone had handed me when I started making those first daycare calls.

📊 Daycare Research Template (Google Sheets)

This is the exact spreadsheet I built while touring and comparing daycares for our family, and it’s since made its way to several other Charlotte parents who’ve used it for their own searches.

It includes:

• A place to keep track of drive times, tuition rates, star ratings, and licensing info

• Notes for inspection reports and comfort levels

• Built-in dropdowns

• A “gut check” column for those hard-to-define impressions after a tour

It’s designed for real life - flexible enough to fit any parent’s process, but structured enough to keep you sane. 

Why I Made This

When we finally got off a daycare waitlist (months after applying), we had to start paying tuition right away - even though I was still on maternity leave. That’s when it hit me how overwhelming and inflexible the childcare system can feel.

So I started documenting everything - every call, every tour, every inspection report I read at midnight. Over time, I realized other parents were doing the same thing, quietly reinventing the wheel on their own.

This toolkit is my way of sharing what I learned: a resource built not from data alone, but from lived experience in Charlotte.

How It Works

Once you sign up, you’ll get:
📘 Download link to the PDF guide (ready to print or save)
📊 Google Sheets link to the research template (view-only, with a “Make a Copy” button)

You can print the guide, customize your sheet, and start organizing all in one afternoon.

And you’ll also start getting The Charlotte Sprout newsletter: local stories, weekend ideas, and calm, honest reflections on parenthood in Charlotte.

Remember: childcare doesn’t have to look one way - it just has to work for your family right now.

I hope these resources make the search feel a little more manageable (and a little less lonely).

— Emily 🌿