Review: Childcare at 24 Hour Fitness

I've been trying to get back into shape for doing triathalons, etc.  It's been rough, since I don't feel like I've ever gotten back my strength since having EG, let alone feeling like I've got it since having Ocho.

So, I did something a bit crazy.  I signed myself up for personal training sessions at 24 hour fitness.  I'm thrilled with my trainer, but I'd be lying if I said it was going as well as I thought it would.  It's not.  It's so hard with Ocho's unpredictable sleep schedule to feel good, arrive at a pre-determined time with Ocho happy, etc.  But, I have been very happy with my trainer, and with the childcare facilities at the Hermosa Beach 24 hour fitness.

The facility is actually very nice.  They have a huge indoor play gym, sort of like McDonalds.  Then they have a great floor space.  They have a nice are set-up for the babies/crawlers so they can make sure that they aren't getting trampled by the older kiddos. 

They have a flexible rotation of people, and they have a limit of 24 kiddos that they can have with two staff members.  The interesting thing is that my child (any baby under 24months older than 6 months) is considered three children.  A child under 36 months counts as two children.  So they can call additional staff if needed to add more children.

It's $5 for two hours per child for drop in care.  Or you can sign-up for a month of care for $25, where you can drop off your child as much as you want. I signed Ocho up for the full month, but I don't think I've gotten my money worth yet.  They won't change diapers, and they won't keep your kiddo if they are crying inconsolably.  I totally understand both of those things, but it makes it a bit tricky and expensive if you have to leave your training session to come get your baby.

In  order to check in they have you put in your pin, your fingerprint and they attach a sticker to your baby.  You have to be the same person who picks up the kiddo, so it's not like you and hubbie could switch off.  They won't be responsible for giving kiddo to someone else.

However, they do allow you to store baby stuff there in a set of cubicles, and as you can see behind her, they are happy to keep your carseat too, so if baby is still sleeping it's totally fine.

They have a large selection of toys, and they also do some themes and crafts depending upon the holiday. Can you tell I took this picture in February and it's taken me this long to write up this post?!?  They almost always have a movie playing, which I don't love, but it's totally appropriate for the age range.

Overall I'm happy with the care provided. And here in the beach cities I didn't even tell you the best part.  Right across the way is a My Gym, so if you have an older kiddo who might be too old for this daycare space, you can register them in a drop-off class at My Gym while baby brother or sister plays at the fitness center.  Both kiddos taken care of.

The hours are 8-1pm, then again from 4-6pm.  I've never been turned away, but it is a first come first served place. The only other odd thing is that they only allow one adult dropping off a child in their space at a time for safety reasons, but of course they don't have that posted anywhere....