While she was pregnant, Marteene Diaz figured that finding a nanny or daycare would be easy. It wasn't. When her daughter Kaya was about nine months old, the family started a nanny share with a caregiver they loved, until she took a full-time job. Marteene's sister stepped in, but everyone knew that would only last two or three months at most.

Marteene reopened her Care.com account and was getting ready to interview candidates when their old nanny, who had just been laid off, messaged to say she was available. Marteene calls it "truly the best day of my life." Even so, Kaya spent about a year on a waitlist before getting into a stable daycare, where she still is today.

Her story is part of a bigger problem. Marteene has friends who joined waitlists while still pregnant, paying about $300 for a spot a year out, even though they might have moved to another state by then. She says good caregivers seem to move on every six months or so, and her point is simple: every family needs childcare help, but there aren't enough spaces to go around.