Back-Up Day Care

It's a working parents' greatest dilemma: the preschool is closed; your babysitter is sick; your neighbor is at work, where you are due in less than an hour. What to do?

A company called Bright Horizons runs child care centers that will take drop-in kids if they have space. There are just three locations in greater L.A., and the hours, availability and price vary. Here they are:

Bright Horizons at the Water Garden
1620 26th St #1020, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone: 310-449-0047
*$64 for the day; call for hourly rate

South Bay Children's Center
2270 E El Segundo Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245
Phone: 310-535-5580

Northridge Hospital Children's Center
18460 Cantara St., Reseda, CA 91335
Phone: 818-885-5498
$10 per child per hour