For some, child care will be a major issue

Parents, you're on your own.

With the Democratic National Convention a few days away, organizers have done almost nothing to arrange child care for the thousands of parents attending the event and its political meetings and parties.

"The convention's a huge undertaking so unfortunately we're not directly providing child-care services," said Lina Garcia, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee.

Yet Democratic convention organizers are pitching Boston -- its history, its beaches, its Museum of Science -- as a great destination for children of the 20,000 delegates and guests expected to attend. "We do encourage families to travel to the convention and bring their children because Boston is a family-friendly city," said Garcia.

For parents seeking child care, she pointed to two services listed in the vendor directory on the website of the host committee, Boston 2004 Inc. Aiming parents "in the right direction," Garcia said, "is a start."

And it's the end of any assistance from the political party whose presumptive presidential candidate, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, is appealing to middle-class families.

As of yesterday, neither child-care organization on the Democrats' list had heard from a single attendee. Both repeatedly contacted organizers, expressing interest in setting up on-site care for groups of children at the convention, hotels or other venues. "We've been trying so hard to connect," said Sheryl Dubin, president of Children's Conference Care Inc. in Needham, which specializes in setting up child-care facilities at corporate conferences and college reunions. "We've had zero response. We thought we'd be so busy, we wouldn't know what to do."

Marta Rosa, executive director of Child Care Resource Center, which can refer parents to child-care services or arrange on-site care, said, "We gave suggestions about making the city family-friendly, but, no response." The Cambridge agency wanted to create a drop-off play space for kids at the FleetCenter, where the convention will be staged.

Convention officials don't know how many children are accompanying the delegates, alternates, staff, visitors, and their spouses. Some state organizers and delegates said parents choose to leave small children at home; more parents planned to bring teenagers. Others are bringing spouses who will watch small children.

But demand for child-care services at out-of-town meetings is rising, judging by the experience of business travelers: 10 percent of the 164 million business trips taken in 2003 included children, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.

Nearly 5,000 convention delegates are expected to bring some 4,000 family members, based on published reports. Convention business starts with early morning breakfasts and daily caucuses and continues into the evening's televised speeches. Parents needing child care during the day or at night include single moms and dads, those with spouses traveling on business that week, nursing mothers, and those turning the convention into a summer vacation for school-age children.

Colleen Haney, an alternate New Jersey delegate, is bringing 10-month-old triplets. The stay-at-home mother is nursing, so "everyone else comes along with me." Her husband, Manhattan attorney Robert Haney, has mastered feeding the trio simultaneously. As Robert Haney III, cradled in his left arm, sucks a bottle, dad spoons food into Olivia's and Peter's mouths. But the couple need an experienced sitter at night during the convention to relieve their full-time nanny, who is coming along.

The Haneys hired Nanny Poppins Inc. of Beverly for $15-plus an hour. The service was suggested by the Boston hotel where they will stay. Colleen Haney thinks help from organizers would've been "nice." "There's a lot of lip service about children are our future. In practical terms such as daycare or child care, there's nothing out there," she said. "You're on your own."

Randy Albelda, a Democrat, had high hopes for her party. The University of Massachusetts professor and specialist in family policy noted the party's draft platform regarding child care calls for "higher tax credits, expanded medical leave, and more after-school care." The convention's neglect "does speak to who thinks what is important -- a Pops concert vs. child care. It's obviously something nobody thought deeply about, or at all."

Several Boston-area child care firms, including the nation's largest workplace provider, Bright Horizons, and Children First of Boston, also attempted to contact convention organizers. John Marvin, chief executive of Children First, wasn't surprised by the lack of focus on children. In an unfamiliar city, it's "really challenging for folks to bring their kids," he said.

"I don't think they're thinking about it."

Laureen Evans of Parents in a Pinch, which lines up last-minute babysitters, said planning time is running out for parents. Over the July Fourth weekend, for example, her firm arranged care at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America convention in Boston. The association, which hosted 2,000 attorneys, called months in advance -- enough time to find caregivers for some 50 children. "We're not going to create them out of thin air," Evans said.

A day after the Globe called convention organizers inquiring about child-care arrangements, she said two officials from the Democratic National Convention Committee called her and a coworker. While the firm is "happy to help," Evans said, "it's getting too late to help hundreds" of families.

Perhaps there is still time for the party of President Bush and the No Child Left Behind Act. The Republican convention in New York City starts Aug. 30.

"I don't believe we're doing anything in an official capacity," said Alyssa McClenning, deputy press secretary. Organizers, she said, will "try to track down day care centers around the [Madison Square] Garden so we can direct our guests to those places."

Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.