Downtown Honolulu stands to lose about half of its licensed daycare spots for children under 18 months if the Hawai'i Kids at Work daycare center cannot get a long-term lease.

The daycare center, which serves more than 34 children ages 0 to 3 — including 24 infants and toddlers — is in the Chinatown Gateway Plaza on a month-to-month lease that could be terminated as soon as the city finds a buyer for the property.

"We don't have a long-term lease," said executive director Lori Lussier. "We might have to vacate pretty quickly."

The loss could come at a time when there is already a severe shortage of childcare for the under-2 set. Last year, there were only 903 spots for infants and toddlers statewide, and 6,200 children in need of care.

"There is a huge, huge need," said Jacqueline De Guzman, associate director of PATCH, a childcare resource and referral agency. "There are three infant-toddler centers in the Downtown area, and all of them are at capacity."

Parents have limited options when it comes to finding care for those too young for preschool, De Guzman said. If they don't secure one of the coveted center-based spots near work, some parents have to drive far out of their way to drop their children off or ask for help from relatives.

"If worse comes to worse, they'll have to stay home basically for that two years," she said.

Hawai'i Kids at Work is not worried about closing so much as having to move out of the Downtown corridor, where many of its parents work.

Jacky Carleton, whose 2-year-old daughter has been at Hawai'i Kids at Work since she was 14 months old, said that the location is part of the appeal.

"Especially for parents of infants, it gives them a real sense of security to know that their children are close by," said Carleton, who is president of the center's board.

Since the proximity allows parents to pop in and out during the day, parents also feel there is more monitoring than there would be in a home-based care situation. "There's a lot more eyeballs," she said. "We don't have to worry about anything being hidden from us. We know what's going on there."

Hawai'i Kids at Work has been looking for a long-term site since it was forced in March to move out of the church space on Queen Emma Street it had rented for 13 years. Lussier said it seems unlikely that the center will be able to remain Downtown.

"There's a lot of requirements in order to be a licensed daycare center," she said. Some of the big challenges include finding an adequate space on the ground floor that has an outdoor play area.

Another obstacle is price. "Space Downtown is pretty costly, also, and we're a nonprofit," Lussier said.

Aside from an Early Headstart program that serves two low-income infant and toddlers, the only other center-based infant care in the business district is the Cole Academy, which serves 21 children under 18 months and another 111 children up to age 5.

The only other option for toddlers near Downtown is the Early Education Center on Alapai Street, which has space for 10 children between ages 18 months and 2 years.

In addition, there are also childcare providers who offer in-home care, but they can only care for up to two infants or toddlers, making it more lucrative to bring in more older children.

Carleton had no luck finding home-based care when she was looking to place her then-14-month-old daughter.

"I called and I called and I called and everyone had huge wait lists," she said. "I must have called 20 in-home providers. None of them had spaces for toddlers."

Luckily, a part-time space at Hawai'i Kids at Work opened up just as she had to return to work part-time, she said.

All of the Downtown centers offering infant and toddler care say they have long wait lists.

At Cole Academy, it can take more than a year to make it to the top of the wait list.

Rainbow School on Punchbowl Street, which gives preference to federal workers, will open 15 infant and toddler spots in May, but now only serves children 2 years and up.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.