In 1992, the company updated its bell tower logo and began to render the KinderCare name in camel case.

Chief Executive Grassgreen, informed by 'junk bond king' Michael Milken from the firm of Drexel Burnham Lambert, led the company on an ill-conceived diversification plan in the late 1980s.

[12] Still faltering under its high debt load, KinderCare filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 10, 1992.

The company continued operating, although, according to a 1988 Forbes article, less than half of Kinder-Care's sales and profits for the year were expected to come from its child care centers.

In January 1993, in a move that helped their balance sheet, KinderCare sold off Sylvan Learning Centers for $8 million.

[13] The deal, valued at over US$1 billion, made KLC the nation's largest private childcare and education provider.

[18] The parent company, KinderCare Education, also operates Knowledge Beginnings, Children's Creative Learning Centers (CCLC), and Champions.

[22][better source needed] Research in Maryland found that children who had attended KinderCare were more likely to be ready for school.

[24] George Ritzer criticizes the company for "hir[ing] short-term employees with little or no experience in child care".