Daycare Timing Issues

proudparent2b

So, I think I may have found the perfect family daycare option. The only issue is that she may not have an open spot until 1 1/2 weeks after I'm supposed to go back to work, assuming DS 1 arrives on EDD.

MIL has offered to take a week off to help, if needed. So at this point, I'm hoping he'll be 4+ days late so that her visit will cover the difference.

However, I have no idea what to do if he's born 1-2 weeks early. DH is out of work currently, so even if he has something by then (knock on wood), he won't have any time off to help cover the difference.

Does anyone have experience with this issue?  If so, what did you do or what are you planning to do?

This provider is really on top of her game, amazing with little kids, 23+ years of experience, makes all meals from scratch daily, takes daily walks and/or field trips, plans educational theme days and weeks, has the best set up I've seen to date (3 dedicated rooms in basement for naps, play time, and full kitchen, as well as two parks and a creek in walking distance and a ton of outdoor play equipment)- it's all too awesome to pass up just due to minor timing issues. Any thoughts are appreciated!

finnybooboo

This is a sticky situation. Are you able to work something out with your job so that you could stay home until it opens or maybe even able to work from home during that time? That's very stressful especially since you have no idea when he'll come. It's so hard to plan when so many things are up in the air. Crossing my fingers all works out for you - that does sound like an amazing daycare option!

yogahh

Can you tag on an extra week of vacation to get you through? 

Pascal86

There are a lot of nannies/babysitters out there, can you start scoping some out now that would have availability during that week if necessary? Might be good to just find one in general that can help, and specifically for that week if you need it. I don't know if people use the nextdoor app in your area, but where I live people post babysitting/nanny services all the time, something like that could be a good place to start.

emma+karen

Yeah, I'd see if maybe you can take extra time unpaid to fill the gap, if need be.  Not sure if your standard leave is paid or not, but if it's paid, it might be worth seeing if you can take extra unpaid.  Or how much parental leave does your DH get?  Could he use part of it to cover the difference?

durbie92

I have this issue too....mine isn't available until the second week of August because she has to wait for one of her kids now to move and start a new school....MH can take off work but his company sucks and he has no vacation. No work, no pay. And that's with me using all 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA. I will have about four paychecks with my PTO but then won't have any PTO when I come back. I was planning on only taking 8 weeks off. Ugh. I plan on asking friends who are SAHM I guess. 

emilyj77

I know how hard it can be to find a good daycare, so I would take the opening and then plan to utilize MIL and possibly other friends to fill in the gaps. Like you said, you don't know when LO will arrive, until you do it's futile to worry about that particular piece of it. If you have to make a plan to keep yourself sane, plan that he/she will be on time. If I were your friend, I would be happy to take a vacation day to help you out. Surely there must be somebody besides MIL who can help.

proudparent2b

Thank you ladies for your responses!

According to HR, FMLA only allows me 12 weeks and I'll actually run out of PTO during that time (should have 5 1/2 weeks of PTO accrued by then and 6 weeks of STD, so half week unpaid).

I do currently work remote, so I could potentially ask my boss to let me have the kid at home with me for part of that time, but she's already expressed some frustration for my doctor/daycare/pediatrician appointments, so I'm not eager to ask for any more special requests at the moment.

My husband is currently unemployed, so even if he gets a job by then *fingers crossed* he won't qualify for any parental leave, and probably wouldn't even be eligible to take vacation time.

I have recently met a few SAHMs through my church, so I guess I could ask one of them if it came to it. I definitely will need to find a sitter regardless, so it could be a good time to start looking. I'll definitely check out the nextdoor app!!!

yogahh

proudparent2b said:

Thank you ladies for your responses!

According to HR, FMLA only allows me 12 weeks and I'll actually run out of PTO during that time (should have 5 1/2 weeks of PTO accrued by then and 6 weeks of STD, so half week unpaid).

I do currently work remote, so I could potentially ask my boss to let me have the kid at home with me for part of that time, but she's already expressed some frustration for my doctor/daycare/pediatrician appointments, so I'm not eager to ask for any more special requests at the moment.

My husband is currently unemployed, so even if he gets a job by then *fingers crossed* he won't qualify for any parental leave, and probably wouldn't even be eligible to take vacation time.

I have recently met a few SAHMs through my church, so I guess I could ask one of them if it came to it. I definitely will need to find a sitter regardless, so it could be a good time to start looking. I'll definitely check out the nextdoor app!!!

Does your boss have a family? Mine doesn't and is also annoying about dr appointments and needing to extend maternity leave by 3 weeks until we can get her into daycare (although we decided just to start her early). "They" say that working for a woman without kids is the hardest person to work for. Makes me mad that she is giving you a hard tome

proudparent2b

@yogahh My boss does have two kids, but the youngest is 8, so it's been a little bit. Her boss when she had her kids was a total douche, so she gets how it feels. I'm the first person who has worked for her that has been expecting (she's only been a manager for a few years), so she hasn't gone through it as a manager before. She was also put on bed rest and delivered both of her kids early, so I don't think she went through the biweekly, let alone weekly, appointments while working. Her best friend's mom took care of both her kids, so she didn't have daycare interviews or timing issues.

To be fair, she's letting me flex my time for everything instead of making me take PTO like her boss made her. Although, since I work from home in a different time zone and none of my work has extreme set deadlines to it, timing shouldn't really matter all that much.  It probably doesn't help that we're currently pretty short staffed.

I agree though- female bosses who have never had kids can be downright nasty. There are often a lot of underlying paychological issues that they face that seem to come out more, especially when their staff has kids.

mmemartinez

Your husband could try to negotiate the time off for the baby if he gets a new job. It would depend on his field but if he was up front about needing vacation time or having something planned already they could let him have it. DH negotiated two weeks of vacation when he started a new job and took that vacation two weeks after starting it because we had it planned. If you could narrow the gap down to a few days I would imagine they could accommodate, if he puts it out there once he has an offer on the table.

nerdymama15

@proudparent2b what kind of work do you do?  I mean are you on the phone any/much at all?  If you don't have to be on the phone and if it came down to it (as a last resort), you could probably sneakily attempt to take care of the baby and work at the same time during that time period.  It won't be easy, but unless you are doing call center type stuff at home, then how will they know?

buffythevampireslayer

A lot of daycares have daily drop in rates--depending on when the baby comes, could you make that work for a couple of days while you wait out your spot at your place of preference?

proudparent2b

I talked with the daycare provider again today when dropping off the deposit. She thinks that she may be able to get me in on the day of my choice by requesting a short term increase from the state. Since the kid my child is getting the spot from is five and there will only be one other under 18 months, she does not anticipate an issue.  I just have to confirm with her on my desired start date once the child is born so she has plenty of time to submit the request. Whoo!