A question from a potential preemie mom to be...

MaybeABaby?

How long do they suggest you wait before you put a preemie in daycare?

I have been hospitalized with a short cervix with funneling and a positive fetal fibronectin test since 24 weeks (granted, its only been 10 days) but the staff is preparing me for a preemie. Hopefully he will not come too early, but I am pretty sure we won't make it until my due date.

I am a speech pathologist and I work for the school system. I am not going to return until next school year but I was wondering if anyone had a general guideline for how long you have to stay home with a preemie who was born in RSV season. (I am trying to get my principal to hold my job for me even though I will be far beyond the 12 week FMLA leave). Any ideas?

april062604

it really depends on how early he's born and how his lungs do. ?sit tight and take things day to day. ?keep us posted, you'll be in my thoughts and prayers. ?

Mrs Manners

Ditto pp. It's really hard to say until you know if you'll have respiratory issues or not. It's something you'll want to talk to your pedi about. You might want to look into an in-home daycare if possible so that the baby would be around a smaller group of children. We had chosen a daycare for ds that we loved, but when he was born a preemie we ended up getting a nanny to come to our home. He was 7 months old before he got sick for the first time and that was something he caught from me. You might also investigate doing a nanny-share or having a SAHM from your neighborhood or area keep dc.

MaybeABaby?

He will be going to a home daycare with 5-6 other kids beginning in August, 2009. I've had the betamethasone shots so I pray that his lungs will be okay.

Thanks for the advice.

mhop

I'm glad to hear you had the steroid shots, but lung issues can still happen.  Although I had the shots and Campbell was only on a vent for 24 hours, she is still considered to be at risk for respiratory infections.  I'm a teacher as well and if my mother hadn't volunteered to keep Campbell, I would have chosen an in home day care as well.  I really think it depends on how your baby does and what your pedi recommends. 

Hopefully he'll decide to stick around inside for a while and you won't have to worry too much!  Good luck and keep us posted!

SBMBride406

We had a 32 weeker...drs told us no daycare until 4 months and until he gets Synagis shots (same timeline in our case). Ours is a home daycare, only 4 kids total...

Andrewsgal

I don't have advice on this question, but just wanted to let you know I had a shortnened cervix and a positive FFN at 22 and 24 weeks and I am still going strong with this little guy at 30 Weeks so there is hope!

AviatorJJ

i don't think there are exact guidelines. depends on the baby/child and how they are doing, how early they were. my son is 20 months old and our pedi and pulmonologist suggest he not go into daycare at all.  he was born at 30 weeks and has asthma from prematurity. i quit my job as a teacher.

SuwaneeGirl

Only your doctors will be able to answer this for you. And respiratory problems aren't the only thing they will consider. Preemies by definition have weaker immune systems. My girl was born at 32 weeks, had 2 steroid shots before birth and did not need O2 or a respirator. She is perfectly normal, even is at 50th percentiles for actual age now at nearly 5 months. But, her pulmonologist does not want her in daycare until April 2009. She'll be nearly 1 year old by then. Why? I guess because of the RSV infection risk, even though she'll be receiving the shots, and even though she does not have a history of any lung problems. But the RSV shots do not guarantee immunity, and RSV is not the only serious infection she could pick up from a group-care situation.

I don't want to take any chances so she is going to be out of daycare, hopefully for a long time. I might consider putting her in someone's home daycare, but for now, no daycare for her.

A lot of us had to alter our plans after having a preemie. But I think a lot of us are also pleased with how it's turned out. I know I am. I never would have dreamed this would have happened to me (I had pre-eclampsia). I was planning to go back to work. But now I get to spend the day with my baby girl and share things with her that others miss out on because their baby is in daycare all day. Some days are hard, but I have found support through a local MOMS group. Most of the ladies are stay-at-home moms, but some of us have crazy schedules with our part time work. I am a very Type A person, high achieving, was going to make VP by the time I was 35, etc.--now I work when the baby is asleep and I go to Costco to buy diapers. It's such a shift for me. But I like it!

Good luck with your bedrest and best of luck with your pregnancy.

 

Mrs. Destructo

My boys were born at 30 weeks last November, one spent about 2 days on a vent the other spent almost a week on a vent. We spent all of last winter on house arrest, and they caught their first cold when they were about 9 months old. Our pediatrician wants us to keep them out of daycare for this next winter, just to be on the safe side.

goblue

DS was born at 27w5d.  Our pedi basically said he had to be out of daycare for the 1st year, and ideally until he's 2. We're going to get a nanny - which I didn't think we could afford, but it's actually not that much more than high quality daycare in my area.