Child Care for newborn on the way!

Stephorse

Hi everyone,

I don't know if there are any other moms out there who have done this or anyone else who has already decided what they are doing about childcare after their maternity leave is over. All of our family lives in Illinois while we are living in South Dakota, so I won't be able to have any of them watch the baby when I return back to work. I'm curious as to how many of you are choosing to do daycares that run inside their homes and if you would choose one that is certified or not or would you just hire a nanny? My brother in law's girlfriend does this for a living and I know she's wonderful at and I personally think that would be better than daycare, but should I rule out all daycares or could in home daycares be just as nice and where should I go to look for a nanny? I know this might be a little soon to be thinking about it, but my husband is actually concerned already about this issue and we want to start researching soon. Thanks for you help!

CurlyQ284

I wouldnt rule out any options, go see a little of all the options and make your choice.  You might find an unexpected favorite.  Good luck!

loveindiana

My family does not live where I live either. I agonized over what to do. Daycare is crazy expensive so we opted to look for a SAH that watches kids from her home. We actually found our provider on Craigslist, if that isn't scary enough! We met with her about a month prior to delivery to interview her, see her home, etc. While I was on maternity leave (LO about 4 weeks) we went to visit her again so she could interact with the baby some. She watches several kids and has an assistant working with her every day. We were lucky to find her and her rates are SO reasonable. We are now PG with baby #2 and I can breathe a little sigh of relief I don't have to perform that search again!

 

Good luck!

watsonnichole

Luckily I work in a daycare, so my baby just gets to come back to work with me.

LemonsQueeze82

Trying to decide this myself right now.  I agree that an in-home care center sounds appealing, but after talking with some other moms, I got some good advice.

Neither DH nor I have jobs where we can easily "call off".  We know that we are going to have to miss work sometimes, but are trying to minimize if possible.  Some other moms with the same job as me have explained their experiences with in-home care:  Sometimes the caregiver is pickier than a center about how "sick" your kid can be and still some in.  They often have their own children that they don't want sick.   Sometimes their kids are sick and they don't want yours over.  Sometimes they decide to give you two weeks notice that they are "getting out of the business".  (Actually a friend of mine who did daycare did this to her moms even though she knew she was quitting months ahead- she didn't want to lose the income in the meantime).  Sometimes they go on vacation, have a death in the family, or have an emergency.

 I had never really thought of this, and I suppose it depends on your work situation, but in my case it is making me heavily favor a center.

 HTH! 

MrsP610

If you do an in-home daycare check with your state to see if they need to be licensed. I think daycare centers need to be licensed too. Childcare has been one of my biggest worries too because of the cost. We plan to explore all options, including me quitting my job and working part-time nights/weekends.

m i l l y

I'm really fortunate that I will be able to stay home.  My sister uses an in home daycare that they are really happy with. They went to visit both types and were more comfortable with in home.

mccrazy

This is one of our biggest concerns as well. Finding the right place is so important, but the cost factor is huge for us too since our budget is already tight. The hospital system I work for has a good daycare (would be super convenient and with few holidays), but it's at the middle-high end of the price range for our area. I like the idea of the in-home option, but I just don't think we can be that flexible. FX that I'll be able to SAH one day... one can dream, right?

mom2be0912

I definitely agree that you should explore your options, like I am doing as well. I have a neighbor who is unlicensed but watches a few kids each day. I trust her very much so as she is a wonderful mother and very dependable. She is also a lot less expensive than daycare centers which is a bonus. However, with any in home daycare- licensed or not, there's always drawbacks. You'll have to weigh your options and choose what you're most comfortable with.

jennadoll87

With our first baby we ended up finding a lady who babysat in her home. She was so sweet and watched just a few kids at a time including her own grand children. it wasn't a certified home daycare or anything. It was a great option for us because it wasn't an impersonal daycare, it was more like visiting grandma each day. My son LOVED being there.

The ONLY down side is that when my son entered Pre-K this past school year it took quite some time to adjust since he really hadn't been exposed to a school setting before (a daycare probably would have helped with that). Over all I'm happy with our experience though and plan to do the same with baby #2. I feel like kids grow up so fast these days that a few years of staying home with a grandma type figure is a great comfort. 

alaskabride2be

I also live in SD, and in our small town there is only 1 daycare center. The rest of the providers are in-home providers. My DS goes to an in-home registered provider and he loves it there. I had no issues placing him at an in-home provider as long as it was licensed.

Hiring a nanny is a choice that you would have to make. The nice part about having a nanny is that they come to you, so you don't have to worry about pick up/drop off. You can also make it to where your baby is still sleeping when you leave for work in the morning if you want your child to have a later wake-up time. As for finding one, I know many people who have found nanny's either from referrals from friends or even places online like care.com.