S/O backup care...

drpayne

The post regarding missing work got me wondering... What DO you do when your kids have to stay home? Especially if you don't have family near by?

aglenn

We have a backup care service through work that will send a nanny to your house last minute.  We have used that and it works well, but they can't give medication so if the kid is really sick it is not as great.  Once DH worked from home and had backup care there when DS had an ear infection with pink eye and fever (yep, that was a fun time), so he would pop in and give the meds and then go back downstairs to his office to work.  DS would never let me get away with that, but DH can do it.

Otherwise, DH and I will decide which of us is in a better position to stay home or else we will trade off and one of us work in the morning and the other in the afternoon, etc.  We are literally on the opposite coast from family, so it is just us.

jlaOK

DH is the one who "officially" takes off because he gets tons of sick/vacation time. I WFH and he has the option to WFH one day a week, so I try to work early or late and give him some time to get some work done. He'll usually work some in the evening too to make up hours.

MomtobeNJ

I generally stay home because I have much more paid time off than DH does. We only have a few family members nearby that can help out and they all work too, so it's rare that they can stay with her for a whole day. 

honeybee111

We ask our previous nanny if she's available for the day.  DH has a flexible work schedule, so he can stay home with DD, and make up his hours later.  If both of us have to put in time at work, I will work half day, get home at noon, then DH will go to work and be able to put in a full day by coming home late.  If it's not too last minute, we can call my ILs - they're a 1.5 hour drive away, but they have come down to watch DD before.

Nechie122

DH's employer contracts with Parents in a Pinch. It's not cheap, but it gets the job done. Backup care has saved my sanity.

I was also doing some searching online this morning, and some cities do have drop in centers that will take sick kids. There's even a National Association of Sick Child Daycare. Every working mom should see if there's something like that in her market and also whether her employer offers any discounted services.

Again, that's not a judgment; that's my sanity saving advice.

ETA: We can also sometimes find a college student in our neighborhood who's home on break.

DaisyJanie

So far, one of us has been able to call in sick each time. My H is often able to work from home for half the day, so a few times we've split it up so I can go in for a half-day. 

LoCarb

I am a single parent, primary conservator and no family within 2k mi. I either take off or use a sick DC service which is expensive and out of the way. Honestly, my kids only stay home if they fall into the DC guidelines of needing to stay home. If they get sick in the evening, I will take them to urgent care for antibiotics to ensure they can go to school the following day.

KL777

I take off or DH takes off.

MammaBear81

This is why we have in home care.  DH can not take off work for any reason so the responsibility of staying home would fall on me.  My kids don't get sick that often, but even 2 sicknesses per year (times 5 kids) is 10 (unexpected) days off.

mae0111

We have a nanny, and this was a big reason why.  DH travels a lot for work, and while I have a rather flexible schedule, I couldn't do it all the time. 

When the nanny calls in, we have a college student that is typically available 3 days a week.  She's our first call.  Next step is either DH or I (95% of the time it's me) takes a day off.  Step after that is to ask my parents who live 5 mins away, but they rarely say yes.  Then I ask a good SAHM for a HUGE favor, but that's probably going to stop now that there are 2 kids. 

Last step is that DH and I both stay home (if he's not traveling) and we juggle.  The only time we do that is if we both have meetings/conference calls that we can't miss.

katieh1017

We usually do a half day each. Today and yesterday we did this. He will be home around lunch time. I would really like to get a different back up because she's been sick a lot this past year. Our parents are close but work FT. ILs have volunteered to WFH to take care of her. I tell them everytime you can't work and watch her no work from home myself. Not sure why they don't get it.  

Mjmksb04

I have a friend who is a SAHM who is usually fine with watching DS. I also have another family friend who works PT who is fine to watch him as well.