Childcare for birth

IB113 · August 2018

We live far from family and are looking for options for childcare for our toddler while we are in the hospital. We are in NYC, but any leads on 24 hour on call nanny services or emergency childcare options.

IB113 · August 2018

Any leads are appreciated!

sammierose464 · August 2018

Id recommend you check out a local bump or FB board. I don't think any members of this community will be able to help you.

mamabearcj · August 2018

https://youtu.be/a0oa3Qiz5tw

norahkate · August 2018

arome2311 · August 2018

I would also look into a local mommy Facebook group. They can be very helpful when it comes to suggestions.

IB113 · August 2018

Thanks. I have pinged my previous local birth month group, and yes I have googled. Not a lot of ideas beyond care.com which isn't really a last minute or 24 hour on-call option. I was just hoping other people who live far from family may have had some ideas or innovative solutions about how to handle this.

chopchop25 · August 2018

Do you have any close coworkers with kids who are old enough / responsible enough to help?

knottieamusements · August 2018

My family doesn’t live locally, but I have a strong support network of people who I trust. When I was admitted to the hospital unexpectedly last month, they stepped up to take care of things until my Mom was able to travel to me.

While my LO, who was delivered last month, is my first and only, I would trust those same people to take care of him. (One of those people is in fact named in my estate planning as guardian and another will be listed as emergency contact at day care/schools.)

knottieamusements · August 2018

Also- regarding the care.com thing-

I know babies are not the same as pets- however, I have some a some pet sitters who regularly watch my house and fur babies while I am on vacation. I would have had no problem tapping them on short notice if needed. I know that they would make sure my pets were taken care of, even if the arrangements were slightly different than normal.

I would imagine that I would feel the same way about child care if it was an emergency. In other words, if I trust someone to watch my baby for 3-4 hours for a date night, I would also trust them for an overnight if there was an emergency. In your situation, even better- since you can make arrangements in advance, just letting the caregiver know the exact day is up in the air.

ETA - i mean established relationships here- I wouldn’t trust emergency child care to a stranger.

ummibtihaj · August 2018

Dh and I are in a similar situation. My family is nearby, but they are crazy and useless. More than likely I'll be laboring alone while he watches the kids. Do you have a religious community where you could tap someone there for leads? We're literally out of options so I really hope you find something.

jengibre_zorro · August 2018

We are in the same situation, and our doula is helping connect us with emergency childcare as I have a history of fast labors. Have you looked into doula services?

eireyes · August 2018

We are in a similar boat, and our plan is to have a few friends on standby for the actual birth, and then DH will single parent when the kids are home/not already in daycare (since we both work weekdays are already covered). It's what we did last time when DD was born, at least until family could come to town.

IB113 · August 2018

Thank you! The doula idea is great. I had not looked into that. I think we are going to use one of my daughter's daycare teachers for the first day and overnight (if she is available and fingers crossed). Otherwise we have close friends we can call, but everyone works and travels for work and I just get stressed not knowing what will work out and worrying that my husband will miss our second birth because we didn't have enough back up back up plans.

dellusion · August 2018

We are in a similar situation. We previously had a nanny watching our boys at home, so when my youngest was born the nanny just met us at the hospital to grab our oldest son so my husband could be with me for the birth. This time around our boys are in daycare and we have no close family nearby so we'll likely reach out to our close neighbors (who've babysat and house-sat for us on occasion) or one of our babysitters that the boys are familiar with. My hope is that i'll go into labor during a weekday morning so the boys are at daycare and my husband can just meet me at home/hospital. He didn't and won't stay overnight with me, he'll be home taking care of the other two boys.

I like the doula situation someone else suggested, but think familiarity is key. I'd go with someone your child is close to and used to being around so its not such a shock for them in all of the new baby excitement. I'd definitely ask a few people and keep them on speed dial for when you get closer to your due date.

Childcare for birth

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