Working Momma

Okay so is anyone else having a hard time thinking about daycare after your baby is born? It would be great if I could stop working all together after the baby is born but times are rough right now and i don't think we will be able too. So... i am faced with the obsticle of finding someone I trust to watch my baby so I can work.

It just terrifies me and wondering if I am the only mom out there that faces this challenge? The thought of me being away from my baby for 9 hours a day and someone else taking care of him or her just makes my hairs stand up straight.

I am starting to do some research on different centers around my town and hopefully I will find one that I can at least feel good about. I have one lead from a co-worker who is very satisfied with her daycare provider and has been watching her son since 5 months old.

I am hoping my husbands schedule doesn't change too much and we will only have to have the baby go to daycare 3 days out of the week. I will be getting off early on 2 of the 3 days.

I know how hard it is to leave your baby with a daycare provider. I remember well!
I can give you some advice since I'm a daycare provider. Make sure they are licensed. Talk to other families who they care for and ask for past references. Also make sure they have the open door policy(where you can stop by any time) And I would stop by! Tour the house. Make sure you feel safe! Also call the county to see if there were any complaints. Bring your child with. See how she interacts with your baby :) Hope this helps!!

Jackie

THank you Jackie for the advice. I will make sure I do that for sure.

Jaime - The thought scares me to death! I can't imagine dropping my 8 week old baby off at daycare for hours during the day. Unfortunately me not working is not an option for us right now  - so I totally know how you feel

Liz

THanks Liz,
I think things were much different when we were younger. I remember my dad worked 2 jobs so my mom could stay home with my sister and I and they made things work. Even with 2 jobs these days it seems like it wouldn't be possible for us anyway.

I am not sure if things have changed or we just have got used to a certain lifestyle. At any rate, yes it scares me too and i am hoping it will turn out good. I guess I shouldn't worry so much... damn hormones!!!! 

I know... my Mom didn't wor****il I went into school full time. THe only babysitter I had was my Grandmother. They had everything we have, a house, 2 cars, etc. Things were different then. The cost of living was lower and all.

We'll get through it! I just know that no one can watch my baby as well as I can! lol in my mind at least :)

I am not looking forward to it either! When I had my daughter I was working for a music conservatory so I was able to choose my hours. So I worked in the evening after my husband came home from work and we didn't have to get a babysitter, occassionally I'd have family watch her. Now that she's older, 4 on Dec 20, she goes to preschool on the 2 days I work. With the economy the way it is right now, my husband's work is super slow so he has about half his normal hours and I've been looking for a full time job (even though I love what I'm doing). I am so not looking forward to having to go to a full time job and leaving my little baby to be taken care of by someone else. It terrifies me! The other issue I have is that daycare is so expensive that often you make the same amount you spend in daycare, so if that will be the case with me, I will not be working. Sorry, I kind of just went off there a little, but you're not the only one with these issues. It really is a scary thought.

 To all of you who would like to stay home, there are lots of legitimate work from home jobs.  I do customer service from home and I'm in Canada.  There's a lot more options for Americans (not just phone either) than Canadians.  Some you could be an independant contractor, some an employee.  You won't get rich and if you've already got a high paying/university degree job, this probably isn't the best option, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

The place I work through is www.contractxchange.com.  There are a few Americans (not many, due to state tax laws), if you're interested there's live chat that you can pop in and ask if your state is eligible.   A popular U.S. one is Alpine Access, with them I believe the pay is $9/hr but you are an employee, not self employed.

Hope that helps some of you! 

T :)

You are not alone at all. I am completely blessed to have my grandmother watching Drew while I am at work - but I will let you know, it's just as hard to drop him off there everyday. I even hate going to work when Andy has the day off and is home with Drew. Knowing that I'm away from him for so long every day is horrendous. But I think of the reasons why I'm away from him - because it's all for him - and it gets me through. He's at the stage where he smiles and talks away the second he sees me or hears my voice and that's what I look forward to everyday!

Good luck - I wish I could say the feeling will go away, but it won't! :-(

I cried my eyes out the first day I dropped my DD#1 off at daycare. When I got to work I called DH and told him that I was quitting, he told me that was fine but I should at least give it a week. After the week it wasn't so bad so I continued to bring her. She now has been going there for 18 months and DD#2 goes there now as well, and that was a much easier time. I have my good and bad days with wanting to quit, but for me I'm just not the stay at home type so I need to have a job. Give it some time. Do your research, I was against day care centers before my children walk so they go to a home daycare. I will consider moving them to a Child Development Center (possibly) when my baby starts walking. But right now we love the home daycare and DD#1 is very well behaved and she is only 20 months old. I am a big fan of no nonsense and my daycare provider is as well, some people dont like that but I do. By that I mean she is strict and utilizes constructive discipline (time outs/take away toys/give other options, etc.)

Hope this helps!