https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 17 May 2026 23:12:30 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066655 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:05:27 +0000 Tidybee 2066655@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD was an october baby and went to daycare in February at 4 months old. She actually did okay there until the spring and then was sick with colds, ear infections, and bronchiolitis. It was tough on me as a WOHM to keep getting calls and taking time off to take care of her. However, I'm now a SAHM and she is now 2, and she goes to all kinda of kids' places (kids gym, day care at my gym) and has yet to even have a sniffle this winter, where kids I know who have SAH are constantly sick, so I do think her immune system beefed up a bit from that early exposure. At the time I asked my pediatrician if I should take her out of daycare, and she said kids have to get sick at some point to build their immune system.<br /> To answer your original question, I think I would have preferred home care for a few more months. She was just sooo young to be dealing with all that illness even at 6 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066547 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 13:22:11 +0000 Espion 2066547@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would, but not for the illness aspect, more for the flexibility. It's tough to shield kids from everything. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066539 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 13:16:30 +0000 looch 2066539@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was home with my son for two years. His first major illness was at 9 months, he caught a cold from my husand. It turned into an eye infection because he rubbed snot in his nose.</p> <p>Next illness as at 14 months, he caught a stomach bug from a children's play space at a hotel.</p> <p>So yeah, in home.</p> <p>eta: I also don't think you build immunity year to year with colds and things. Last year's cold is not the same as this year's cold. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066497 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:57:40 +0000 FliegepilzHut 2066497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Tricycle: Yes! That would be a huge perk during busy work weeks!</p> <p>@MoreCoffee: Thanks! It's so hard to project so far into the future...but I feel like I had at least better start thinking through my options! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066492 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:56:13 +0000 Madison43 2066492@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have an October baby - we've had a nanny since I went back to work and she was over 1 before she got her first cold. I don't know if it's luck or the nanny, but it was awesome to be illness free for all that time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066476 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:50:02 +0000 MoreCoffee 2066476@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We chose a center over in-home daycare, and in our experience DS did GREAT in the infant room. They had a good ratio at the time and the most wonderful, nurturing caregivers. He had a few cases of the sniffles but otherwise was very healthy and happy even when other babies were sick. It was when he moved up to the young toddler room that he was sick constantly: Colds, RSV, hand foot and mouth, and a few bad viruses. It was like that for about 8 months and then it passed. However, I have friends with kids in all sorts of care situations - SAH, nanny, family care, in-home center - and they've all gone through the constant sickness phases. You just never know - pick the caregiver you're most comfortable with! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066429 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:36:22 +0000 Mrs. Tricycle 2066429@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm pretty sure having someone come to your house would limit germ exposure, but the biggest benefit is that it's so much easier for YOU! Life is great when you don't have the morning rush of getting the baby up, dressed, a bag packed, and out the door to the sitter's. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066414 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:32:14 +0000 Mrs. J 2066414@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@FliegepilzHut: Yep! My mom watches him 3x/week. When we started, it was 4 days and DH's grandma did Fridays at our house. Now, my mom does M-W and we have a nanny Th-F. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066413 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:31:59 +0000 swurlygurl 2066413@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>L started in-home daycare at 7 weeks in February - never got seriously sick<br /> K started in-home daycare at 4 weeks in September - never got seriously sick<br /> (both girls had non-stop mild congestion, but nothing that affected their eating/sleeping/personality/etc)</p> <p>So, I don't know what I'd recommend. At least with an in-home daycare there are minimal families you come in contact with. At ours, besides us and our provider, there's only one other family. After our provider has her 4th and I have my 3rd, it'll just be the two of our families - that will be AWESOME! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066408 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:30:32 +0000 FliegepilzHut 2066408@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: That's my thinking exactly! Put it off as long as I can! :wink: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066401 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:29:17 +0000 FliegepilzHut 2066401@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So many interesting ideas!</p> <p>@ShootingStar: You make a nanny sound REALLY appealing for all of the aforementioned reasons!</p> <p>@Mrs. J: Grandmacare as in your LO's Gma? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066386 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:25:20 +0000 Mrs. J 2066386@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO started Grandmacare at 9 weeks old (it was Jan at the time), and luckily, never really was sick until this winter, when he had croup and pneumonia. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066338 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:10:51 +0000 yoursilverlining 2066338@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO started daycare in September at 13 weeks old and (knock on wood) really hasn't gotten that sick, ever. I mean sure, she gets colds and has had an ear infection, but it isn't constant sickness.</p> <p>I personally would prefer to have an infant in a larger center (or in-home with more than 1 provider), in part because caring for an infant is stressful, and I want our caregivers to have adequate outlets and backup when they get stressed out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066323 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:06:09 +0000 ILoveLettie 2066323@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was able to stay home with L and have babysitters the one day a week my husband and I were in class at the same time, and it was ideal: she was a January baby but hardly got sick that first year. She started daycare at almost 1 at a center with other kids and got sick 4 times in 3 weeks including a perpetual cold. She's pretty good at fighting them off at 1 but I am thankful that when she was little and couldn't take as many meds she wasn't around all those germs. If i were to have a second child I would ideally do at home nanny for the first year and then daycare transition. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066310 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:01:32 +0000 mediagirl 2066310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wish I could have kept our lo home longer. Having a sick baby sucks so bad. Sick older babies/toddlers are so much easier to handle than sick babies. They're going to get sick when they go to daycare but if you can put it off, I would. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066308 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:01:07 +0000 JoJoGirl 2066308@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO was born in May and started daycare in September. She never, never, never got sick. She had strep once when she was maybe 10 months old (the entire daycare center had it) and then a cold/fever again after 1, but that's it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066304 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 12:00:26 +0000 blackbird 2066304@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would because I did.....we love love love our in-home and E will be there until she's about 3. It's just been such a good experience for us. E still gets sick...but she's only around 2-3 other kids each day versus 9. I don't know how much worse it'd be if she was in a center. She was only sick a couple of times the first winter. This second winter has been worse. But...we've all had it bad</p> <p>PS most of the time when E gets sick, it's some random one off thing that NONE of the other kids at daycare had. 6 day long fever virus? Nobody else had it. Stomach bug? Nobody else had it. I think DH and I bring home more random germs from the office than she gets at T's house </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066298 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:59:06 +0000 ShootingStar 2066298@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So my experience with an infant in daycare is that he didn't really get sick until a couple months after he started. And I think that it was at the point that he started mouthing things. The airborne stuff didn't really get him, (maybe because he was EBF?) but once he was putting everything in his mouth that other kids had mouthed on and touched, it was crazy how sick he was. And still is :-/.</p> <p>But if money was no option, a nanny for the first few months would have been soooo much less stress. At least for me, because I do all of the daycare drop offs. Adjusting to life getting a baby ready, along with myself and all the bottles, milk, pumping supplies, etc that we needed was really overwhelming. Especially the days when he would ruin an outfit right before we went out the door. Luckily my job is flexible for when I get there, but it still stressed me out. </p> <p>Having a nanny come and get baby dressed and not having to deal with so much overhead to get out the door in the morning would have been such a load off my shoulders. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066294 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:58:23 +0000 lawbee11 2066294@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't think it's really going to matter between in-home and a center. I think if you ultimately want to do a center you should just start your LO in a center to avoid that transition. And if you really want to avoid illness I think a nanny is the way to go.</p> <p>ETA: My LO started daycare last February (at a center) and she did have her fair share of colds when she first started but nothing major. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066290 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:57:54 +0000 mrs.shinerbock 2066290@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I stayed home with LO for the first 8 months and now she is with a nanny because I don't want to deal with the sickness while I am new at my job. We will most likely transition to day care around 18 months. I will do a nanny for the first year when we have more LOs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066288 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:57:45 +0000 LuLu Mom 2066288@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did an in home daycare starting at 3 months, and my kid has been relatively healthy! Sure stuff gets spread around still, kids get sick, however I don't' feel like she's nearly as sick as other kids in centers. Even at 2 1/2 we rarely have to keep her home. (minus this last week, it was a rough week for us.) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066285 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:57:38 +0000 Mommy Finger 2066285@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had DS1 in a home daycare starting in February and I don't think he got sick any less than he would have if he was in a larger center. He was still around other kids. But the worst he got was a cold that just lasted a good amount of time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066265 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:50:15 +0000 catomd00 2066265@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No, but I had a bad experience with home daycare (did lasted a week there) and I just don't think I could put my trust in a provider again knowing they are the only one around when my LO is not able to tell me what is going on. We had a nanny from months 4-7 which was awesome. I felt more comfortable sending her to a center when she didn't feel as fragile at 7 months. She started in September and has pretty much had a constant cold since. It's unavoidable the first year of "school" at any age. I Think it's worse at this age beause she crawls around and puts everything in her mouth. We have been lucky to have avoided anything really yucky so far, so my opinion might differ had we gotten some nasty bugs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066250 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:45:56 +0000 CakeLady 2066250@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had DS at home with a nanny until 6 months. We probably would have kept him at home until a year, but the nanny moved away. DS did get a cold any way, from going to a baby shower, but that was nothing compared to how what happened when he started daycare - the first week he got a cold, the flu and an ear infection! BUT he loves daycare and I think it was a great decision. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066246 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:44:49 +0000 Anagram 2066246@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm totally biased on this subject I guess, because my LO started daycare in January and was basically sick January-May (RSV/bronchiolitis, hand and foot, pink eye twice, daycare crud cough that lasted months). My husband and I must have taken 12-14 days sick days between us and at one point, we had my mom come so LO could just stay home from daycare for 2 weeks and recoup.</p> <p>I'm pushing hard for a nanny for the first school year after LO #2 is born for that reason.</p> <p>Every child care situation has its pros and cons, but it's so hard having a sick baby when they are too young for most medications and they can't tell you what hurts. I'd rather have all the daycare illnesses with a 2 year old than a 6 months old, if I had a choice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-the-option-would-you-choose-in-home-care-for-early-infancy#post-2066231 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:40:14 +0000 FliegepilzHut 2066231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I may be over-thinking this...</p> <p>If all goes as planned, I'll be heading back to work next fall, right as cold/flu season hits, when LO will be about 3 months old.</p> <p>It seems like keeping kiddo out of a larger center (with more potential sick exposures) would make sense, at least until he's 6 months or so. But maybe that's crazy and I'm being overly cautious. </p> <p>If your LO was little and in daycare over the winter, did they get sick a LOT? I'm not anti-germ...I just would love it if we could have a relatively uneventful (and healthy!) first few months! </p>