https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 25 Apr 2026 03:15:16 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873194 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 21:34:20 +0000 purplelilac 2873194@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’ve worked PT (2 days/wk, ~15 hrs) since my first was born 6 years ago. I LOVE it, but it does take time to make it work. We’ve had nannies watch the kids (3 kids, ages 6, 4, 1) and though I haven’t done a lot of shopping around i think it’s the most cost effective and sane choice available. This way everyone is in 1 place, not 2-3 separate drop offs/pickups, and our nannies have always helped with more than just kids. They grab milk while out in the morning, bring kids to activities, start/cook dinner for us, fold/put away kid laundry during naps. Seriously a good nanny is he greatest thing ever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873145 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:08:47 +0000 Iced Tea 2873145@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work part-time from home; my husband works from home as well. We tried several stints with part-time nannies, and could never make it work as well as we hoped. If your kid knows you are home, why would they accept comfort from the nanny, kwim? </p> <p>Although I had hoped for part-time care, I fell in love with a Montessori preschool that happened to be almost full-day, 5 days a week on the public school calendar. My older child started at age 2.5. I seriously can't wait until my other child is old enough to attend, because the staff is stellar and the price is better than daycare. </p> <p>My younger child started 4 days a week at a very small center two minutes from my home when she was 15 months. They allow part-time only if they have families whose needs complement each other, so I ended up with 4 days. I am about to switch to two days next month since I was able to coordinate with another family. I'm super lucky that this daycare center is also going to be able to accommodate my older child over the summer, so I will have only one drop off point! Basically, we will be trading spots with a family who wants the summer off. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873134 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 18:27:54 +0000 gotkimchi 2873134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Check out schools associated with churches - we’ve used two different ones that offer any amount of hours/days - so like we could send our kids 3 hours 2 days per week. The one we use currently let’s you adjust your schedule up to a month out so it’s very flexible </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873130 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:55:49 +0000 MenagerieMama 2873130@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’ve worked 3 days/week for the past 4 year and we’ve always had our kiddos in daycare 3 days a week. We did have a nanny for a little bit when I had an irregular schedule but daycare since then. First center only did fulltime but we found someone to share the spot. Second center does parttime so it’s been great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873122 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:51:46 +0000 mamabolt 2873122@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A good friend works PT (3 days a week) and they have two local college students nannies(one 2 days, one 1 day) They have 18 mo old and 1st grader. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873113 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:09:10 +0000 caitcat 2873113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work part time about 20-25 hours a week but with a few freelance jobs. I've been able to get by with minimal "official" child care, but I work from home and set my own hours so I've been very lucky in that sense I think. I mainly work early mornings (4:00-7:30am before the kids are up) and again during nap times for about an hour a day. My husband is home most Fridays with the way his schedule works out, so I have some time there to fit more work time in if I need to wrap up a project. </p> <p>I worked full time (teaching) until my oldest was one and a half years old. We only needed day care three days a week though because my mom watched my daughter one day a week and my husband was home on Fridays, so we had a more reliable part-time care situation at that stage. We ended up finding an in-home daycare provider who was more flexible on hours than many daycare centers we looked into. We only took our daughter to her three days a week most weeks, but we paid her for four days a week in case my mom couldn't make it one week or in case my husband had to go in to work on a Friday at the last minute. It worked out really well for us at the time. I have a few friends who have needed part time care and have had good luck with a nanny or a nanny share situation too. </p> <p>As for work schedule, I prefer working a few hours each day at this stage...but some of that is out of necessity since we don't have real child care set up now. I think when my kids are in school, I'll focus more on working a couple days a week, but that's a couple years down the road still....and I can't even quite picture what that will look like yet! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873111 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:06:01 +0000 MrsADS 2873111@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work 3 full days (24 hours a week) and I have a commute, so for me working partial days wasn't a good fit. I worked FT in my exact same job for several years before dropping to PT, so my 3 year old was already in full time daycare/preschool. </p> <p>My baby is 9 months old and we've had a babysitter so far for my work days. But it's expensive. So he is about to start daycare at the same place my son goes. They only do full-time but even full time is cheaper than the part-time babysitter. Pros and cons to daycare, I guess, but that's what we're going to do. And, the benefit of full-time is I am planning to send him probably a half day (at least) on one of my days off and use that time to get all the household stuff done uninterrupted. Groceries, cooking, etc. so I don't have to work on that when I'm with the kids. That's the plan, anyway. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873108 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:03:51 +0000 Mrs. Pajamas 2873108@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work 3 days/ week and was home for a full year after DD2 was born. My older DD1 has been in full time preschool throughout everything. It was definitely a challenge to find part time care for a baby (I went back to work when DD2 was 1 year old), but I found a great in-home daycare. I pay more per day than those that go fulltime, but it's still affordable. I love the balance of working 3 full days Mon-Wed, then home with DD2 (now almost 20 months) Thu/Fri with DD1 in preschool all day. Most preschools/day care centers where I live are for 2 years and up and there are a lot more options at that age so I think you'll have a relatively easy time finding part time care. If your work hours are flexible (short days 5 days or 3 full days or whatever) that will be even better for finding a place. DD1's preschool takes kids part time, but only M/W/F full days or mornings only (M-F 7-12:30). That seems pretty standard when I was looking. I would definitely recommend a daycare vs. nanny for a 2 year old. They will get much more socialization/learning. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873107 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:03:37 +0000 MountainBaby 2873107@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jape14: yes! she's in a Mother's Day Out program here and we love it. It's only 10 hours a week here though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873105 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:58:10 +0000 jape14 2873105@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don’t work part time but I would look into Mother’s Day/morning out programs in your area - they are usually affiliated with churches and are pretty reasonable cost-wise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/part-time-child-care#post-2873096 Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:27:51 +0000 MountainBaby 2873096@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Those of you who work part time - what is your childcare strategy? I have been staying at home the past two years, but I am now pursuing a work opportunity about 20 hours a week. It seems ideal, but I'm having trouble figuring out the logistics of part-time care, since all the daycare centers I've found are full time only. Do you pay for full time care regardless? find a part time center? use a nanny? in-home care? something else? My daughter is 2 if that makes a difference.</p> <p>And did you find you prefer working a few days a week? or working every day for a few hours? </p>