Hellobee Boards

I'm in the exact same situation, but my work and LOs daycare are an hour from home (no where close do DHs work).

At first our plan was to keep our toddler home and *maybe* hire a babysitter to come over to help 8-10 hours a week and take LO to a class or something (or watch the baby while I take LO to a class or to the park).

But I just found a newish preschool that offers 2 days a week and actually has a space open for fall (unheard of in our area) and DH and I are going to tour it on Saturday. I'm not sure we'll be able to cover the cost, but we're going to check out the place and see if we can swing it.

The 2 days a week are almost as expensive as LOs fulltime daycare now (because our town is so much more pricey), but I'm also afraid of LO not being stimulated just hanging out with me and the baby all day.

As far as her other daycare, I think I will also have to pay a deposit to keep her spot, but the deposit is only $195.

@Chillybear: You should look into getting a mother's helper or something, so at the very least you can take your toddler out without the baby sometimes, or the sitter can take your toddler to a class.

It would be cheaper than other options and would give you a break! Even if you had someone come 5 hours a day, twice a week--I feel like that would be an amazing help.

We just went through this, my DH ended up taking her out of his way/picking her up a few days a week and then the remaining we kept her home. I found it very easy to adjust with a newborn so we were out and about a lot when she was home. Trips to the zoo, museum, park, friend's houses, ect to keep her entertained. She is a child who needs interaction or she goes stir crazy (like me) so I had to make sure there was a daily activity to keep her going.

I'm in canada so we get a full year maternity leave. My daycare will only allow me to drop down to part time for 6 months of that time in order to hold my spot, so for the first 6 months while baby is a newborn, eating often and it will be hard for me to coordinate activities for LO1, he will be full time daycare and DH and I will share duties of drop off and pick up depending on his work schedule. For the last 6 months we will drop down to part time daycare when I'm more able to plan activities for both kids and take them on outings to the zoo and such.

I wanted to keep him in at least part time for the social aspect as well as the structured curriculum. He learns so much at school and I would hate to delay that.