LO has been in daycare the last few weeks and i start work next week. While i've enjoyed having a few free hours in the day to get things done, i'm feeling terribly guilty knowing that i'll be leaving LO in the hands of a stranger for 8 hours a day. A part of me wonders if i'm doing the right thing by going to work and not being a SAHM.
Does the guilt ever go away?
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Well I'm a SAHM and have plenty of guilt over various things. So it's not just a working mama thing, trust me!
apricot / 475 posts
I've just started settling DS in at nursery and I'm going back to work next week, and I know exactly what you mean. I know in the long run DS is going to be better off with me working (not just financially but emotionally as I'll be much happier and contented being a WOHM) and he'll learn so much at daycare. But I still feel horrible about leaving him and have drafted my resignation letter several times over in my head!
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I'm a SAHM and I have mommy guilt because LO isn't very well socialized. We go to something pretty much every day, library, Gymboree, play date, we're starting swim lessons, etc. But I'm always there and LO has major stranger anxiety. And when I say stranger I mean she screams at someone who isn't me, DH, or her grandparents if they try to pick her up. I feel like I'm spoiling her by giving her TOO MUCH mommy time.
The grass is always greener.....
squash / 13199 posts
@Freckles: My 11 month old has been in daycare since she was 12 weeks. It gets better but it never goes away completely, especially when she gets sick or has certain issues and I feel like she might not have gotten sick if she was home with me. Its hard but it definitely gets better and they learn so much from daycare!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Soon, the daycare ladies will become like family and you won't see them as strangers 
honeydew / 7444 posts
@artbee: i think no matter what side of the fence we're on, there will always be some anxiety...which makes me feel a bit better! @blackbird: i really like one of the caregivers, and LO really likes her too. I am relieved that she is adjusting well, otherwise i probably wouldn't want to go to work!
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
I don't have a lot of mommy guilt unless LO gets sick and I feel like if he hadn't been there he wouldn't have gotten sick. But they will get sick when they start school, so I don't think it hurts to start building immunity now. My LO is 10 months and started daycare at 4 months. But my LO LOVES daycare, in fact, this morning when I dropped him off, as soon as he got out of his carseat he crawled away from me to go play with his friends.
pomegranate / 3275 posts
@littlek @mrsbells I am a SAHM and that doesn't mean my LOs don't get sick. We aren't as sick as we were when DD was in daycare, but I would say we get some sort of nasty cold at least once a month and DD still got Hand Foot Mouth Disease last June. In fact, DS has gone to more sick visits at the doctor's office than DD did, and he hasn't ever been in daycare!
The mommy guilt is ever present, because now that I'm not working, I feel guilty that I'm not bringing in money and that we could afford more things and activities for our little guys to do...
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
For me it went away because LO was thriving so well at daycare! She has learned so much and has so much fun that it makes being back at work a little easier.
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