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DH works full time and I work part time, my 3yo goes to daycare and my 1.5yo is with my MIL. Its been great, but my ILs are going on vacation for a few weeks in July and I'm screwed!

I managed to get him a spot at K's daycare starting a week after they leave but I know it will be a rough transition, especially for those weeks when DH and I have to do drop offs (normally we go in earlier and my FIL drops him off). Oh well, what can you do?

As D approaches 2 I think daycare is best for him, and hopefully that means MIL will have more time to watch them when we're not both working so maybe we could go on a date or something

Sidenote, my parents are local but both are 70 and don't know how to deal with D's feeding tube, so I don't trust them to watch them as backup care.

honestly, they have taken fewer days off than a nanny would! but whenever anything comes up, one of us works from home. it hasn't been a big deal at all. usually, they watch my LO at my house, but they will sometimes take her to their place too, just depends on the day. the day always starts at our place though - we don't drop LO off anywhere.

I just want to say that having family watch LO has been phenomenal for her, us and them. It's so much easier going to work everyday knowing i don't need to worry, and LO is in excellent hands.

@Pirouette: you are totally right! It has been such a blessing having my mom watch my boys!

We drop DD off at my parent's house and it's great! If they are unable to watch her then DH or I will take her. DH works from home and it's not a problem for me to take days off when needed so it all works out!

My mom and MIL watch our 2 kids. My mom does 3 days at my house (her preference), my MIL does 2 days at her house (her preference). They both take vacations but schedule them far enough in advance that the other one picks up a few extra days and DH and I take vacation days which we don't mind doing. In our minds, that's what our vacation time is for - to spend with the kids anyways!

I am lucky to have both sets of parents offering to watch them, but if I only had one, I'd send the kids to daycare or get a nanny for 2 days per week. 5 days a week kind of loses the fun "grandma" time and is more like a job.

My mom currently watches LO two days per week. It's been great for the most part! She actually broke her legs a few months ago and so we had to find another part-time daycare to combine with the part-time daycare we were already doing and that was stressful. But other than that we have not had to deal with a lot of sick or vacation days. I do have a flexible job, so that helps if I need to move things around.

At first she did one day at her house and one day at our house. Now, we do both days at her house because it's easier for her, and LO is now more flexible. When she was an infant, I really wanted her to be home and in her at-home routine as much as possible.

My mom does one day, my in laws do 3 days and my husband works a 4 day week. So it's a little crazy but works well. My son goes to their house. I try to meet them somewhere that isn't too out of the way for them or too out of the way for me going to work.

We take days off or get other family members to cover when they go away. It's not really a job for them so we have to be very flexible with whatever they have going on. I try to provide things to make it easier for them, we bought and installed carseats, always send diapers and formula when he needed it.

I think it is a real blessing to have the peace of mind knowing your baby is with someone who loves him or her so much. But of course it's not a professional daycare so in the beginning there were some bumps with not following my schedule, not doing things how I would, lots of unwanted opinions. We've really found our balance now and everyone is happy. I know he will benefit from school eventually but he's 18 months and we're about to move for the second time in his life and I appreciate that his care has remained stable.

My mom is DS's primary caretaker during the week. Some days she takes him to her house and some she stays at ours, just for variety for him (plus we have more outdoor play stuff). She comes over at 5:30am when I leave for work and waits for DS to wake up, then they go about their day once he's up. She's really the greatest.

As for sick/vacation....my parents haven't been on vacation since...I was in high school maybe? Lol, so that's not an issue. If she were ever to get sick (which I hope she doesn't), I would ask to work from home that day (we have a flexible policy)

@mrsjyw: bahahahaha I didn't even READ your response! Which is too funny cause my DS1 will be starting pre-K part time in Sept too! lol!

My mom watches DD 2-3 days per week (it alternates weekly). The other 2-3 days per week I pay my cousin to watch her. On days where my mom is on vacation or has someplace to go, I see if my cousin can switch days and if not we try to find another family member to watch her or I'll take off work or work from home. It's worked out well so far, but I like that I have two different caregivers instead of just one to make it less like a full time job and to give them (and me) some added flexibility.

On days my mom has her, DD goes to my mom's house. I feel like this is less inconvenient for my mom and that way she can get other stuff done while DD is playing or napping. On days I'm going into the office, I drop DD off and pick her up. On days I'm working from home (but DD is still going to my mom's), my mom picks her up from my house a little later in the morning and then I pick her up at the end of the day.

Since we alternate between 2 and 3 days per week, (and sometimes swap other days as needed), I have a google calendar that I keep updated with the schedule. I shared the calendar with my mom so she can view it whenever she wants.

@Imabee: I am prepared to look into child care at any time if it gets to be too much. I think that just has to be understood. I thought it might get to be too much but my in laws can't get enough, they want him to sleep over! It's really special, and I'm grateful for whatever time they give him. I'm not assuming they'll do it forever, or be up for it with a second child but I would love if they'd even do part of the first year for a second child because it helped comfort me when it was time to go back to work.