DD (11 mo) has been home with DH and I since March, but I started a new job recently and it just isn’t working, so she’s going back to daycare in two weeks. I’m kind of freaking out. Covid is better here than it is in most of the US, but if anything happened I don’t even know what I’d do. Beyond the fact that it’s going to be such an adjustment not to have her near us, it feels really wrong to send her out alone into a pandemic. I’ve posted a couple of ads looking for nannies but there just aren’t any available in our area right now. She’ll be in a small, in home daycare so less risk than a larger center, but still... For those with kids in daycare through the pandemic, how has it been going?
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DS (4) went back to daycare early August. They are masked indoors and mostly in same group of 9 kids, though they do combine with another class as needed for staffing. The school closed for 3 days (1 classroom all 5 days) due to symptomatic teachers, but they were all negative for COVID. DS spent 3 days home for a minor cough this week pending a negative COVID test too. But overall it’s been safe and DS has thrived there so much more than he would at home with his older sister distance learning (she’s recently back 2 days a week) and me working FT.
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DD (4) wears a mask inside and outside. Her room closed once in August bc of a positive staff/child. I know its so hard
do have any extended family who could help?
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I have a 4 month old in daycare and it is going well. We also have lower counts than most of the country for now. I highly recommend you read rhe book "Parenting in a Pandemic" by Dr. Kelly Fradin, on Amazon. She is on Instagram @adviceigivemyfriends and also has an email newsletter. Likrwise, Emily Oster is doing a lot of work on this and has a fabulous newsletter.
Everyone around my son wears a mask at daycare, but he is unphased. He can tell people are smiling when looking at their eyes or hearing the tone of voice and responds naturally.
Try to reframe it. You're not sending her out into a pandemic alone. You have lovingly and thoughtfully chosen this daycare. You will be a better, happier mama when you don't have to do child care and work at the same time. You daughter will experience the love and bond with yet another person in your village. She will also play with other kids and have fun!
I was in your shoes just a short time ago and these are the things that helped me. Good luck and hugs mama.
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My kids went back to a small center in August. So far only one "scare". My husband (goes in person to a large office) came home with a cold that resulted in my toddler coughing and a mild fever. But the cold definitely came from my husband.
My kids are so much happier and I'm a much better parent. It was a tough adjustment, but it's for the best.
I deal with COVID in schools professionally and the risk of serious complications is low. There's a chance your kid will get it, but it likely will be a fairly minor illness. The concern is that they could give it to you or older relatives in your household. So when evaluating risk I definitely focus on that our risk is minimal
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My 3yo's daycare center reopened just last week and there was a confirmed COVID case on the very first day! I was second guessing everything! It did end up spreading to 1 teacher and 1 additional student, which isn't nothing, but I feel like it's way less than when say a stomach bug rips through the school. It's only been 2 weeks now, but I feel so much better as a parent when I don't have to do it all day every day. And he's already learning so much again. Even though we had an early scare I think the school setting is just so much better for our family, so we'll continue with it.
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Read this article yesterday: https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/daycare-centers-are-very-low-risk-for-covid-19-transmission-study-says-11602699914?fbclid=IwAR2XSuL_KAltAzGxq8ORonksLVn1NTixpjBFCmxJBvHCJzhbZnSnG_PztO0
My boys have been back at daycare since June. They have only closed for 1 week since then after 2 teachers in the same class tested positive. I am comfortable with all the precautions they are taking and how they have handled things so far.
My 2 year old is thriving being back with peers and my 5 year old is learning so much in his pre-k class. The 5 year old wears a mask a majority of the day (except for nap, eating and outside) and has no complaints.
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My DD went back to our in-home daycare early August. We had one scare where a girl was getting tested for Covid after having several symptoms - it came back negative.
Since DH and I work out of home, and we have 2 kids in school, she's the least likely to be exposed so I don't worry too much. We've only had 2 cases in school and have been in school full time on a normal schedule.
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My kids are in daycare, and I honestly feel anxious about it every day. We also did have cases in a classroom—teachers and a couple students (the students were asymptomatic). Which makes me nervous, but also I did find it comforting that it was isolated to the one classroom. I think cases are almost inevitable, but I feel that the school is doing a good job of keeping the classes very separate, which will help limit the spread.
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Thank you, ladies! Positive stories (and stories of close calls where everything was ok) really help.
@winter_wonder: Unfortunately, no, we don’t have any local family. Even if we did, though, both our parents still work.
@SweetCaroline: I’ll check that book out. I read just about everything Emily Oster writes and have a masters in statistics, so read and understand academically at least that kids are at much lower risk for severe disease. But when it’s my baby girl any risk feels too high.
@JennyPenny: Oof, that’s rough that there was covid on day 1, but good to know that the spread was limited.
@Bluemasonjar: I saw that too. I do need to think about how daycare will be beneficial for her in terms of learning and opportunities to do thing other than play with the same toys in our living room.
@josina: Thanks for that perspective. We are still isolating hard—DH’s work is remote until at least June and my new job is permanently remote and we’ve done some distanced friend time but don’t do indoor dining or anything else unnecessary—so daycare is 100x more exposure than we’ve had up until this point. It will literally be the first time DD is inside a building that’s not our house since March. I have to remember that there are people working in offices and going to restaurants and they are mostly fine.
@MrsSCB:
Sorry you stress about it. If it helps I’m right there with you. I agree that it’s when rather than if we have exposure. It’s awful that our country has turned keeping people safe from a deadly/debilitating disease into a culture war. But it seems like the mitigation procedures are working where they’re used consistently. My last job was on a college campus and there have only been onesie twosie cases including one where the student lived in a double room and not even his roommate caught it.
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My daughter's daycare closed for April and May, but opened again in June. We started sending her 3 days a week in Sept since even though we are both working from home, it became impossible to get anything done when she was awake (she's 17 months.)
The daycare is a small center (not a chain) and they are taking tons of precautions. Teachers wear masks, parents aren't allowed inside so kids are picked up and brought outside for drop off and pick up, everything is sanitized throughout the day, they check the kids temperatures every morning before they are allowed to go in, and we have to fill out a 15 question health questionnaire every morning confirming that our kids do not have any symptoms. If they are sick, even just a runny nose or allergies, they are not allowed in daycare until they either don't have symptoms anymore or get a drs note stating that it's not covid and they can attend daycare.
It all seemed overwhelming at first, but it makes us feel pretty comfortable sending her there when we know how diligent they are. Everything has gone smoothly and she seems happy to be back with other kids. There have been no covid cases at daycare either.
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Our boys are 7.5 and 2. September we started back at daycare, in person school and going to the office. I’m not going to lie, September was pretty stressful. But it was definitely worth it. Both boys are doing so good around their peers. And back with their daycare family. And I’m a better parent when I’m not trying to work and parent all day.
They’ve both missed almost a whole week one after the other due to stuffed up noses. That was the only cold symptom, so we had to wait for it to clear before they could go back.
Daycare has lots of new rules and I think it was harder for us as parents. We have to temp at home and fill in a questionnaire each morning. They temp when they arrive and when they leave. The teachers meet them at the door at daycare with masks and parents don’t go in. The teachers don’t wear masks when they are in the rooms unless they choose too. We feel they are doing a great job in a challenging time.
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Just wanted to echo the majority and say it is going well. I had our third baby in May and really struggled when we put the older two back in a larger daycare center at the end of July. It has gone remarkably well and the kids are thriving. Only the teachers are masked and so far no shut downs.
It is completely expected to be uncomfortable and uncertain, we are all running on fumes these days with all the stress. Your mental health and ability to work are important though and I hope the experience proves to be positive for everyone!
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My 1st grader is in school, as is my almost 4 year old in pre-k. I would've sent the baby (9 months) but my salary got reduced. But I am re-thinking it as DH is currently taking him on full time while still also working and it's proving to be too much. But I'm currently trying to weigh between sending him to daycare vs having my mom over (but only when the girls aren't home + mask on). But for the girls it's been going well; we are not a surge state and there has been very few cases reported in the public school system (none at daycare).
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I may have spoken too soon saying things are going smoothly - a teacher at my son’s daycare tested positive Saturday and we are now in a 2 week quarantine for several classes at the daycare. Hoping there is no spread but even then it’s hard to have the disruption for 2 weeks!
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I understand the feelings you are having. We had my son (2 years old) home with us for about a month in the beginning and it was completely unsustainable, everyone was unhappy, including my son. We couldn't get any work done. When his preschool opened back up at the end of April we sent him back. They had good safety measures in place. We sent him to a different preschool in the summer and it was also fine. He is back at his regular preschool and everything has been fine so far (knock on wood). He enjoys going to preschool and I know he enjoys and benefits by being around other children his age. We have been very lucky so far that we have not had any COVID illnesses at either of the preschools in the past 7 months. I know that time is limited though as we move further into cold and flu season. I am definitely nervous but the alternative of having him home with us is not sustainable.
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My son has been back in daycare since the beginning of July. In the past month or so there have been a couple cases here and there with the teachers that caused a few classrooms to be closed. That all culminated with the center being closed completely from yesterday (10/23) until 11/02 because 60% of the staff is out either because of being positive or because they don't feel comfortable coming in. With that being said, there have been no cases among the children, only the teachers, so even with a fairly large outbreak with the staff they must be doing something right to keep the kids healthy. Thankfully our son's class didn't have any teachers who were sick, his teacher was only of the ones who didn't feel comfortable coming in because she had other health concerns. As much as it is going to suck having our 2 year old home for the next week we're glad that his daycare is doing what needs to be done to keep everyone safe.
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@Marfi: small children are much more likely to be asymptomatic so unless the kids in the exposed rooms did asymptomatic testing you really can’t rule it out. I hope they’re able to reopen soon!
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@Marfi: Oof. I'm sorry to hear that your center closed, but good to know at least that they've been mostly able to control it when it pops up and that they're not pushing people to come in when they don't feel comfortable.
do have any extended family who could help?
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