I was just talking with our daycare about what our options are for when I'm on maternity leave. We are able to drop him down to part time, if we want to. I want to keep him in daycare and not completely change his routine. I wanted to see what others have done in this situation. Did you go part time or did you have them go full time? If you went part time, did it matter what days you sent them? For example, is MWF better then TWTh? Thanks!
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Honestly, if finances weren't an issue I would keep the first in daycare full time. I think keeping the routine is important and also, you are just going to need all the downtime you can get with a new baby.
I'm a SAHM and my second is due in a month. My nearly 3 year old goes to preschool 2 mornings a week and I am already wishing she would be gone more. I love her dearly, but she's a handful
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@MUI831: I think my first choice would be every day with shorter hours, like our center has an option for 9 to 230. That way lunch and nap are taken care of and I don't have to worry about battling that too. I know it's not the same thing, but over the summer when I am not working, I want DS to stay in a routine so he will continue going to daycare Monday Wednesday Friday with shorter hours.
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@meredithNYC: @travellingbee: All good points. We really do need to look at our finances to see what we can handle.
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@MUI831: No experience with this myself, but my sister and BIL struggled with this decision so decided to keep their eldest in care full time as normal for a few weeks as a trial, and decide from there. Even though theytook a HUGE financial hit, they ended up keeping her in full time for the whole year my sister was on mat leave and have absolutely no regrets about it - she was at a difficult age, struggling with dropping her nap, and not coping well with the transition to siblinghood. Because my sister had the days with the baby, she could devote a lot more time to her eldest in the mornings and evenings and had to do a lot less juggling. It was just barely financially possible for them but they made it work by sacrificing some other things.
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I'll be off for a year - I'll be sending DD to daycare part time, T-W-Th (that's all they offer). She loves going to daycare so I hate to pull her out for a full year, but I also don't want to be paying for full time if I'm home all year.
If I had a short maternity leave I would be keeping her in daycare full time
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I'll be off 12 weeks and will send LO1 full time. I'll probably have her do shorter days, maybe 9-4 instead of her current 8-6.
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LO 1 stayed in daycare FT during the first month and half after LO 2 was born before we switched to PT.
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I'm keeping E in full time daycare
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I would totally send my daughter full time of it were close to my house and we could afford it!
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We dropped her down to the minimum two days. But I was also unemployed. But even if I weren't I think I would do the same. Two days keeps her spot, keeps a semblance of routine, gives me a break and still allows her time at home with me and get acquainted with baby.
Our thought was we didn't want her thinking baby gets to stay home all the time with mommy but she has to go to school.
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I'm home for the year on mat leave and have both girls home with me. They are just under two years apart. It has been so much easier than I expected and I really enjoy having #1 around. She's at such a fun age right now. The baby sleeps a lot so I'm able to focus my attention on #1 for most of the day.
I may send her to part time preschool in the fall, but right now I love having her home!
Also, spending $25k on day care when I'm home anyway seems nutso to me. -
I was only on leave for 8 weeks, but LO1 stayed in daycare full time. I never even considered keeping her home with a new baby. I was also collecting a paycheck for most of my leave so our financial situation didn't change while I was on leave (for the most part).
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I'm not sure how long your maternity leave is, but mine was 12 weeks and we continued to send our oldest to daycare full-time. It was the best thing to do for everyone. He kept his routine and he LOVES daycare and I was able to spend quality time bonding with the baby.
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We're going to send her full time. I do feel guilty about it because a sahm watches her and I feel guilty sending my kid to a sahm when I'm home myself, but it's her routine and I'm only taking 12 weeks. I think it would be really hard to get her back on track if I didn't. Also, I highly doubt our babysitter wants to go 12 weeks with no pay. I will probably keep lo home with me occasionally but I think this will work well in the long term
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We are not expecting #2 yet but I already know that we will keep LO in daycare full time when that time comes. I'll only be out for 3 months so it doesn't seem worth it to switch for such a short time, plus it will be way easier on me (and her too probably).
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We sent LO1 full-time so she could keep her old routine. And she could play with her friends. It worked out great, especially since DH had to travel while I was n maternity leave.
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My kiddos are 20 months apart. I dropped to part-time with daycare on MWF. It was great! He didnt seem effected by the schedule change. It broke up my week. Loved the extra time with my toddler. It was spring so we could go outside or on walks and I'd wear the newborn. That being said, LO2 was pretty low maintenance so that made it easier. I enjoyed it much more than my maternity leave with LO1, but I think there were several factors at play (first time mom vs.seasoned mom)
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If you can afford it, I say definitely keep full-time. Having a newborn is hard and who knows what kind of recovery you will have emotionally & physically. (I only have one LO but I had a hard time postpartum.)
If you are feeling great and want to, you can always keep LO home occasionally or pick him early. Depending on how long your leave is, you might even choose to drop down to part-time for the last month(s). But it would be nice to have the option to send him at the beginning, and he's already in a routine there.
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My LOs are 3 years apart and we kept the older one in full time daycare (I took off 4.5 months). It was great for him to have something familiar every day and nice for me to bond with the baby without feeling like LO1 was being left out.
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I haven't had LO2 yet, she'll be here in 5.5 weeks, but my DD1 is definitely going to be in daycare FT and then at the end of May transition to FT summer camp until she starts her new Preschool in the fall. I have always planned to do that, but all of my friends reinforced that this was the way to go in order to best make the transition....It pretty much made their maternity leaves no big deal. Because let's face it, once you've had time to see the capabilities of a 2 or 3 year old, a newborn is a relatively easy and rational person to be around all day:)
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Keeping her in day care/preschool will be factored into what maternity leave costs (since I will have to go unpaid for some weeks) we need to save before we have #2.
I think it will be better for her and two, I think it gives me time with just the new baby. -
I'm debating what to do- either keep LO in FT or do PT. I think ill feel bad sending her to daycare everyday while me and baby stay home. I might do everyday like a PP suggested, but do hours of like 9-3 or something.
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Every working mom I know has kept LO1 in daycare while on maternity leave with LO2. We intend to do the same when the time comes.
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I will be keeping LO1 in daycare fulltime. My maternity leave is only 10 weeks so there's no sense changing the routine. Plus she loves daycare. I might drop her off later or pick her up earlier... but she'll still go ft
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I kept my DS in FT
It was best for him and me!I loved having that alone time with DD just like I had with DS - plus I could nap/relax/lounge on the couch and not worry about chasing a toddler
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i am going to keep LO #1 in full-time daycare.
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Thanks so much for everyone's perspective. I am surprised to see that about 95% of people kept their LO's in full time but the more I thought about it, it does make sense. We really will have to look at our finances to see what we can afford. I only get 12 weeks and it'll be unpaid except for a small amount of STD. Unfortunately, I'm the main breadwinner so we won't have a ton of cash rolling in.
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