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LO1 goes to daycare/perschool m-f 8-5ish and the school is 10 min from my office and 35-45 min from home. When I go on maternity leave in Jan LO1 will be home with me all day everyday for 12 weeks. Which will be fine, except I wonder if she will miss the structure and routine and be bored. I also am nervous if she will miss out or have setbacks on learning since she will be almost 3 1/2.

The other alternative is to find a new school near home and transition both to there. it has its perks - gives her something to do while new baby is adjusting to life outside the womb, hubs can more easily help with drop-offs and pick-ups, but the downside is we have to pay while i wont have income and we love her school, the teachers, the curriculum and the price.

DS goes to full time daycare now and will continue that. When DD is 12 weeks she will join him at the same daycare. We don't really have any other options. We both work a typical M-F full time, with no family care options.

LO2 is not here yet, but he is already signed for for full-time daycare at the same place that LO1 has been since she was an infant. He will be starting at 3 months. Since we already know and like our daycare, this has actually been an easier decision for us than it was the first time around.

It would have gone from a nanny share situation with #1 to a nanny with 1&2 if #3 hasn't come along so soon after 2. For now I'm home and will probably start with a nanny when I'm ready to go back to the office.

DS 1 goes to daycare 2days a week and DS2 starts going in Sept. Grandparents watch them 2 days a week and DH 1 day a week. I'm sad that I have to go back to work sooner this time around. Only 1 month left at home .

E luckily didn't have to start daycare till 3 months, but LO2 will probably start at 7 weeks...
So glad to be at an in-home so LO2 will be with DS all day.

Right now our schedule is M-F 7:30 to 5:30, with 2 in daycare I'd like to make that M-F 7:30 to 4 (DH gets off earlier and could pick them up sooner). That 1-1/2 hours will save us almost $150 a month.

@snowjewelz: i'd figure it out sooner than later so that you are more likely to get spot(s) for whatever you decide. is there a reason your DH/grandma couldn't just watch 2 on the same schedule? or are you thinking that DD will want/need more stimulation (more hours at daycare)? i generally vote for convenience, so i'd try to keep DD1 and 2 on the same schedule for the most part.

@snowjewelz: gotcha -- i know how he feels! haha.

if financially feasible, i'd keep DD1 at school even while you're on maternity leave. i think it's great for the older one to have that consistency and their "own" thing. but if not do-able, at least you have DH & family to help keep her occupied and allow her to go on special big girl outings.

It didn't change for us. LO1 continued at her preschool and LO2 is also in daycare.

I took 1/2 the school year off and G didn't start her dieters until closer to 8 months old!
She is M-F 8-5ish at her sitters
Days DH is off he might keep her home or pick her up resultresult
When DS gets here she will continue her schedule even while I'm on leave with DH I think it will be better!
I am off from his birth until Feb 21st so he will be 4 months and go full time with G!
I'm comfortable with him going at 4 monthsmonths!!

@snowjewelz: My in laws come together and will watch both boys. My mom comes alone so she will only watch 1. My older DS will be increasing to 3 days a week in daycare.

DD1 went to the Inlaws 3 days a week and a SAHMs house 2 days. Our sitter has a daughter her age it was perfect. Unfortunately she just gave birth, too and 4 kiddos will be too much for her in her small home. With two, we are doing Inlaws 3 days and a nanny 1 day since I'll be going back part time. We may do 2 and 2 depending on how my Inlaws are handling it - we don't want to burn them out!

Not sure yet if we will have a second, but if we do then we would probably not change our son's routine. He is 2.5 and goes to school in the mornings, and then we have a mix of grandparent and sitter care in the afternoons. We would probably just replace the sitter with a nanny that would be home with the baby in the mornings and then pick up our son after school.

In about a year, our son will be eligible for free public preschool, so that will take the sting out of the childcare costs. Even if I got pregnant today, we would only have one month of private preschool overlapping with a nanny before he would start the public program. It will still be expensive but we won't have to pay for double daycare.

ETA: Having someone at home at least part of the time is critical for me. Our sitter does some light housekeeping and gives our son his bath and dinner. If I didn't have that support, my evenings would be insane.

When I went back to work after #2, we got a nanny. I work part time and DS1 is in part time preschool (but starting 5 days in the fall). I didn't want to be bringing the kids to different places and schlepping 2 kids out of the house on my own in the morning. It's been great.

@Modern Daisy: once you find a great nanny, you'll be so happy! ours is amazing, does light housework, laundry, and anything to help make our lives easier.

@winniebee: yeah, our second nanny has been amazing, so I'm glad I listened to everyone and ditched the first one. Too many red flags and although letting her go was super awkward, it had to be done. And I didn't like...fire her, I just had a conversation and said it seemed like she was having a lot of family issues and it sounded like she needed some time to deal with all of that. Time away from my kids.

But yeah, our current nanny keeps the house spotless, takes the kids out all the time BUT sticks to their schedule (that one is important, some nannies stay out all day long, hanging out with their nanny friends and their charges), does their laundry once a week and totally puts it all away, not just washes and folds. And now we have someone we trust for date nights.