On Monday I brought home the forms for the daycare facility in which I will be enrolling Beanie.
My original plan (this is when I got pregnant) was to have a nanny for Beanie for about 6 mos. Then when I visited the different daycare earlier this year, I saw smaller babies having a ton of fun playing and interacting with each other, not to mention that the teachers were all "child development" experts and they had a lot of learning games for development of babies brains. I realized that neither I, nor a nanny, could provide that level of stimulation. Not to mention all the toys and games they had especially created for infants.
Upon seeing that I decided I would put Beanie in there much sooner, around 3 mos. However, now that she will be 3 mos next week (yikes), I have got cold feet and pushed it back to four months.
My nanny will be finishing up the first week in July. I only had her for the summer, after which my Mom and I will take care of Beanie until the beginning of August. I plan to take a week off in July so that will be nice too.
I am still undecided if I should start Beanie full-time right off the bat or part time. I am thinking maybe M/W/F for a month and then daily. I also plan to start for a couple of hours and build up to about 6 max.
Luckily the place is very flexible. Once I decide on daily or part-days, I don't need to have fixed hours of drop off and pick up which work well for me. I will however want to be consistent so Beanie has a schedule and it not confusing to her being dropped at all different times of the day.
My biggest worry is her getting germs being around so many kids and falling sick, but I guess I cannot insulate her from the world :-(
For those SMCs which kids in daycare, what age did you put them in, for how long and did they get sick a lot?
Today when going for a walk in the morning I saw a turtle crossing someone's driveway.
It made me remember the turtles I saw last year during my TWW for Beanie and I realized that this time last year, June 19th to be exact, I started poking myself with Lupron and swallowing Estrace in what was my last and final stab at a DE cycle. After the fiasco that was the previous donor cycle which really shook my confidence, the mad dash to get another egg donor, and having one last vial of sperm left, this was my Hail Mary to get some good embies. I re-read my post today from that date and I sound so burnt out, and I really was!
I just wanted to go through the motions and had no expectation of even getting a good blastocyst, leave alone getting pregnant. I had already started mentally planning my life without baby hoping that would make the sting of the inevitable BFN, less. And while I have always been optimistic that a good 5-day blast would implant, getting the good embryos had been a challenge.
I still cannot believe it turned out a BFP and now I have Beanie!!!
What a difference a year makes! :-) I remember when you saw the turtles - true serendipitous signs! I'd want to ease into daycare, too, if I had that option. That's cool about the workers there having lots of ECE/early developmental education. Hope you get some good feedback from other moms.
ReplyDeleteI remember your turtles...& have noticed the tone of your blog progressively changing since Beanie's birth...it's so obvious how happy you are!
ReplyDeleteH has been in day care, full time (four 10 hour days a week primarily), since she was 9 weeks old. She is a very happy baby, and since starting day care, she self soothes like a champ, naps anywhere you lay her, and sleeps consistently thru the night from 8:30 to 5:45. I would love to only have her there part time, but it just isn't an option and you're exactly right, I can't give her the stimulation and curriculum that day care does. The guilt of having her there is slowly starting to ease the more I get to know her teachers and the other babies in her class. And so far so good, no colds. However, I've never really shielded her from anyone or any situation and my personal belief is you have to acclimate
ReplyDeletethem to a certain degree of dirty in an effort to avoid those pesky colds. I hope you are as happy with Beanies day care as I am mine, it's a relief. And I'm jealous of your week of vacation in July. :)
I've followed your blog here and there for a little while now, and I'm so happy for you that you were able to have your baby and that motherhood seems to be going well. I hope this doesn't offend, but I felt a little unsettled by your statement that " I realized that neither I, nor a nanny, could provide that level of stimulation. Not to mention all the toys and games they had especially created for infants." I just wanted to make a quick comment on this. I don't think there's anything wrong AT ALL with putting a baby in daycare (or with a nanny) - and goodness knows that a single mother is going to need some sort of help! But something made me feel a little sad in reading what you had written, so I thought I would perhaps come back and try to sort out why this feeling had arisen. Perhaps it was because somehow you seemed to view the daycare as superior to your own loving care of your baby (I know you likely don't actually feel this way in reality, but it sort of came across this way, as you were deliberating about whether or not to keep your baby out of daycare a little longer).
ReplyDeleteI have several close friends and family who work in paediatric occupational therapy, who have made comments in the past about a trend in our modern society to in fact over-stimulate babies, and to view fancy toys with flashing lights and sounds, etc., as mandatory to their development, when these can also make children more reliant on high levels of stimuli to maintain interest, and less able to simply entertain themselves through independent, creative and imaginative play. At any rate, I'm sure the daycare is wonderful, as it sounds like it is. But I would hope that no mother questions whether the ideal spot for her infant is really right there with her. Babies can surely thrive in a multitude of environments, as they are smart and resilient little creatures, and I know there are benefits to educational games and socialization. But if you are able to keep that little one with you for a little longer at such a young age, I hope you will consider doing so without a trace of fear that you are depriving her of anything. In other words, environments with lots going on and educational play has its merits, but so does the peace and quiet of a nurturing home, with play in the yard and storytime in mama's lap, or whathaveyou. The latter sets a foundation that is hard to beat. Best of luck, and again, absolutely no offense was meant here! Whichever course you choose will be just fine.
With warmest regards,
Katie R. (mother to one little one)
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DeleteThanks for your thoughtful reply, Katie. No offense taken at all. I agree that nothing can substitute a "mothers care". Gosh, in an ideal world I would have loved to be a SAHM, not work, and just bond with my baby. It is such an important time as you said. But of course I have to work, so maybe that statement is me trying to find a silver lining in having to put her there -- not that its necessarily better, but at least I feel maybe she is getting something good out of it, if she is missing out on bonding time with me.
DeleteI absolutely understand your position :) And your little darling will be in good hands, and will hopefully reap the benefits of having experiences both at home and at daycare. It must be terribly hard being a single working mom with a baby! I am in a different set of circumstances, so I can only imagine how challenging it must be at times. Blessings and best wishes,
Delete-Katie
its amazing looking back isn't it. So happy Beanie is doing so well!
ReplyDeleteUggg childcare...I haven't even delved into that world yet. We Canadians are so very fortunate to have a year maternity leave - I wish everyone had that. I'm absolutely terrified to start looking into childcare. I'm sure Beanie will do great in daycare - you're super thorough and I'm sure you've made sure it's a great place.
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