Feeling guilty about early drop off

[Anonymous]

OP, I also think it's fine but you may want to have DH drop off earlier top or at least get them up earlier so they're not waking up two hours later for half the week. That's almost like mild jet lag. I think any schedule could work for a kid as long as most of their sleep is done at night and the schedule is consistent.

[Anonymous]

The kids aren't delicate snowflakes. They will adjust to an early morning routine, so long as they go to bed early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't delicate snowflakes. They will adjust to an early morning routine, so long as they go to bed early.

Tell that to their brains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where on earth would you find a morning nanny from 7-9 am? I can’t imagine anyone willing to work such short hours.

There are people who would be willing to work 10-15 hours a week in the morning for some extra money. A college kid who has classes later in the morning or someone who can watch the kids in the AM and then go to a 9:30-5:30 job. Maybe a SAHM with older kids who wouldn't mind some extra money. I suspect that if you looked on CARE.com or talked to a service you could find someone. It is not that different then a college kid who picks your kids up from school and watches them until you get home. I have several friend who have this arrangement.

Look at these boards...part time care with short hours gets you the crappiest, flakiest candidates.

Agreed- many people who have never personally looked for this type of help are assuring us that "there are people who would be willing to work" those hours. Sure - for a week or two. It's my experience that often times (not always, but often) the people working those short shifts oversleep or just lose interest after a few weeks. And a college kid looking for a few extra hours - sure, it works for this semester but not next, then you have to find someone new.

OP - change is hard. Your baby will be fine with an early daycare drop off, especially as they'll be picked up so early! The first few days will be hard, then everyone will get used to the new schedule. Congratulations on the new job, and good luck!

Yep, nobody takes a crappy job for two hours a day plus commute and wear on tear on their car around here unless they're just using it as a stopgap while they hunt for full time work, or they have other more important priorities you'll get dropped for, like school.

[Anonymous]

That's the schedule we have now and it works well (and has worked well for years).

My wife goes in early and gets off at 3 pm. She was always home in the afternoons and it has made things so much easier now that they are older and in more activities.

Also, it has made weekends easier as she gets errands completed on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Even though I'm home in the mornings because I don't have to be at work until 9, the kids still get up early for school. All of ours are out the door by 7:30. Pretty much everyone is up at 5:45.

[Anonymous]

It sucks, OP, but it’s reality in our household. I teach middle school in FCPS. I have to be at school by 7. DS is dropped off at 6:40. We leave the house at 6:20. I wake him up at 6:15, change him into his clothes while he’s half asleep, and he eats breakfast in the car. I can pick him up by 3:30 and we have the afternoons together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's the schedule we have now and it works well (and has worked well for years).

My wife goes in early and gets off at 3 pm. She was always home in the afternoons and it has made things so much easier now that they are older and in more activities.

Also, it has made weekends easier as she gets errands completed on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Even though I'm home in the mornings because I don't have to be at work until 9, the kids still get up early for school. All of ours are out the door by 7:30. Pretty much everyone is up at 5:45.

OMG that sounds horrible. What time do you get up on the weekends? My kids rarely wake up before 7am and a lot of times I am dragging them out of bed at 8am (they are 2 and 4).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't delicate snowflakes. They will adjust to an early morning routine, so long as they go to bed early.

Tell that to their brains.

Actually all of the research shows that young kids are fine with this. All Loudoun County Elementary Schools begin at 7:50am. Our bus comes at 7:15 and we wake at 6:15. It’s really fine, I promise!

OP, lots of kids wake at 6am on their own! I wouldn’t sweat this at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's the schedule we have now and it works well (and has worked well for years).

My wife goes in early and gets off at 3 pm. She was always home in the afternoons and it has made things so much easier now that they are older and in more activities.

Also, it has made weekends easier as she gets errands completed on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Even though I'm home in the mornings because I don't have to be at work until 9, the kids still get up early for school. All of ours are out the door by 7:30. Pretty much everyone is up at 5:45.

OMG that sounds horrible. What time do you get up on the weekends? My kids rarely wake up before 7am and a lot of times I am dragging them out of bed at 8am (they are 2 and 4).

It’s not horrible. And your kids are majorly sleep deprived if you are “dragging” them out of bed at 8. That’s not normal.

[Anonymous]

OP, as someone who was at one time both the “first to arrive” and “late to leave” kid, I can tell you that the “late to leave” was worse. It’s so wonderful you’ll be home every day right after school! I was always so jealous of all the kids happily greeting their moms after school. I was always hungry and tired and just wanted to go home. Instead I got a loud room and some apple juice and graham crackers. I also remember, as a younger child your preschooler’s age, being so sad waiting for my mom to pick me up once the other moms started arriving.

But being the first in the morning was nice. I got the childcare worker's full attention until the other kids started rolling in. We would play games, listen to music and dance, read together, or just talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's the schedule we have now and it works well (and has worked well for years).

My wife goes in early and gets off at 3 pm. She was always home in the afternoons and it has made things so much easier now that they are older and in more activities.

Also, it has made weekends easier as she gets errands completed on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Even though I'm home in the mornings because I don't have to be at work until 9, the kids still get up early for school. All of ours are out the door by 7:30. Pretty much everyone is up at 5:45.

Sure - but out the door at 7:30 is VERY different than at daycare by 6:30. We are also usually out the door by 7:30, but it is hard to imagine leaving the house a full hour and fifteen minutes earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's the schedule we have now and it works well (and has worked well for years).

My wife goes in early and gets off at 3 pm. She was always home in the afternoons and it has made things so much easier now that they are older and in more activities.

Also, it has made weekends easier as she gets errands completed on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Even though I'm home in the mornings because I don't have to be at work until 9, the kids still get up early for school. All of ours are out the door by 7:30. Pretty much everyone is up at 5:45.

Sure - but out the door at 7:30 is VERY different than at daycare by 6:30. We are also usually out the door by 7:30, but it is hard to imagine leaving the house a full hour and fifteen minutes earlier.

We've done both and for our family, the early daycare drop-off was not at all harder than getting school-aged kids out the door by 7:30. When my twins were 9 mos-2 years old, we left for daycare at 6:10. But they were naturally awake by 5:30 or even 5am most of the time (even on weekends, unfortunately) so it was fine. We've always gone to bed early and they took nice long naps during the day. The daycare had no problem whatsoever with getting them dressed and feeding them breakfast, so it took 10 mins to get them out the door. I brought in clothes for the week on Mondays and took their laundry home with me on Fridays.

Now that they're 9, they wake up at 6:45 and we have to leave at 7:20-7:30 for school. It's tough to get them up and going sometimes, dressed for the day, having had breakfast or grabbing something to eat in the car, with backpacks and stuff for after-school activities and my work stuff to haul to the car.

I guess my point is that when my kids were little, they could adjust to whatever schedule they needed to. Trying to get my 9 year olds up at 5am on a regular basis wouldn't work at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where on earth would you find a morning nanny from 7-9 am? I can’t imagine anyone willing to work such short hours.

There are people who would be willing to work 10-15 hours a week in the morning for some extra money. A college kid who has classes later in the morning or someone who can watch the kids in the AM and then go to a 9:30-5:30 job. Maybe a SAHM with older kids who wouldn't mind some extra money. I suspect that if you looked on CARE.com or talked to a service you could find someone. It is not that different then a college kid who picks your kids up from school and watches them until you get home. I have several friend who have this arrangement.

Look at these boards...part time care with short hours gets you the crappiest, flakiest candidates.

Agreed- many people who have never personally looked for this type of help are assuring us that "there are people who would be willing to work" those hours. Sure - for a week or two. It's my experience that often times (not always, but often) the people working those short shifts oversleep or just lose interest after a few weeks. And a college kid looking for a few extra hours - sure, it works for this semester but not next, then you have to find someone new.

OP - change is hard. Your baby will be fine with an early daycare drop off, especially as they'll be picked up so early! The first few days will be hard, then everyone will get used to the new schedule. Congratulations on the new job, and good luck!

Yep, nobody takes a crappy job for two hours a day plus commute and wear on tear on their car around here unless they're just using it as a stopgap while they hunt for full time work, or they have other more important priorities you'll get dropped for, like school.

NP. Agree, but we've had the same morning nanny for going on 3 years. M-F 6am-8am, $250 weekly guaranteed 52 weeks whether we go on vacation, holidays, etc and gas reimbursed at IRS mileage rate. She has a full-time job after, so can't use her for school days off, but still worth having someone we know will be here and not flake.
I would say check Care and really weed through there.

[Anonymous]

I got an au pair due to my schedule. I too am a teacher and work 7 to 3, so aU pair is on duty 6:30 to 3:30. My neighbor is a nurse and she drops her kids off at daycare at 6:30 to make her 7am shift.

I love afternoons with my daughter. Walking to/from the library is our favorite.

Parents are early workers, so kids are early risers. Very early to bed for kids and parents. Sometimes i ear dinner in bed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's the schedule we have now and it works well (and has worked well for years).

My wife goes in early and gets off at 3 pm. She was always home in the afternoons and it has made things so much easier now that they are older and in more activities.

Also, it has made weekends easier as she gets errands completed on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Even though I'm home in the mornings because I don't have to be at work until 9, the kids still get up early for school. All of ours are out the door by 7:30. Pretty much everyone is up at 5:45.

OMG that sounds horrible. What time do you get up on the weekends? My kids rarely wake up before 7am and a lot of times I am dragging them out of bed at 8am (they are 2 and 4).

It sounds like your kid has sleep apnea. Do they snore? Have the pediatrician check their adnoids.