WWYD: Keep spot in daycare with strong precautions OR PT a sitter?

[Anonymous]

These are our best two options for our 4yo this fall. My husband and I both work remotely but between back to back conference calls and the fact that we’ll need to manage our 2nd grader’s distance learning, the juggling we’ve been doing this summer is not sustainable. We could probably keep doing it until late Sept but not much longer than that.

We have a spot at a daycare we love with very tight precautions (however they’ve had a couple of reported cases - teacher and kid, which they’ve handled really well). The alternative is trying to find a sitter for 4-6h a day, which will be tough, especially if we’re looking for someone who is strictly limiting their exposure.

What would you do?

[Anonymous]

I'll be in the minority when I say daycare. They will tire 4YO out and will be around kids again. Especially if you trust them. If we lived in Arizona or a place with terrible laws, I would say no, but I have a lot of confidence in our leadership in the DMV. We're not doing awesome, but we're doing OK.

[Anonymous]

I'd probably do daycare (I mean, we ARE doing daycare), but wouldn't feel great about it. No right answers here, and I'm guessing that crowd sourcing opinions will really just make you lean harder into the option you're already favoring. Go with your gut.

[Anonymous]

Personal call but I agree daycare does the socialization. She is too old to be around only adults (even with a sibling).

[Anonymous]

A friend who is an epidemiologist told us to choose what we thought is best for our child's development. Unless you have a high risk person in your family/home who will be exposed to the child.

[Anonymous]

I would say daycare. We have been paying to save our daycare spot and my DH is very cautious and won’t send our son in. But I don’t want to lose the spot and I would send him if not for my husband.

[Anonymous]

I would do daycare. I AM doing daycare right now. Finding a sitter for 4-6 hours/day isn't that easy and would add another person to your busy house during the day. Also the 4 year old will be much happier there.

I'm assuming that you don't have anyone high risk in your household. That would change my answer.

[Anonymous]

We're doing the daycare and keeping the older one at home for DL. My younger one LOVES daycare.

[Anonymous]

4yo and infant here. We are doing daycare. 4yo needs the socialization with others her own age, and our center seems to be taking precautions seriously.

[Anonymous]

Considering the distance learning, daycare sounds like a better fit for your family. Some days you might need to be more involved than others, and daycare will probably give you a little more breathing room on those hard days.

[Anonymous]

We are doing nanny. I think it’s pretty terrible to send your kid to daycare right now, unless you absolutely have to (eg one it both parents working outside the home). But everyone does things differently and that’s okay.

[Anonymous]

This decision should not be about the risk to the child. Of course there is a risk of serious illness from Covid in children, but it is very low (comparable or lower than other risks we expose our children to every day). How high-risk are the parents? Will the child be exposed to family members that are high-risk? In that case I would prioritize avoiding Covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are doing nanny. I think it’s pretty terrible to send your kid to daycare right now, unless you absolutely have to (eg one it both parents working outside the home). But everyone does things differently and that’s okay.

You don’t think it’s okay—you think it’s “pretty terrible.” It’s good that you can afford a nanny.

[Anonymous]

We had a similar decision and went with the nanny but mostly because our older kid is younger than your second grader so the nanny will sometimes help take care of him as he requires more supervision for distance learning than I imagine a second grader would. So one question is that- how much supervisions does your second grader need during the day? Could a PT sitter help alleviate some of the work with her as well? If not needed I would do daycare as it is likely less expensive and would be good for socialization for your younger kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are doing nanny. I think it’s pretty terrible to send your kid to daycare right now, unless you absolutely have to (eg one it both parents working outside the home). But everyone does things differently and that’s okay.

You don’t think it’s okay—you think it’s “pretty terrible.” It’s good that you can afford a nanny.

Many households have one or more parents now working out of the home. Not everyone can work from home for a year and not everyone who can work at home can watch young children at the same time. Not everyone can afford a nanny either. It’s pretty terrible you’d write that given that some people don’t have a choice.