You will need the leave later to survive the wave of limeades your kid will get at daycare. It’s natural and nothing to be afraid of but worth planning for. Loved having my kid at on-site daycare. It made the transition back to work so much easier. Do it!!

Anonymous wrote:I’d quit my job and raise my own child, but you do you.

Then you should definitely do that. How do you have time to post when you’re so busy raising your own child?

Take the spot, work PT your first few weeks back (giving you and baby time to adjust), and save the rest of the leave for later

Anonymous wrote:I’d quit my job and raise my own child, but you do you.

So you’re going to sponge off your husband? Lazy.

Anonymous wrote:I’d quit my job and raise my own child, but you do you.

An enormous part of raising a child is putting food on their table, and a roof over their head. Sounds like you are only doing a portion of parenting.

Anonymous wrote:I’d quit my job and raise my own child, but you do you.

Good for you, do you want a award for it? Go away you jerk and Shane on you

Anonymous wrote:I’d quit my job and raise my own child, but you do you.

Go away. Take the spot OP.

I’d quit my job and raise my own child, but you do you.

Anonymous wrote:Agree that you take the spot. Use the spot part time and stay on leave if you want and can afford, at least for 1-2 weeks to ease baby in and have time to do things like doctors appts and hair cuts. Then have more leave for the inevitable daycare illnesses and for actual vacations!

+1 Thus would be my *dream* having a last month off leave with super part time childcare you could use to get some time to yourself and ease the baby in. Space for bottle refusals and bad adjustments and whatever without work breathing down your neck and plenty of leave saved up for the inevitable colds in the next three years.

Take it! I was given a spot at the daycare at my employer and I paid to hold it for several months because the baby wasn’t even born yet. At ours you can get on the waitlist before you’re pregnant. $7000 wasn’t easy to fork over but I love the short commute down the elevator for pickup!

Agree that you take the spot. Use the spot part time and stay on leave if you want and can afford, at least for 1-2 weeks to ease baby in and have time to do things like doctors appts and hair cuts. Then have more leave for the inevitable daycare illnesses and for actual vacations!

I wouldn’t turn down the spot since it’s at your work. That will make life so much better!

Take the spot. Save the leave for days off down the road.

I would take the earlier spot, especially assuming some of the "leave you've saved up" is sick leave or vacation leave, which is not ideal to use as a stretcher for parental leave. You will be climbing the walls ready to go back and be around adults at 5 months if you're anything like me and my mom friends

Onsite daycare at work is the DREAM, OP

We’re being offered an infant daycare spot for when my baby will be 5months. I could probably stretch another 2-3 months (8 month old at that point) with all the leave I’ve saved up. The question is, should I risk giving up a spot given how hard it is to get spots but then save a ton of money? The daycare is at my work so it’s the ideal setup