If you are having to break into savings for the nanny, you really should take the daycare spot. I think the risk of financial strain is worse than some enhanced virus exposure risk. Nobody at home is high-risk and daycares seem to be faring well with enhanced protocols.

Dear OP, I'm in the same boat except couldn't afford a nanny (two teachers remote teaching; baby conceived pre-pandemic). We started daycare this week. I feel guilty everyday; perhaps it will get better, but maybe it won't.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Low risk. Work from home. Do not see anyone else indoors or unmasked. Our parents live too far away to see regularly, so we assume we won't see them until after the vaccine.

The five waiting lists are for daycare, not the vaccine.

Unfortunately, we can't pay for both daycare and the nanny.

Thanks for the advice. I think we're going to take the daycare slot.

Aha. That makes more sense.

We’ve been sending DC to daycare since August. We’re at a large center, so there have been several cases this winter. But the daycare has excellent protocols, strictly separating classrooms and staff, and even using different entrances for pods of classrooms to avoid even brief exposure to other kids. There has been no community spread within the daycare. All the cases have been isolated and have not spread.

If you had high risk family members, I would keep the nanny. But if you’re risk, you need to decide how comfortable you are with the daycare’s protocols and your risk tolerance.

Just keep in mind that you may have to deal with Covid-related closures with day care. At our center that is operating 3 classrooms right now, one classroom closed for a week and another closed twice for a week and a half.

OP here. Low risk. Work from home. Do not see anyone else indoors or unmasked. Our parents live too far away to see regularly, so we assume we won't see them until after the vaccine.

The five waiting lists are for daycare, not the vaccine.

Unfortunately, we can't pay for both daycare and the nanny.

Thanks for the advice. I think we're going to take the daycare slot.

I think this depends on your individual circumstances. It does not sound like you are high risk if you're at the end of the vaccine line. Are you seeing anyone else? We chose to return to daycare because we are all low risk, working from home, and isolating from everyone else in our lives. Plus DD loves it and missed it. If I had an older relative living with me or something I would not be doing daycare. I am not exactly thrilled with the risk daycare brings but can live with it.

For what it is worth OP, I think several families at DD's daycare just started sending their kids back now. I know of one child whose parents kept him out for a while is now back, and a new baby is starting that was born a few months ago to a family with another child who has been in daycare all this time. DD is moving to a new classroom, I'm told it is now fully enrolled and I suspect it hasn't been until now.

My husband and I are both low risk. He's been going into the office the entire time. I teleworked until October, but needed to go back in person in November, so we sent our kids back to their daycare center. We know we've introduced a moderate risk. So far we've been lucky.

Because of the vaccine rollout, I think a lot of people are going to start "holding spots" and daycare/preschools again, in anticipation that they're going to enroll again. It doesn't sound like you can pay for a nanny and daycare, and if your top school has a waiting list right now, they'll have an even longer waiting list in the summer. Just something to think about.

How are you on 5 waiting lists if you don't qualify for the vaccine yet? This is like hoarding masks all over again.

Go for it. We paid in full for few months for keeping the spot,and we jumped to send my child in a few months later because we cud not do that anymore. Keeping him at home, yelling at him, seeing him watch TV full day, not able to work etc drives me crazy. My dh & grandparents are high risk, and none is vaccinated yet. So far, no one gets covid .I will take the spot now if I were you. We are sending our another 1.5 year old in summer .

We have been sending our kid to daycare since September. It has been fine. If the daycare has good protocols, the risk is quite low. Do you or your husband have health conditions that make you high risk?

We're starting to pay for day care in February to keep a spot, but I sort of feel like a chump for worrying about it because I'm nowhere near ready to send DC. Maybe if the covid stats go down a lot in March? Not going to wait until I'm vaccinated, husband is due to work but im a healthy 35 year old teleworker so it could be until next fall.

We’ve been sending DC to daycare this entire time since last June as I have to go in to work. It’s an in-home with 8 kids and they haven’t had to close even once. None of us are vaccinated yet.

I’d be looking at the hygiene of the people working with my child. If they seem meticulous in a sensible way, I’d take the spot.

Also, you and your husband should build your own immunity with excellent nutrition, exercise, sleep, etc.

We currently have a nanny, but this most definitely was not our pre-covid plan. We can just barely afford to pay the nanny right now. Some months we do it and break even, other months we dig into savings to pay her.

Our plan has been to accept a daycare slot ASAP once DH and I are both vaccinated. (we're on 5 waiting lists) Likely summer it sounds like since we're at the end of the vaccine line.

But we just got offered a daycare spot at our top choice to start next month.

On the one hand, it would be such a relief to have childcare we can afford locked in for the long-term. Who knows if we'll get in anywhere else? On the other hand, it would mean starting daycare before we really feel fully comfortable. Neither of us are high-risk, but with these new variants, it's hard to know if there will be a surge like the one in the UK right now.

What would you do?