I don’t know what the right answer is. So far, our daycare has had no classes had to shut down for corona yet. I said to myself that I won’t pull my kid out now before that has happened. Idk what I will do after it happens.

OP here. On our fourth week day care adjustment is still not going well so it may be a "poor fit" decision on either the provider's part or ours. We'll see where things stand at the end of this week. If it doesn't work out we will be up a creek as far as childcare again, and not looking to start in a new place for at least a couple months due to covid and holidays, but i suppose it would be a relief on the health risk front.

Correcting my above statement "neither parent was sick". I meant to say, both parents were tested for COVID and tested negative, and never showed symptoms.

I'm going to be pretty nervous when they hit 25 per 100k daily new cases (live in a dif. area where we are at about 8, but rising). Somewhere before 50 daily new cases per 100k, I'd pull out. In between 25 and 50, I'm not sure where that line is. I'm hopeful that if cases get up to 50 per 100k, my local area would have enough restrictions that they would be able to get things back under control.

We were without childcare from March - July, and it was very difficult, but we are able to juggle do shorter stints. I have my toddler home this week because she has a runny nose and is not allowed to attend with symptoms.

It really depends what your other options are, if you expect the current outbreak to calm down any time soon, if you are optimistic that a vaccine is on the horizon, if you are convinced by studies.

I have a friend whose 1.5 year old contracted COVID at daycare. This is unfortunate, but... 1) they took no precautions caring for him at home, and neither parent was sick 2) no other kids at daycare caught it, just the worker. 3) kid recovered and it was no different than any other kid illness.

I think we’re going to keep our kids home the week after Thanksgiving and a week or two after Christmas when we’re taking PTO anyway. We’re not traveling or doing any socializing over the holidays but we’re worried about other families not being as cautious.

I'd be wary of sending your kid the week after Thanksgiving. It seems like plenty of people are still going to be gathering, despite the warnings, and I'd almost count on an exposure in the weeks that follow. Of course, it's not a guarantee.

But I did just have a friend test positive after getting it from her kid who got it at preschool. So it is possible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we are going to pull around Thanksgiving. The numbers are insane right now and I don't trust other families to not have holiday gatherings.

The numbers are greater because testing wasn't available in at the beginning of the pandemic as it is now. If we could have tested at the beginning of the pandemic, you would have noticed much higher numbers than their are today. You can do what you want, but to pull your kid during the holidays I believe would not be a smart move for several reasons. Firstly, preschool spots are in high demand as many preschools have closed and closed for good. People have been returning to work for some time now and need spots for their children. Secondly, every bit of research out their notes that preschools are very low risk to catch COVID. Also, children statistically much less likely than adults to contract COVID. Yale did this recent study:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/daycare-centers-are-very-low-risk-for-covid-19-transmission-study-says-11602699914#:~:text=Children%20in%20day%2Dcare%20programs,57%2C000%20U.S.%20child%2Dcare%20providers.

Again, do what you want, but make sure you review the facts. Science matters.

I mean, I agree with you that COVID was much more widespread in March than we knew, but 200k/day for something that will only increase with exponential growth is really terrifying.

And I appreciate that day cares do what they can to mitigate risks, but toddlers breathing all over each other is not something I'm comfortable with at this point. From Yale news page on the study you mentioned: "The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that exposure to child care was not associated with an elevated risk of spreading COVID-19 from children to adults, provided the child care programs took multiple safety measures — including disinfecting, handwashing, symptom screening, social distancing, mask-wearing, and limiting group size — and were located in communities where the spread of COVID-19 was contained." (emphasis added) I think there will soon be very few communities where that is true.

My kid is in daycare, too, and I wish I could feel comfortable with it, but this is just too out of control right now so I think we will pull pretty soon.

Given your concern, I would not send back after Thanksgiving. Wait until this area peaks and goes back down, which could be a couple months. Don't wait until exponential growth is out of control.

Anonymous wrote:If you have extra money at all and have been sending your kids to daycare, consider tipping each worker in cash before the holidays. Put your money where your mouth is on all the appreciation you have for these people who are also most likely black and female and well underpaid with no sick leave and crummy health insurance if any.

We always do this, Covid or not. I hope you did it before Covid too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are keeping our son home after Thanksgiving and through the end of the year/early January. But he only goes 3 mornings per week and we have a full-time nanny. If we had to send him full-time for childcare and did not have the option of hiring full-time in-home care, I would send him.

Our early elementary school child will continue in-person as long as the school is open because I really trust the measures they have in place -- as long as it's not raining or super cold, they are outside with masks all day long. When they must go inside, all doors and windows are opened.

You trust your elementary school more than your preschool to ensure health and safety measures are taking place? Your preschool must suck!

Yes, I do, because the elementary school is holding classes nearly 100% outside.

This is my biggest concern right now. I don’t trust other classmates’ families to stay home this Thanksgiving. I wish people would just be honest about their plans so that I can make an informed decision to keep my kid home for a few weeks after the holiday.

Anonymous wrote:We are keeping our son home after Thanksgiving and through the end of the year/early January. But he only goes 3 mornings per week and we have a full-time nanny. If we had to send him full-time for childcare and did not have the option of hiring full-time in-home care, I would send him.

Our early elementary school child will continue in-person as long as the school is open because I really trust the measures they have in place -- as long as it's not raining or super cold, they are outside with masks all day long. When they must go inside, all doors and windows are opened.

You trust your elementary school more than your preschool to ensure health and safety measures are taking place? Your preschool must suck!

We are keeping our son home after Thanksgiving and through the end of the year/early January. But he only goes 3 mornings per week and we have a full-time nanny. If we had to send him full-time for childcare and did not have the option of hiring full-time in-home care, I would send him.

Our early elementary school child will continue in-person as long as the school is open because I really trust the measures they have in place -- as long as it's not raining or super cold, they are outside with masks all day long. When they must go inside, all doors and windows are opened.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we are going to pull around Thanksgiving. The numbers are insane right now and I don't trust other families to not have holiday gatherings.

The numbers are greater because testing wasn't available in at the beginning of the pandemic as it is now. If we could have tested at the beginning of the pandemic, you would have noticed much higher numbers than their are today. You can do what you want, but to pull your kid during the holidays I believe would not be a smart move for several reasons. Firstly, preschool spots are in high demand as many preschools have closed and closed for good. People have been returning to work for some time now and need spots for their children. Secondly, every bit of research out their notes that preschools are very low risk to catch COVID. Also, children statistically much less likely than adults to contract COVID. Yale did this recent study:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/daycare-centers-are-very-low-risk-for-covid-19-transmission-study-says-11602699914#:~:text=Children%20in%20day%2Dcare%20programs,57%2C000%20U.S.%20child%2Dcare%20providers.

Again, do what you want, but make sure you review the facts. Science matters.

I mean, I agree with you that COVID was much more widespread in March than we knew, but 200k/day for something that will only increase with exponential growth is really terrifying.

And I appreciate that day cares do what they can to mitigate risks, but toddlers breathing all over each other is not something I'm comfortable with at this point. From Yale news page on the study you mentioned: "The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that exposure to child care was not associated with an elevated risk of spreading COVID-19 from children to adults, provided the child care programs took multiple safety measures — including disinfecting, handwashing, symptom screening, social distancing, mask-wearing, and limiting group size — and were located in communities where the spread of COVID-19 was contained." (emphasis added) I think there will soon be very few communities where that is true.

My kid is in daycare, too, and I wish I could feel comfortable with it, but this is just too out of control right now so I think we will pull pretty soon.

Anonymous wrote:If you have extra money at all and have been sending your kids to daycare, consider tipping each worker in cash before the holidays. Put your money where your mouth is on all the appreciation you have for these people who are also most likely black and female and well underpaid with no sick leave and crummy health insurance if any.

We always give each teacher a full months pay. Not sure we can do more but we can try.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since you all feel child care should be used no matter how bad the numbers get, child care workers deserve hazard pay and the same kind of respect we give other frontline workers.

Hope you are VERY nice to your child care workers.

Get over yourself. Where do you see disrespect for daycare workers?

Also thanks to the GOP, they would not have replacement pay if daycares closed. And many of them would not open again.

My point is that child care workers are cleaning and caring and getting exposed to your family’s germs for VERY little pay. Most have no benefits and very little PTO.

It seems like daycares should be charging hazard pay so they can pay the workers more during this time. Like double salaries. That would make sense to me.

Ok, so they charge double and the majority of families leave. Now these employees are out of work due to the center closing. I guess in your world unemployed is better than working for a paycheck? Many families can’t afford more than they already pay for daycare.