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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>I'm Having a C-Section. What about My DCFs?
NaptimesMyFav 05:31 AM 11-25-2014
Hi! I'm just wondering if anyone has experience with this and what happened for you. I've been doing daycare in my home for less that a year and just fou d out I'm pregnant with our third. Dd is almost four, ds will be 2 in may and baby is due in july. I'm a previous c-section x 2 and I was just wondering what others have done about maternity leave? I know only taking a couple weeks off is not an option. I won't be allowed to even lift my own older kids for a while and I will need a lot of rest and help for the first couple weeks. I want to take six weeks to adjust having 3 of my own and to make a full recovery. I'm just worried about losing all of my DCKs. Also, I breastfeed my babies so do any of your have experience breastfeeding a newborn and doing daycare? Any tips? Thanks!
Shell 05:51 AM 11-25-2014
I didn't have a c-section, but I was induced, so we had a pretty good idea of when the baby was coming. The fact that you will have a definite date is a plus, so parents will know exactly when they need to keep the kids home/grandparents, etc. However, taking off six weeks is considered a lot to many working parents, and you may lose some families, to be honest. I was planning on two weeks off, and I had one dcm that gave me an issue about it, and I wound up only taking one week off! Is it possible for you to hire an assistant or have a family member help you out during daycare hours for a few weeks? My best advice for you is to do what you need to do- if families leave, you can eventually replace them. The dcm that gave me the most issues about my maternity leave ( the one I mentioned above) wasn't the best client, and maybe if she had left then it wouldn't have been terrible, in retrospect.
kitkat 07:32 AM 11-25-2014
I had 2 scheduled c-sections. One was on the scheduled date, but the other was a week sooner because my water broke. For the first c-section, I think I took 4 weeks off and then slowly added families back in. I only had 2 families, and both had family to watch their kids, so I could take my time. The 2nd c-section I only took a few weeks off, but DH was here to help me for a total of 6 weeks. Since your baby is due in July (congrats by the way), it might be easier for parents to find a high school kid to fill in while you take time off, than if you were having a winter baby.
As far as breast feeding, can't help you on that one. I couldn't bf, so I pumped. That didn't go so well with dck...couldn't do it in private and it was very awkward to try to cover everything up. Since you won't be hooked up to a machine like I was, it shouldn't be an issue. After awhile, I'm sure the dcks won't even notice.
As far as breast feeding, can't help you on that one. I couldn't bf, so I pumped. That didn't go so well with dck...couldn't do it in private and it was very awkward to try to cover everything up. Since you won't be hooked up to a machine like I was, it shouldn't be an issue. After awhile, I'm sure the dcks won't even notice.
Indoorvoice 08:06 AM 11-25-2014
I don't have advice on c-sections. However, my friend is hiring an assistant to come in for 4 weeks to do all of the daycare work for her after she has her baby. You would be out the money anyway if you were closed, so I think that is a good option if you want to keep your families.
As for breastfeeding, I didn't have a daycare yet when I was breastfeeding, but I did have my toddler running around. One thing that helped me was to have a "nursing box" full of special, fun, unique toys that she only got to play with while I was feeding. It usually kept her busy enough for the duration of the feed and I'm sure you could set up something similar for dcks!
As for breastfeeding, I didn't have a daycare yet when I was breastfeeding, but I did have my toddler running around. One thing that helped me was to have a "nursing box" full of special, fun, unique toys that she only got to play with while I was feeding. It usually kept her busy enough for the duration of the feed and I'm sure you could set up something similar for dcks!
Annalee 08:54 AM 11-25-2014
I didn't plan on having a c-section but did with my first....I closed for 7 days then came back to work with my assistant, my mom....I made it fine...actually, I think I was better to get up and get moving but I was careful....
Play Care 09:23 AM 11-25-2014
I had my second child while doing dc - no c-section but wound up on bed rest for most of the 3rd trimester. And then I took 6 weeks off. Yes, it hurt financially but I'm okay with that.
finsup 10:24 AM 11-25-2014
I've had 2 c-sections, my son was the first, that was before I started doing the daycare. My daughter was the second and by the time she was born I had been doing daycare for about 3 years. I took 2 weeks off (the c-section made it really, really easy for parents to find alternative care so that was nice). 2 weeks was fine for me. But I have a pretty small group. I breastfeed as well and you'll just work it into your routine If you can get more then 2 weeks that's great, but there is the risk of loosing families. Esp. if you haven't had them that long to begin with. Look at what you can handle income wise, if you can afford to loose families then take as much time as you want! If you can't, maybe see if you could have someone come in and help so you could be open again sooner? Or, if you've got good families, talk to them. See what they'd be ok with and go from there.
If you can get more then 2 weeks that's great, but there is the risk of loosing families. Esp. if you haven't had them that long to begin with. Look at what you can handle income wise, if you can afford to loose families then take as much time as you want! If you can't, maybe see if you could have someone come in and help so you could be open again sooner? Or, if you've got good families, talk to them. See what they'd be ok with and go from there.
Annalee 10:30 AM 11-25-2014
Originally Posted by finsup:
I've had 2 c-sections, my son was the first, that was before I started doing the daycare. My daughter was the second and by the time she was born I had been doing daycare for about 3 years. I took 2 weeks off (the c-section made it really, really easy for parents to find alternative care so that was nice). 2 weeks was fine for me. But I have a pretty small group. I breastfeed as well and you'll just work it into your routine If you can get more then 2 weeks that's great, but there is the risk of loosing families. Esp. if you haven't had them that long to begin with. Look at what you can handle income wise, if you can afford to loose families then take as much time as you want! If you can't, maybe see if you could have someone come in and help so you could be open again sooner? Or, if you've got good families, talk to them. See what they'd be ok with and go from there.
My parents paid for my 7 days...I was already charging 52 weeks a yr when I had my kids....Each week I took with my 2 kids fell from wed to wed so they only missed parts of 2 weeks..... I didn't loose anyone but it was just a week. I've had 2 c-sections, my son was the first, that was before I started doing the daycare. My daughter was the second and by the time she was born I had been doing daycare for about 3 years. I took 2 weeks off (the c-section made it really, really easy for parents to find alternative care so that was nice). 2 weeks was fine for me. But I have a pretty small group. I breastfeed as well and you'll just work it into your routine
If you can get more then 2 weeks that's great, but there is the risk of loosing families. Esp. if you haven't had them that long to begin with. Look at what you can handle income wise, if you can afford to loose families then take as much time as you want! If you can't, maybe see if you could have someone come in and help so you could be open again sooner? Or, if you've got good families, talk to them. See what they'd be ok with and go from there.
NaptimesMyFav 04:32 AM 11-26-2014
Thanks all! I'm not too worried about breastfeeding with the dck here. I breastfed both of my first and was still bfing ds when I started daycare. I just know how much ti.e it can consume with a newborn compared to 8 month old. I might talk to my sister who is in college about being a backup for when I'm on maternity leave. She would probably appreciate the extra income for the summer! And one of my families are both teachers so they won't be bringing dcb for the summer. I only have one other full time dcb, the rest are drop ins so hopefully they will be happy with that arrangement! I appreciate your ideas!