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Jo123ABC 08:04 AM 09-02-2019
I'm planning on taking 8weeks for maternity leave (2weeks prior to due date and 6 weeks after) I have a tendency to have early labor as was the case with both of my kids (1st was 5 weeks early, 2nd was 4 weeks 2days early).

I'm afraid I'll lose daycare families in that time and have no policies in place for maternity leave. Should I have something in place to discourage leaving or help offset the financial hit if that happens? I'm afraid I'll get to the end of my leave and a parent will say they aren't coming back. I would like to avoid the added stress of interviewing and adjusting to new daycare kids right after having a baby.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome!
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Unregistered 01:54 PM 09-02-2019
Why are you taking two weeks off beforehand? It seems like you need five weeks beforehand.
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Michael 02:32 PM 09-02-2019
You should get out in front of it now. Let your parents know and update your contract/policies to include maternity leave. Here are some threads on maternity leave contracts and policy. https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...leave+contract
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rosieteddy 05:50 AM 09-03-2019
I would let parents know asap.What will your holding fee be?Eight weeks is a long time ,parents may just look to switch childcare.When I had to close for an illness,I lost everyone after 4 weeks.Frankly I didn't blame them.The children had settled into new places.You may want to reassess.Could you work up until the birth?What about hiring an assistant for some of the time.Maybe just 2 full weeks off then some help.Otherwise you may want to start interviewing for replacements.
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Cat Herder 05:54 AM 09-03-2019
Have you built up a waiting list? Savings?

I would expect to lose some families and plan for that in advance. How long do you have left to save?
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knoxmomof2 07:14 AM 09-03-2019
I took 2 weeks with my last one, but my babies come on time and the last one was a VBAC so very little recovery time compared to c-sections like my first 2 (but I didn't do daycare when I had them). Plus, I take 2 weeks of unpaid vacation a year anyway so I just save my vacation time and use it for leave. That doesn't put my families out too much if they're going to stay but gives me a little time to enjoy the new baby.

Last time, I had 4 kiddos and was due with my baby in mid November. 1 was leaving for Kindergarten anyway, 1 got free preschool, 1 had delays and moved on to a Special Needs Preschool program. My 4th was a part timer and she stayed since Dad was self employed and just worked around it.

So, expect a hit to your income. I waited until I felt ready to get back on the horse to fill spots again. I didn't want to rob myself or baby of those early days. Once she was on a fairly predictable schedule and we had breastfeeding down, I started advertising. I didn't like the loss of income but we made cuts here and there to offset and just dealt with it. I'm due now in December. Both times, I told my families when I was about 16 weeks along and told them my plans so that they had plenty of time to plan either way.

This time, I had 3 kiddos in care when I gave notice, 1 was already planning on sending their 3.5 year old to a PreK3 program, 1 can take baby to work with her whenever she wants and the other 1 plans to use a combo of their vacation time and family to deal with it. The good thing is, I'm due 3 days before Christmas so between Christmas and New Years they are off a bit anyway!

I'll do the same, wait until I feel ready to add, but with 2 littles of my own and 2 already in care, I'll probably only add 1 more. My children don't count in my numbers, but I don't want to spread myself too thin and then not enjoy my time with my own children or spread myself too thin businesswise.

So, that's my experience. With you going early, that complicates things. I will say that, while money is important, they're only little once and you don't want to miss out on things that are important with your babies. Our oldest 2 are 16 and 15, so I knew how fast it goes and not to take it for granted.

If you don't already have a deposit or required notice, now is the time to implement a required notice. It's hard to enforce if you don't have a deposit tied to it though and it's kind of late to implement a deposit now. If that's the case, just say that you would appreciate as much notice as possible if they decide your plans won't work for them and anticipate some income loss.

Good luck! I know it's tough, but we'll never get these early days back. The clients will always be there and always do what's best for them. You do the same!

With my last, I made a business decision that robbed my family of a special moment in the pregnancy. I took a brand new kid (first day) to my ultrasound appointment, not knowing that only 2 were allowed in the room at a time. I didn't want to leave the new kid with my Husband because I wasn't sure how well behaved he would be, so my teens never got to come in and see the ultrasound. learned from that and this time closed for the day, no exceptions. Yes, I lost income but having 2 older kids means finding special ways to bond them to these little guys because it's not going to happen as easily as when they're just a couple of years apart and grow up together. Just some perspective. Hope this helps as you make these decisions!

When are you due, btw?
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Jo123ABC 09:47 AM 09-03-2019
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Why are you taking two weeks off beforehand? It seems like you need five weeks beforehand.
Well, I'm hoping I don't deliver a premature infant this time around. I'm sure the Dr will work harder to avoid it.
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Jo123ABC 09:59 AM 09-03-2019
Originally Posted by knoxmomof2:
I took 2 weeks with my last one, but my babies come on time and the last one was a VBAC so very little recovery time compared to c-sections like my first 2 (but I didn't do daycare when I had them). Plus, I take 2 weeks of unpaid vacation a year anyway so I just save my vacation time and use it for leave. That doesn't put my families out too much if they're going to stay but gives me a little time to enjoy the new baby.

Last time, I had 4 kiddos and was due with my baby in mid November. 1 was leaving for Kindergarten anyway, 1 got free preschool, 1 had delays and moved on to a Special Needs Preschool program. My 4th was a part timer and she stayed since Dad was self employed and just worked around it.

So, expect a hit to your income. I waited until I felt ready to get back on the horse to fill spots again. I didn't want to rob myself or baby of those early days. Once she was on a fairly predictable schedule and we had breastfeeding down, I started advertising. I didn't like the loss of income but we made cuts here and there to offset and just dealt with it. I'm due now in December. Both times, I told my families when I was about 16 weeks along and told them my plans so that they had plenty of time to plan either way.

This time, I had 3 kiddos in care when I gave notice, 1 was already planning on sending their 3.5 year old to a PreK3 program, 1 can take baby to work with her whenever she wants and the other 1 plans to use a combo of their vacation time and family to deal with it. The good thing is, I'm due 3 days before Christmas so between Christmas and New Years they are off a bit anyway!

I'll do the same, wait until I feel ready to add, but with 2 littles of my own and 2 already in care, I'll probably only add 1 more. My children don't count in my numbers, but I don't want to spread myself too thin and then not enjoy my time with my own children or spread myself too thin businesswise.

So, that's my experience. With you going early, that complicates things. I will say that, while money is important, they're only little once and you don't want to miss out on things that are important with your babies. Our oldest 2 are 16 and 15, so I knew how fast it goes and not to take it for granted.

If you don't already have a deposit or required notice, now is the time to implement a required notice. It's hard to enforce if you don't have a deposit tied to it though and it's kind of late to implement a deposit now. If that's the case, just say that you would appreciate as much notice as possible if they decide your plans won't work for them and anticipate some income loss.

Good luck! I know it's tough, but we'll never get these early days back. The clients will always be there and always do what's best for them. You do the same!

With my last, I made a business decision that robbed my family of a special moment in the pregnancy. I took a brand new kid (first day) to my ultrasound appointment, not knowing that only 2 were allowed in the room at a time. I didn't want to leave the new kid with my Husband because I wasn't sure how well behaved he would be, so my teens never got to come in and see the ultrasound. learned from that and this time closed for the day, no exceptions. Yes, I lost income but having 2 older kids means finding special ways to bond them to these little guys because it's not going to happen as easily as when they're just a couple of years apart and grow up together. Just some perspective. Hope this helps as you make these decisions!

When are you due, btw?
I'm due in April so I still have some time! I think I'm going to tell parents around 12 weeks so they have plenty of time to make arrangements. I guess if they leave I'll figure it out. There's a pretty high demand for daycare in my area so I'm sure I'll be able to fill spots I just have a really good group now and don't want to start over. I might try to cut it down to 6 weeks with 2 weeks before off. I want to include the 2 weeks before because
1. I want to avoid the daycare kids making my family sick before baby is born
2. If I do go into labor early at least a couple weeks ahead were planned for
3. I had a rough time at the end of my last pregnancy because he was so low and pushing hard on my pelvis making walking really painful.

I don't think I'm going to bother with a holding fee. Hopefully my families are considerate of they decide to go and give me at least a two week notice (which is in my policy but I don't have money down for two weeks in advance so I can't really do anything if they leave without notice).
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knoxmomof2 01:43 PM 09-03-2019
I just looked at it as a blessing that my numbers went down since I couldn't really do much about it. I advertised to try and fill some spots, but the 2 week leave really discouraged any potential clients from starting with me. I was 6 months along with the last baby when Fall hit and the 3 moved on. Although I would have, I really wasn't in the mood to start with a new child and all the stress that entails while I was already feeling huge and waddling around... Lol and then having a new child to get used to afterwards while also trying to get used to my own new baby.... The good news is you have a while. Just save, save, save and make adjustments now financially so that the impact is as little as possible come Spring. With a 6-8 week leave, I would tell them as late in the pregnancy as possible (ie: wait until you just barely start showing) so that you have them as long as possible.
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Jo123ABC 09:26 PM 09-03-2019
Originally Posted by knoxmomof2:
I just looked at it as a blessing that my numbers went down since I couldn't really do much about it. I advertised to try and fill some spots, but the 2 week leave really discouraged any potential clients from starting with me. I was 6 months along with the last baby when Fall hit and the 3 moved on. Although I would have, I really wasn't in the mood to start with a new child and all the stress that entails while I was already feeling huge and waddling around... Lol and then having a new child to get used to afterwards while also trying to get used to my own new baby.... The good news is you have a while. Just save, save, save and make adjustments now financially so that the impact is as little as possible come Spring. With a 6-8 week leave, I would tell them as late in the pregnancy as possible (ie: wait until you just barely start showing) so that you have them as long as possible.
I live in a super small town though so I'm pretty sure they'll find out sooner rather than later anyway. One of the downsides of living in a small town and my own kids 5 and 3 yo know. They know it's a secret but they've slipped up a couple of times (only in front of close family so far luckily ) at least I know my nephew will be coming back so that's 1 that I have in the bag at least!
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knoxmomof2 07:08 AM 09-04-2019
Originally Posted by Jo123ABC:
I live in a super small town though so I'm pretty sure they'll find out sooner rather than later anyway. One of the downsides of living in a small town and my own kids 5 and 3 yo know. They know it's a secret but they've slipped up a couple of times (only in front of close family so far luckily ) at least I know my nephew will be coming back so that's 1 that I have in the bag at least!
Ah, yeah that makes it more complicated. That's good about your nephew!
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Tags:maternity leave, maternity leave contract
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