Day Care mommy's

A few questions...

especially in the beginning - how many days of work did you miss b/c DC was sick? I have very limited vacation time and no personal time... I'm quite concerned about this.

Second - for the older babies... how involved were you able to be in milestones such as potty training. One center I visited said that they teach the kids this... I'm just concerned she may end up being pushed to do something she isn't ready for just b/c it's easier for the teacher if they are potty trained.

I'm new at this so I hope these aren't stupid questions... I'm still not 100% sold on day care being the best thing... I just can't afford to quite my job or hire a nanny... we don't have a bedroom to offer an au paire (sp?) nor do I want a stranger living with us. I do like the social aspect of day care... we want DD to be very social and less fixed on TV, video games and computers which we notice a lot of our friends kids are really into - yet they are oblivious when a new person walks into the room b/c they are more interested in things rather than people... we are hoping she'll make lots of friends that will last her a long time. So I do see at least one strength of using day care (other than cost).

TIA!

Re: Day Care mommy's

Since October I have missed about 2-3 days from work due to DS being sick. I have been lucky (somewhat) that for some reason a lot of his sickness has been on weekends.

Also, i have had my cousin and neighbor watch DS when he has been sick and I couldnt miss work (meetings, trials etc)

What i an trying to say is that I would have been out more without the back-up plans

Re: Day Care mommy's

Since February, I have missed around 3-4 days, but my job is pretty flexible. I am really happy with my daycare situation. I found that the anticipation was the worse, but after a week or so you get to know the teachers there and you will feel more comfortable.

Re: Day Care mommy's

Since March I have missed one day b/c he was home sick. I have left early twice (although once was at 4 when I leave at 4:30 normally)

We are a little flexible because DH is off Mondays, so if he gets sick towards the end of the week I can do Friday and Chris can do Monday.

Re: Day Care mommy's

Since my son has been in daycare (Jan 07) I am proud to say that I have only missed 1 day of work! My son never seems to get sick (touch wood)

At my daycare they want to help with the potty training rather than do the potty training. I have to let them know that we have started, and they will help during the day. They don't decide that its time for him, its still our decision.

Re: Day Care mommy's

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. Since October I've probably been out at least 7 times. My son got sick a lot (and he is only there 3 days per week). It hopefully slows down from here. Luckily my job is flexible though so I can work from home if I need to so as not to burn through my PTO days.

Re: Day Care mommy's

DD started in September and between now and then, too many sick days to count. My job was pretty accomodating and always paid me, but then I was cut down to hourly since I leave early a lot to get DS off the bus. So now, I don't get paid when DD is out sick which is still at least once a month or so I would say.

Re: Day Care mommy's

Wow - I'm a bit concerned... I have very little time available to me to be off. DH and I will have to work it out. Our jobs are "flexible", but this can be interesting. We are in sales so it's not like we have to report to an office, but if she's sick it sounds like we'll be running to doctors to get notes and such so she can return to day care. Some days are more flexible than others.

Re: Day Care mommy's