Daycare Dilemma

[jessmke]

At the end of June I will be going back to work and the kids will be in daycare 2 days per week. One of my good friends owns a nature school inspired daycare (lets call them Daycare A) run out of her home, but she only takes 6 kids and has a limit on the number of kids of each age she can take on (ie. only 2 kids under the age of 2). The last time I went back to work my friend didn't have room for Isla at her daycare, so we used a different daycare (lets call them Daycare B) out of our local community centre, but we still go over to Daycare A at least once a week and Isla plays with the daycare kids so she knows all the kids and is very comfortable there. Daycare B is also only supposed to have 6 kids at a time, but the provider is a little more relaxed and will take a few more if necessary, or bring her sister in to help her so they can take more kids. Isla absolutely loved it there, the daycare provider is extremely engaging with the kids and keeps them active and busy, but it is a very different feel to the nature school inspired daycare. So now the problem I'm having is where to send the kids to daycare when I go back to work, because neither of them have room for both the kids! Daycare A can only take one of them until December when Isla turns 3 and then they'll be able to take both the kids. Daycare B technically doesn't have room for both of them, but the provider said she'd "make" room for them, meaning she'll have more than 6 kids on the days my kids are there which I'm not super keen on. Declan isn't nearly as social and independent as Isla is, so I think he would do much better in a smaller quieter environment like Daycare A, plus I love that Daycare A has the kids outside as much as possible. So my options are to split them up for 5 months and send Declan to Daycare A and Isla to Daycare B until Isla turns 3 and she can then join Declan at Daycare A, or keep them together and send them both to Daycare B even though it might not be the best environment for Declan. Once Declan is used to Daycare B I would feel horrible uprooting him and taking him somewhere new, so I feel like if I take them both to Daycare B then that is just where they are going to have to stay.

Isla would be equally happy at either daycare, but I worry about Declan. I don't want him split up from Isla, it'll be hard enough on him to be away from me let alone away from his sister. But I worry about him not getting the attention or affection he needs when at a larger, noise facility with more kids. I also would feel really bad using one daycare for a few months and then moving them to her competitor, especially since the woman who runs Daycare B is such a lovely woman who Isla absolutely adores. But I know I just have to do what is best for my kids. We live in a very small community so unfortunately these are the only two daycares available to us.

The other option is to try to find a nanny to come into our home those two days a week until December when Daycare A will have room for both of my kids. I would prefer they go to daycare than have a nanny for the social aspects, but I would be ok with a nanny for the short term. Problem with this is that we live in a very small community, so trying to find a nanny is difficult unless we pay someone to come in from the city about 45 min away which could get quite expensive.

So what would you do in my situation??

 

[jessmke]

Yikes, sorry I didn't mean for that to be so long!

 

[Rainbow82]

If pick ups and drop offs are no problem I would send them to the different daycares and in December give your daughter a choice as to whether she wants to move or not.

 

[jessmke]

If pick ups and drop offs are no problem I would send them to the different daycares and in December give your daughter a choice as to whether she wants to move or not.

Thanks I think that's what I'm leaning towards as well. The daycares are only a few minutes apart by car and both are close to my work so it's no problem to drop them off separately. I was thinking that maybe once Declan adjusts to daycare they might enjoy time apart from each other twice a week.

 

[MrsC10]

If pick ups and drop offs are no problem I would send them to the different daycares and in December give your daughter a choice as to whether she wants to move or not.

I was thinking the same as well. If your little boy would struggle with moving after a few months of settling in, but would also struggle to fit in at daycare B then daycare A is definitely his best option.