May Need to Use a Nanny or Day Care and Having a Really Hard Time with It...

A., It is so hard to have to do daycare when your baby is brand new. i am going to give you a name to call. Her name is Irma Heintz. She is wonderful. She has been licensed for more than 30 years. She has a waiting list quite often but every few years the children she has go off to school. If your lucky she will have space open She has children of children she kept years ago and in some cases now grandchildren of children she cared for. She is in Aurora off of sullivan road. her number is ###-###-####. give her a call
S.

I don't know where you live, but I need daycare as well and also had a hard time with it. Then I met Mary Beth, and now I have NO trouble dropping my son off at all.

I LOVE her. I leave Finn for long stretches, and am a doula so I never know how often it will be. She's flexible, kind, and the most loving person.

Her name is Mary Beth Stasny and she is listed in the mamasource directory under Mary's Little Lambs. Read her reviews. They speak for themselves, and you will love her, too. I drive about 40 minutes out of my way for her, because I love her and won't leave him anywhere else.

She's located in Bolingbrook, and more wonderful than family-- I promise!

My daughter was quite a bit older than yours when I went through this, so it's a bit different. I needed help with my daughter when my son was born and we had no family around. I looked into daycare centers for 2x a week, but decided to go with a part-time nanny at home. There were a few reasons why: I wanted my child/children to be in their own home; I wanted to decrease the chances of recurrent illness/ear infections while I had a newborn at home; it gave me an option to observe what was going on and help influence the nanny on activities and discipline; and I wanted complete control over my kids' sleeping schedules (the Day Care Center I liked best pushed their 15 month olds into one nap a day, and I didn't appreciate that "one size fits all" approach.)

The part of a daycare center I liked was that there were other children around and it would help introduce social skills to my daughter earlier. They offered a bit of structured activities (like early, early school). And my husband was concerned about allowing a "stranger" to have free run of the house. (But we didn't have any issues!)

For us, nanny care at home was the way to go. I kept her until my son was about 6 months old and both my children grew to love and trust her.

There really isn't a right or wrong answer. These are simply my personal feelings and preferences. Only YOU will know what is best for you and your daughter. Go take a tour of a few day care centers and see what you think. Interview a few nannies and see what you think. Best wishes to you and your daughter.

I'll admit right off the bat that I am biased cause I am a home daycare provider and have over 20 yrs experience in daycares, being a nanny, working in schools, etc.

Being in QUALITY daycare gives your child
*a teacher who is trained in nutrition and sleep and can teach your baby to eat and sleep well and teach you how to help this happen
*socialization which you may not realize is very important even at that age
*if the teacher is trained they will know to give interaction to the infant in ways that will promote brain development
*a schedule to the child's day (if it's a good place)
*exposure to illness which makes them less sick in elementary school

Ok, so the last one was stretching it. But if you chose a quality place it can be such a great experience for your baby and for you.

N.