Nervous About Going Back to Work

From the perspective of a mother of two and a former head daycare teacher, look for a home daycare option with few children or a center with a three to one infant ratio (four to one is just too many). I worked in a center in the infant room with a four to one ratio and it just doesn't work as well as it needs to for adequate care. We had twelve babies and three teachers, which means someone is always changing a diaper or feeding someone a bottle. That leaves two teachers with 11 babies. In that type of environment, someones needs are not being met. For those reasons, I do home daycare now. There are alot of quality home environments out there, it just takes alot of looking. In a home daycare your child will get more one on one attention and alot more stimulation. Kids in home daycares tend to go more places like library storytime and parks where as for the most part, children in centers look at the same four walls day in and day out. Daycare can be a great experience for your child if you can find the right set-up. My advice: look, look, look, and look some more. Don't settle for the first thing you see. Good luck.

Oh...nothing will ever weaken the mother-baby bond as long as the mother is a caring one like you. My mom started to watch my little boy since he was 3 months old, then I had to work 70 hours a week for a little while soon after that. He just turned one a couple of weeks ago and now really looks for me and nothing seems to comfort him very much...according to my mom, who still watches him for me. He KNOWS that I'm his mommy who loves him most even though my mom's the one who spent more hours with him than I did. It's just amazing how a child knows things like that naturally. Like someone else said, a full-time job actually sometimes gives me a good break from the children to refresh myself. Don't worry.

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I have been on both sides. I was a stay at home mom with my daughter (she's now 12), and full time working mom with my son (who's now 5). It was hard for me to put him in daycare. I cried, I felt terrible, like I should be there. I was worried. It was and still is, hard for me to be a full time working mom. BUT..... He fit in very well. He absolutley loved daycare! He missed it when he didn't go. He knew who his mother was, and the connection is far greater than I cuold have imagined it to be! He used to cry when I dropped him off, because he would miss his mommy. then he was good for the teachers & staff. when I would pick him up, I got the biggest hugs and kisses from him. He was so happy to see mommy again. He will NOT be confused who his mommy is. He will learn alot from daycare, and you will see him grow so fast.
My son is now in kindergarten, and not a day goes by that I don't hink that I should have been there more for him, but it is a sacrafice I had to make. I do not regret it, like I said, I have been both a SAH mom and working mom. We will always feel like we should be doing more for our kids, no matter which role we decide to take.
Good luck!
If you want to talk more, you can email me at ____@____.com
M.

If your son is already 5mos. old I wouldn't worry about confusing the caregiver with mom thing. My daughter started her first daycare center at 6mos.old and she had 3 caregivers in her classroom of infants and the atmosphere was "hospital like" in a child friendly way she knew I was MOMMY! I will tell you it's hard having them in daycare full time you will start to feel like you never see them. By the time you pick them up it's dinner, bills, household stuff, bam.. bedtime. I'm not trying to sound negative but giving you a heads up to reality. You should have nothing to worry about sending him at 5mos. old he knows your mom and probaly isn't crazy with seperation anxiety yet. That comes closer to one years old. I would just concentrate on trying to make your after work schedule fit in the most mommy/baby time you can. It's really not that bad. It is kind of nice to get a little break or free time too. Good luck! I'm sure things will work out fine! If you can find a nanny job that would probaly be your ideal fit! After having my daughter in daycare centers I finally had enough and quit my downtown office job, pulled my two year old daughter out of her daycare adn worked as a assistant at a friends home daycare where I was with my daughter everyday.

i went back to work when my son was 3 months old. even at that young age, he never confused his daycare caregivers for me... ever. he always knew mommy even though he was spending a minimum of 36 hours a week at daycare.

he's almost 3 now, and he very much understands the difference between "school" and home.

good luck!

You've received some wonderful support and advice from other moms. I was (and am) a working mom - except for the first three years with my twins. More recently, I am in network marketing - it allows me to bring in additional money without working more during the day. There are lots of them out there - email me if you would like to know more about what I do! ____@____.com

Good luck, and God bless you and your son.

C.