Re: Daycare Questions and I just need to vent alittle......

[Guest guest]

,

Welcome to the group.Your griping sounds a lot like mine My son

is 10 months old, and also a twin. We have been lucky so far in that

I could take a 1yr leave of absence. However, that is up in April. I

think we are going to have me quit work and stay home. My husband and

I work for the same company, and we had already moved to be on his

benefits rather than both keeping them. He also makes slightly more

money than I do. I did consider working part time, but like you

said, there are so many doctor appointments, etc, that I don't even

know how that would work.

I did look into daycare, but my son can't go to most regular ones as

he is fed solely by g-tube. He also has lots of developmental delays

and goes to PT and speech therapy, and sees about 5 different

doctors. He wears glasses and has eye cancer, so has eye surgery

every 4-6 weeks. As I am sure you are aware, we really can't be picky

with when these appointments are.

I then considered using someone who does daycare out of her home.

However, there you still have the problem of having multiple kids

(usually about 4-5 total), and Ethan not getting the one on one

attention he needs. Also, he tends to get sick very easy, so I would

hate to expose him to that environment. Plus, he has lots of medical

equipment to take. So, I ruled that out.

Finally, I looked into getting someone to come to our home, which

would be ideal. However, I still have the problem of getting Ethan to

appointments, and getting my older son to preschool and home each

day, and also caring for the other twin. Plus, this is a very

expensive option (we spoke to some of the teachers at my older son's

daycare, and they said most people expect about $10/hr, or at least

$260 a week). I would only want to work part time, and even then I

would still have trouble with appointments. And, paying a sitter

would take over 1/2 of my pay.

This all said, I have to admit I just feel I need to be there for my

sons. Once Ethan is older and we have his health care needs under

better control (I hope this actually happens), then perhaps I will go

back to work. But until then, and as long as we can swing it, I plan

to stay home and make caring for him and his brothers my job.

In terms of where to look, I started off with the yellow pages and

did a search on childcare. Then I called some nanny services, but

they are expensive, and finally called a place called 4C that

provides referral information for people who do daycare. However,

none of them really fit my needs. Does your job offer help in

finding daycare, as I know ours does?

Good luck, and God Bless.

[Guest guest]

If you have not already, I would suggest that you contact local agencies that

help with children with disabilities. There are many programs here in the US

that can help with expenses or in home support services to help out the family.

We have just found out that my son has risen to the top of the waiting list

here in Georgia for a program called Agency on Aging. I was told that he will

recieve Medicaid(we already get that through another program) and in home

support services. Someone will be coming to our home that will help with

eating,batheing and practically anything to help the child out. When we were in

SC, we received respite care funding which was very helpful. It didn't pay the

provider much(I usually had to through in more $) but it did help with the

costs.

I know there are many waiting list in many states for such programs but make

sure you apply for all that is available and bug the people in charge of the

program. Let them know how much help you need.

Donna(mom to Trevor,8 PMG and much much more)

[Guest guest]

Trish,

Thanks for the support!! I agree about it being a control thing,

even with my own husband, but atleast with my husband I just have to

learn to let go. We are going to have to have stay home as

long has we can so that Alyssa gets everything that she needs but I

hate to see lose his job skills. He is a Master Mechanic and

it wont look good when he goes back to work if he hasnt worked in

awhile. We are hoping he can get a nighttime mechanic job at Sears

or Firestone and also work weekends. I will have ask today at

the Early On Baby Class and I will also start checking into Nanny

services and see what kind of money we are talking about. I know

that if/when goes back to work he will be making the money to

pay for the daycare/nanny and to pay his child support for his other

daughter, he wont be bringing much at all home after those two bills.

But he will be out and about in the working world again and I bet he

will be ready for that. He loves being with Alyssa but it can start

to take a toll after awhile. I was ready to go back to work after 15

weeks home with Alyssa. I have to get ready to go to work now.

Thank you for the advise!

[Guest guest]

,

I have used 4Cs before to find daycare for Aly when I returned to

work. I will contact them and see if they can help. I want to start

looking so that we are prepared when my husband wants to return to

work. He may never want to as he is getting used to staying home but

its hard to stay at home and be the one that does everything with the

baby and the housework. And now that I know that ALy is taken care

of I stay later at work and then am drained when I get home. Thanks

for the support and advise.