Started daycare and PARANOID

[Bini]

I'm training for a 5K run and I'm doing a lot of conditioning that requires me to leave my daughter in the hands of daycare about 2-3 hours everyday. I'm going into my second week and my paranoia of leaving her with strangers has worsened! I wish there was someone else that could watch her but my training hours are early and nobody wants to take her those times.. I know that for the most part, my fears are irrational BUT those horrible stories I've heard about daycare is always in the back of my mind! I have never left her before with strangers. This is the first time Tell me it's okay!

[pam]

It's okay. I'm sure you did a good job of checking them out first. You need your time too. It will be just fine.

[annewandering]

It is part of the job description of mom to be paranoid. :) If you checked them out, all the kids look happy and well cared for then it should be good :)

[ClickyClack]

Put her in a jogging stroller and REALLY give yourself a workout.

[annewandering]

Put her in a jogging stroller and REALLY give yourself a workout.

That is a great idea. There are some really great jogging strollers out there.

[Guest]

That's what a couple of the marathon-running moms in my ward do. It's not unusual to see one of them out running and pushing her double jogger. She's a little thing, too!

[applepansy]

Bini, When you have to leave your child in the care of someone who you don't have complete trust in yet of course you're going to worry. And you might feel paranoid but what you're feeling is normal.

This is when, IF you really have to leave her at a day care (no judgements), you rely on the Lord and the Holy Ghost to let you know if something is amiss.

I worked for most of my children's growing up years. It was necessary and I didn't work when I didn't have to but I always seemed to find myself back working. (Long story) I prayed, and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed.... then I made the best choice I could. Then the kids and I would pray before going to daycare (even the baby - but I was voice). Your little one will be safe or you will know it.

[Backroads]

I'm afraid this is going to be me when I have my baby! Right now, I'm all "eh, I can trust your average daycare for a few hours". But I'm pretty sure my mind will change.

You are doing just fine, and your worrying is normal. Chances are, it'll be okay.

[classylady]

There have been times when I had to take my kids to day care. I've had to work off and on, and then also when I went back to school full time I had to get a sitter. For the most part, my kids were well taken of, and all went well. The last sitter I hired, was when I was in school. I would take my infant son to the sitter, dropping him off in his car seat. Four or five hours later I would be back to pick him up, and he would still be in his car seat. It looked like he was never taken out of it. After a week of this, I called my Mom and explained what was happening. I was crying, and so upset. The thought of my baby just staying in the car seat for all those hours without any interaction was breaking my heart. My mother was upset too, and she began driving to my house to watch my baby. It was a 45 minute drive for her, each direction, a true sacrifice on her part. I can never repay my mother back for all she did. Just knowing he was being cared for by someone that loved him and would nurture gave me great peace of mind.

I don't want to feed your fears about taking your child to daycare. For the most part, they are wonderful people. Do your research, and all should be fine. But, if there seems to be any problems, trust your instincts and find someone else.

[mdfxdb]

I don't know anything about you, but if you are worried about day-care then don't drop your kid off at day-care. Do the jogging stroller thing, or get up earlier and have your husband watch your child before work. Like many things in life most people do not care for things as their own..children included.

[Guest]

There's irrational worry and then there's "my mom bells are ringing" worry. Now is a great time to test yourself to see if you can start to identify one versus the other.

I've learned in the last 11 years that sometimes, my mom bells ring for seemingly irrational reasons but when I investigate farther it translates to - yes, I need to trust my mom-instincts more.

The first time I left my baby to a sitter (my husband and I watched a movie) I was a basket case.

[bluedreams]

It's way ok.

My mom had me in daycare (and all of the kids for that matter) and I turned out just fine. Can't say I remember having a really terrible experience at all...minus one sitter that my mom got a bad feeling with, so she switched me (I was too young to remember). In fact in someways I think it had it's benifits...none of us have ever been shy, we've gotten to see other people's homes, and at a young age I became aware of other people's cultural/religious background (my bb-sitters were always muslim).

Besides, statistically speaking, daycare is actually one of the safest options you can go with when one has to leave the kids. They're actually safer than leaving them with a family friend or relative. (can't bring the stat, it was presented in a soc class of mine a few years ago. I just remember it because it shut the (byu) class up...most were talking down on day care pretty bad before then).

With luv,

BD

Edited September 26, 2012 by bluedreams