For those that don’t use daycare
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Forum Name: General Chat
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Topic: For those that don’t use daycare
Posted By: MrsMojo
Subject: For those that don’t use daycare
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 3:32pm
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For those that don't use daycare is there a particular reason?
We didn't put Michaela in daycare as a baby as we decided we'd prefer to have one of us home with her and when we sat down and worked out the budget (taking into account transport costs, workday lunches and office wear) we decided it wasn't going to cost too much more for DH to stay at home. Since then he's actually started working nights and earns more now working part time than he did working fulltime so it was definitely a great decision for us. Now that Michaela's older we're considering putting her into daycare for a full day and a couple of afternoons per week the thing that's putting me off now is the cost (it'll be about $250 per fortnight for 1 day session and 2 afternoon sessions each week). -------------  
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Replies:
Posted By: CuriousG
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 3:44pm
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Holy cr*p! That is really expensive........
We pay $145 a week for 5 days 9am - 4pm. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Mum2ET
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 3:45pm
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Ella's a bit younger than Michaela....but I use homebased care (instead of daycare), because I liked the idea of Ella getting more one-on-one attention and having a really good relationship with her educarer. I also like the idea of her being in a home environment and just doing normal day to day stuff (i.e. the school run, going to the park etc). Ella was (is) such a cruisy baby, I was really worried that in a daycare environment she wouldn't as such attention because she was so easy. I also thought that maybe a daycare enviroment would be too artifical (I have no experience daycare, that's just my thoughts...I could be totally wrong). Our plan is for Ella to continue in homebased care and then once she reaches 3 enrol her in kindergarten in the morning/afternoon and homebased care for the rest of the day. I should add that I have nothing personal against daycares, but I just didn't feel that they were right for us.... ------------- Mum to Ella (5) and Tom (2) |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 3:49pm
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this will sound funny:) but I'm a preschool teacher and i dont want to send him to daycare:) so if the need arises for care it will be home based for much the same reasons as Mum2Ella
I definitely think daycare has its place and lots of kids thrive there:) just for our personal needs home based care will be the best option:) ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 3:50pm
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we dont use daycare as there is no point if i am at home anyway. when they turn 3 they will go to kindy (gabriel is there now five mornings a week and two lunchtimes getting trained up for school).
of course if we were both working it would be a different story but i am glad we dont both work and our kids dont have to go to daycare. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 5:35pm
We dont (and wont) use daycare strictly for the reason we want her to have the upbringing we did (with a stay at home parent), although Issy has a Dad at home and not a Mum but close enough 
When she gets to the appropriate age she will go to kindergarten to socialise etc. ------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months) I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
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Posted By: caraMel
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 5:51pm
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We both feel strongly about having one parent at home with our kids for their preschool/early school years.
We're lucky that we can afford to have me at home and although we have nothing against daycare it seemed pointless to pay for daycare when I'm at home and they get plenty of socialisation anyway. Ella is at afternoon kindy now and she was definitely ready to go, but I feel so glad that I got to spend those first 3 years at home with her. ------------- Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and: 
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Posted By: pepsi
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 6:01pm
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I guess not being in a situation where I have to put Alyssa into daycare is the main reason why she's not. My mum looks after her for 4 hours a day while I work part time - she has been doing this since my 1 year maternity leave ended. And now that baby #2 is on the way, I intend on taking at least 3 years off work so I can be home and make the most of these years. Again it's mostly because I can as well as because I definitely want to.
Ultimately I know how lucky I am that my mum can help this much and that financially I don't have to return to work straight away. My preference is for her not to be in daycare, but if things were different and I had to, I'm not opposed to it. |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 6:47pm
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I'm like most of the rest of you. We wanted one of us to be full-time with the girls in the preschool years... and beyond that too as we're also keen on homeschooling. I feel it's an important time of their lives to develop strong bonding with their parents and in a safer environment (ie no stranger kid is gonna come up and hit my kid over the head and the teachers not even notice - like I saw once when we were going to a stay-if-you-like playcentre). -------------  |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 6:55pm
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Teresa - I take mine to Playgroup and Sienna got a belt over the head there with me standing two feet away, so unfortunately they're not immune to bullying.
I don't use daycare for the gremlins coz with two (and one on the way) it's cheaper to have a nanny, plus it fits in well with me working from home, I can still be involved with the girls care to a certain degree when I'm around and the nanny and I do things like take them swimming that I can't do on my own and that they'd miss out on if they were in daycare. Not that I have anything against daycare, Maya was a daycare baby and thrived there. I guess I'm a bit of an anomaly in that I've never *wanted* to be a SAHM. My mum was a SAHM and it was brilliant growing up, but I would go stark raving mad stuck at home all day with kids, I'm just too selfish. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 7:56pm
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I'm pretty sure noone thinks you are selfish Emma:)! ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: aqua36
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 8:10pm
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We would love to have a parent staying at home but finances mean it just isn't possible. We choose home based for the same reasons above. I just couldn't see how they can cater for the under 2's. The daycare centres in my town have all the kids together. On the days I visited there were no kids crawling around. Home based has always been our preference - 1 to 4 ratio and gets to doo the same types of the things we do at home. Your daycare costs sound very expensive - we will paying (as of August) $6.50 an hour which sounds high but includes food. For the 37.5 hours in care it works out to be $243. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 8:52pm
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Our reason is basically that we can afford for me to stay at home- Charlotte started nursery when she was 2 1/2 for 2 mornings a week (9am-12noon) and I cried like a baby. The thought of not being at home with my babies tears me up- I will eventually start part time work once Kate starts nursery but will only take hours so that I can still drop them off and pick them up myself. I see raising my kids as my job for right now- although I know we're very very lucky that we have this option as most normal families don't now days. ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3 
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Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 9:00pm
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I always wanted to be a SAHM (although I didn't realise how hard it would be sometimes) and we are lucky enough that we can afford for me to be at home. I am also lucky in that my old manager is basically letting me do what I want work-wise. Until yesterday I worked from home on a part time basis when Jack slept. I have decided that that restricts me too much so she has said to let her know when I can/want to do some work and she will find something. So if we need any extra cash I should be able to work from home. ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: marielb
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 9:31pm
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We don't use day care either.
My Dh is a shift worker which works in our favour as if I work, hes at home with the kids. Isaac (our big almost 3 year old!) is at kindy 1 morning, and from this week 2 full days a week (which is 8.45 - 3.15) and I can pick him up and drop him off. We chose not to put them in daycare as what I earn doesn't really cover the daycare fees (I would earn under $10 an hour after paying daycare for 2 kids!) ------------- Isaac is 6, Ethan is 4, Rico is 2 and Hunter is almost 1! |
Posted By: marielb
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 9:33pm
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In saying that, if I only had one child, it would be worth me working and putting him in care financially, but I still don't think I would (I LOVE being at home!!!! )
Its definitely a luxury to be able to stay home though I think. And I do love my 'adult' days at work when I actually get to sit down and have lunch ------------- Isaac is 6, Ethan is 4, Rico is 2 and Hunter is almost 1! |
Posted By: Two Blondinis
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 10:22pm
That price would put me off too!!! We're in Auckland and pay $225 for 5 days (8-4) all food inclusive and she's still under 2 (goes down to $180 after she turns 2). But in saying that - if that is the best centre then I'd be willing to pay almost anything. I knew we could never afford for me to be a SAHM so my Mum looked after C whilst I worked part-time, then Mum's circumstances changed and we ended up putting C into daycare at 20mths. In hindsight, I think I should have done it months ago as she gets so much more out of being there than she could get from me or my Mum (perhaps from 12-15mths!?!?). Not just the peer interaction but also the level of learning she is offered by trained ECEs. She is absolutely thriving there. I don't like the idea of having babies in with the pre-school age kids either. I don't think the babies would get as much attention IMO. Our daycare splits the ages up into 3 groups - 0-2yrs, 2-3yrs and 4-5years. the first 2 groups are in one house and have a perspex fence splitting the house so they can all see eachother and the older kids are in a seperate house next door. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
 
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MrsMojo wrote:Posted By: 11111
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 10:47pm
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well I am a SAHM Mum but have opted for a pre school/ daycare for alan this is purely for his education he was going to kindy, but that was jsut not enough hour's for him he is a social butterfly so we opted to use all our 20 hour's we do have a 20 dollar fee for the week, but so worth it. They provide his morning tea and afternoon tea which is really good food not jsut boring stuff. We are alos going to send Mikey for one day a week cause he id ready for the social side of it again for the educational side of things Mike y will cost us a wee bit, but I think it is worth it if you can find a really good place not all daycare/pre school are good. ------------- Deborah Mum to:   
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Posted By: Bobbie
Date Posted: 04 June 2008 at 11:04pm
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I'm probably going to stay a SAHM as we're running the numbers now and I think we're going to come off worse off financially if I go back to work and put Rowan in daycare for a few days a week.
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 8:52am
We do Tag Team Parenting (need a little copyright symbol here for the new term I made up)
I work from 7:30am - 3:30pm. DH has been working from 4:30pm - 9:30pm and we swap over roles at about 3:45pm. Taking into account her sleep times we basically both get to spend the same amount of awake time with Michaela. DH just increased his hours to 2:00pm - 9:30pm and (as of yesterday) MIL cares for Michaela between when Ian leaves for work and when I get home (about 3hrs). So strictly speaking we don't actually need to use daycare. Having said that we do want Michaela to have more social interaction with other children her age. I get home around 4pm and can't really visit other families at this time as it's generally when they're getting dinner sorted and doing everything else that needs to be done leading up to jungle hour, DH prefers to spend time with just him and Michaela during the mornings and the early afternoon is busy with lunch, naptime & getting ready for work. Playgroup looked like a good alternative (pricewise certainly) but neither of us can put in the effort required from playgroup parents. Although we don't need to use care we're looking into it as I do think it has advantages i.e. social interaction, change of scene for Michaela, different toys and opportunities for messy play (where I don't need to clean up) and to give DH a morning off. I'm pleased other people see this place we're currently looking at as expensive, I thought so too and it's a pain that we can't just send her for one or 2 mornings per week - they have a minimum time (does anyone know why?) -------------
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Posted By: marielb
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 9:03am
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Some day cares recommend that children are in their care for a certain amount of time (usually 2-3 mornings/full days whatever they are open/believe) so that the children are familiar with their surroundings and know the routine of the centre.
IN saying that, Isaac only went to morning kindy one morning a week for 6 months and he loved his one morning  ------------- Isaac is 6, Ethan is 4, Rico is 2 and Hunter is almost 1! |
Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 9:11am
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Kindy would be perfect for Michaela but I can't find any that cater for under 3's (possibly haven't looked hard enough). -------------
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Posted By: Jay_R
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 9:30am
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I would give almost anything to be a SAHM. And this is a huge surprise to me as I was very career focussed before he came along. I feel sad every single morning when I drop him at daycare, and am almost beside myself with excitement when I go to collect him! I work part time, 9-3, so we get a good couple of hours together in the morning and then at least 4 in the afternoon/evenings, but it never feels like enough.
Stink thing is, both DH and I earn very good money and if I told you what DH earns alone you'd probably wonder why on earth we can't afford for me to be at home! But our mortgage payments are huge at the moment with the horrendous interest rates, and he pays $1500 a month child support for his other two kids, so it actually leaves us very little over without my salary. I get so envious of the lucky mums who get to stay home. Not that I think its the easy option - the furtherst thing from actually. But I so want to be a SAHM! Grizzle over
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 10:07am
Me too! I feel exactly the same way and part of the reason we're putting off TTC #2 despite the fact I'm clucky as heck is because I don't want to come back to work next time - certainly not straight away and definitely not fulltime. -------------
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Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 12:46pm
I have a wee suggestion... Playcentre 
We love it, its like a kindy but parents can stay (well have to until the kids are toilet trained) I found playgroups great for babies but when they were older there wasn't as much to do. My favourite part of playcentre is that I don't have to sit there and gossip with the other parents, I follow the kids round so its more about them than me. But if I'm in a chatty mood I could easily sit down and chat for a good hour or so. Not everyone loves playcentre but it has worked out well for us. The kids get the stimulation but i'm still involved with their care. |
Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 12:47pm
| Oh yeah and its $50 a term for 2 mornings a week, $75 for 3+ mornings. |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 05 June 2008 at 6:29pm
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MrsMojo...the trend at some places seems to be to impose a minimum time..thats an individual centre thing as nothing in the curriculum or in general says they need to do that..it annoys me that they can pick and choose what times they have people..probably as funding is easier to sort out for full-timers.. ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |