Seeking Advice on Planning Child Care for Future Baby and Night Job

H.,
First of all, best of luck in your baby making adventure!! I hope things go well for you. As far as daycare, it seems like a great idea to advertise for a college student to come to your home to care for the baby. Those hours would be perfect for someone trying to make some money while in school. Of course, when the time comes you could ask moms on mamasource, but dallas craigslist is another site often used in seeking childcare. It can be very scary trusting someone else to care for your baby, but there are great people out there. Maybe you could even ask for a student majoring in education or something. Good luck!! ~A.~

Hi H.!

I'm not sure what area of town you live in - but my daycare is in Lewisville and is open until 7:30. It is a chain, and they have a Medical City location that is open 24/7. I love my daycare and would never consider taking my child elsewhere! you can look up info on them at www.childrenschoice.com. There are a few daycares in the metroplex that are 24 hours a day or have extend hours. I've recently started a company with other moms here on mamasource and we are doing just this - helping moms find the daycares that suit their needs. We're not up and running with our website yet, but we've done a lot of research already. If you want to PM me back and tell me what area you're in, I'll search our database we've put together and see which ones have alternative hours. (hey - ask me now because in a few months, it won't be free!)

Most daycares do close at 6:00 or 6:30. Your best option might be to find an in-home care with flexible hours. Don't worry too much about this just yet - trust me, God will make sure your baby, if you choose to have one, is taken care of. If you start focusing now on how things will work with a baby, you will convince yourself never to have one!

Good luck - S.

Hi H.,
I am a professional nanny and have been doing it for a few years now. I think you are definetly in need of a nanny. They offer flexible hours, the convenience of comming to your home, and they also offer housekeeping services, if you need an extra hand. The average rate for a qualified nanny who speaks English, has transportations, and can provide great references is between $200-$600 per week, depending on what you want them to do. I take care of one infant boy and I work from 8-4 for the most part and I get paid around $300 per week. For the most part, you have the flexibilty of negotiating with your nanny on her pay rate and hours, which is not really possible at a daycare. I hope this info helps and good luck with your future baby adventures!

H.,
It seems like from your description that the two of us keep the same work hours, with the exception of Saturdays. I teach part time at one of the community colleges, so I understand about the strange hours. What I did was give the opportunity to friends who stayed home first to see if they wanted to make a little money. It was also good for my son and their child/children so that they had a playdate a few times per week. Also, you might check into one of the home daycares that are in the area. We recently found a woman who is very flexible and is great and she only has a few kids when our son is there. Good luck!
Shannon