Aibu to send toddler to nursery in tier 4 when I could keep her at home?

[Plmoknijb123]

As above. I have a place part time just for her socialisation etc but am now second guessing myself as I could keep her at home. She is 20 months and desperate for stimulation so I think for her development it’s worth the COVID risk. Keen to hear what others think...

There is a massive variation in covid rates across tier 4.
If you are somewhere with 220 per hundred thousand with rate static, it is a very different risk calculation to 1000 or higher and rates rising fast. Both can be tier4.

It's up to you. I wouldn't though I do understand the need for a break.

At 20 months there are plenty of ways to stimulate without going to a nursery, she is still a baby.

Wait a while, things will improve.

Not sending my school age children although I have the choice. Will be harder for work asked education but health is priority. If you have the option to keep at home I would. Only a few more months until vaccinated hopefully.

To be honest op, as tough as it is in your situation I would keep her at home if I didn’t have to go out to work.

My DD brought covid home from nursery and we all had it over Christmas. It was my worst nightmare as DH and I were both pretty much bedridden with it while also having to look after DD (who had a really minor dose and was still running up and down playing hide and seek).

While it was rubbish over Christmas at least we’ve all had it now so I can send her back to nursery this week without worrying she’ll catch it again. I felt horrendously guilty when she caught it but sadly we both have to work so she had to go to nursery .

We’re not sending our 13 month old for at least a couple of weeks. We both work full time, but from home, so we’ll make it work. Her nursery had four cases just as they closed for Christmas. Thankfully I had taken a week off work just then, so she wasn’t in. But friends of ours who live nearby all caught it from their daughter from her (different) nursery. Cases are so high where we are, it just isn’t safe.

Well you’re find as long as you can cope with the risk of catching it. That means none of you has any kind of underlying health problems.

My DS2 is 18m and will be going to Nursery his usual 2 days per week. We are in Tier 4 and DS1 is going to be home schooled, whilst DH and I both try to WFH.

DS2 will be going to Nursery for socialisation and also to give his older brother a fighting chance at being able to do any of the school work and DH and I the opportunity to actually work.

We definitely considered keeping DS2 home as well but realistically he needs a lot of attention and we cant do everything all at once. It’s just not possible. We aren’t seeing anyone, and none of us are vulnerable to the benefits outweigh the risks. We aren’t likely to pass anything on to anyone. My Dad usually helps with childcare but we’ve said not to for the next few weeks so nursery is the only option really.

I will be going back to work in a nursery, but if you can avoid going it will help everyone. (less riskj to your child / less risk to staff and other children.)

I'm keeping my 3 year old off while cases are so high. I feel sad for her as she loves it but the risks outweigh the reward at the moment in my opinion.

I also really feel for the staff and figure they would appreciate having less children in at the moment (as long as fees are still being paid)

YABVU OP

Oh don’t be so ridiculous

we are sending ours. i mean kids/parents wont be vaccinated until the autumn if ever - so realistically unless we are keeping everyone at home for the rest of the year, it makes no sense to stop now. The government's strategy is to vaccinate the vulnerable/lockdown, once thats done - they will lift all restrictions etc and then the virus will really spread around. For those who think they will keep their kids at home till March - it's a misunderstanding of the official strategy.

The thing is in this situation it’s not just your child you need to be considering. You might be low risk but that doesn’t mean the staff and other children are.
The fact that EYFS settings are still open is just another way of this government showing total disrespect for a sector that is already under valued, under paid and under funded.

EYFS settings are just as high a risk of spread COVID as primary schools, maybe more so as children that age can not follow social distance rules, their hygiene isn’t exactly great and will now be the biggest focus for staff.

I do understand that it’s almost impossible to work from home while caring for a child under school age and while the option is still there lots of parents are going to take it. But please, please think of others. If you can keep them at home then do so. Form a childcare bubble with a friend if you are worried about socialising.
Staff have children and families that they want to be around for, the risk to us is high, we can’t wear ppe, we can’t socially distance from your child we are being exposed to untold amounts of households daily and it’s scary.

@PinotAndPlaydough - so do you want all the parents where you work to give notice? Surely that's also not great for the nursery, but you can't expect them to all keep paying but not use the service?

Of course I don’t want them to give notice, we are exceptionally lucky, my setting is pre-school that is only open in the mornings, all our children are funded.
This is where the government needs to step in, staff should be furloughed and all EYFS settings should be funded just as schools are.

Absolutely not true that not all adults will be vaccinated. Now that the Oxford vaccine has been signed off, Matt Hancock said very clearly that all adults who want a vaccine will have one. Also, the strategy is to lift some restrictions, gradually, when the vulnerable have been vaccinated. Not all restrictions will be lifted until everyone has been jabbed. The virus will not be allowed to run riot, because otherwise there is a risk that it will mutate further and render current vaccines abc treatments ineffective. If 2m doses are given a week, as planned, all adults will have had at least one dose by late summer.

I'm in a similar position. My 16 month old is due to start nursery this month. Only two mornings a week. I'm not working, but I am doing a part-time Masters degree, so the plan was to give me a chunk of time to study and her some additional stimulation / socialization, which has been extremely lacking due to the closure of baby / toddler groups and other activities. Things were looking much more hopeful a few weeks ago, with talk of vaccines etc., but honestly, with case numbers spiraling and the new variant, plus finding out that I'm pregnant, I'm having second thoughts and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to delay nursery for at least a month, probably more. It just seems like an unnecessary risk, not only for our family (and my mother-in-law, who we'ee bubbled with), but also the staff and other children / families. I feel like if we're in the position to be able to reduce our contacts, we should.

My almost 3 year old has been out of nursery since Feb and won’t be going back to any childcare setting until vaccinations are well under way and I see more control over the situation. We have health issues at home and need to be safe.

We're low risk as a family and I'm considering sending DD to nursery for the first time shortly, despite being on maternity leave with my youngest. DD is 2.5 and seems ready to go for the first time (we had a nanny prior to the first lockdown, when I was still working). I don't think it's at all likely children not considered to be at risk will be vaccinated in 2021, if at all. They're not high risk enough- I think they'll vaccinate any considered at risk and kids will be left to acquire immunity the old fashioned way.

As such, I'm not convinced it's worth waiting all year while DD stagnates at home- I can't give her the activities and peers to socialise with that she'd find at nursery.

I’m am sending my 27 month old to his part time place from tomorrow even though I am off on mat leave with my new baby. I had the same thoughts and questions and this is where we ended up - socialisation, enjoyment for him and help for me and also we’ve put a lot of things on hold over the last year already.

We are right in the thick of things at the moment. I think a month at home to get January under our belts is a good idea. Life ISN’T normal at the moment. Unless the child is vulnerable, or you have PND etc, keeping her home in the thick of a pandemic is a good idea I would say. But I say this as someone who has had Covid whilst looking after young kids and found it very hard, and also knowing two perfectly fit young adults who had Covid pneumonia and ended up in hospital. One still can’t walk up a flight of stairs 6 weeks later. Not scaremongering, just my personal experience and opinion.

No 20 month old needs nursery!

My 3 year old is meant to be starting his funded hours this week and the school is open from tomorrow as normal. I'm at home and my partner wfh so we are extremely low risk and didn't mix over Christmas either. I'm also going into my third trimester with #2 and have a lot of appointments scheduled in the coming weeks that I do not want to miss. I go back and forwards over what is the best thing to do but in these times of uncertainty over whether schools should be open at all, I'm thinking of postponing his start date by a week to see which way things play out and give us 2 clear weeks from Christmas!!

I would send her - risk to children is very low and I would jump at the chance for my own sanity!!!

I’m sending my 2 1/2 year old. We are tier 4 but approx 240 per 100k so at the lower end. I also think people saying you can socialise at home etc are thinking of “normal” times. Most parents at home with toddlers have now had 9 months without baby/toddler groups, toddler activity classes, even children’s libraries have all been closed. They’ve missed out on a lot of normal interaction with other humans and might not have been in someone else’s house for half their lives. Given their risk (as children) is small, if there are no underlying health conditions in the people they live with I would go for it and will be continuing to myself.

I'm sending my 26 month old. He really needs it. As others have pointed out, there are precious little activities open for little ones right now. No swimming, no gymboree, no classes. He really benefits from the change of scene and stimulation.

Plus we have had it. It was really mild for DS.