To send DD to nursery?

[Choclover3]

My 3 year old will be starting school next September and she absolutely loves nursery. She's been constantly asking when she can go back after Christmas. Obviously I really don't want her to lose out developmentally if she doesn't go and also want her to be prepared for school.

But I'm a stay at home mom and have no real reason to send her in (other than the above). I also love the nursery she goes to and don't want them to be put in a position that they would have to close due to not getting paid for kids going in. But at the back of my mind I keep thinking if everybody is being told to stay home, and I'm lucky that I don't have to juggle childcare with work like most people at the moment then am I being unreasonable to send her in? She does also have her little brother at home to play with so she does still get interaction with children.

Just because they love going isn't really a good enough reason, is it?

I would ask myself how would I feel if they caught it from nursery?

If I knew I would feel terrible and that it could have been avoided, that would be my decision.

@ReefTeeth

Just because they love going isn't really a good enough reason, is it?

I would ask myself how would I feel if they caught it from nursery?

If I knew I would feel terrible and that it could have been avoided, that would be my decision.

Would you feel terrible if they caught a cold, or tummy bug, from nursery? For kids it's the same sort of level of risk as these illnesses.

Mine goes four days a week as I work, and I'm keeping him home. Just for a few weeks until the pressure is off our local hospital, which is really struggling. He absolutely loves nursery and I intend to send him back as soon as I can. WFH with him at home is tough but we can manage it between us for a while.

I'm just worried that it's going to take ages for hospitalisations to fall - we haven't even seen the worst of the result of Christmas yet, and people are starting in hospital longer as there are better treatments now.

*staying in hospital longer

I’m keeping mine at home. It’s awful, he’s literally bouncing off the walls and has no social contact. But we’re talking about saving the lives of our family here.

I'm keeping my 3 year old home - I can't work whilst schools are closed so by keeping him home I reduce the numbers further for staff and children that need to go in. It's sad for him but not something he will remember in later life.

@ReefTeeth

Just because they love going isn't really a good enough reason, is it?

I would ask myself how would I feel if they caught it from nursery?

If I knew I would feel terrible and that it could have been avoided, that would be my decision.

This doesn’t really hold up as an argument, do you not allow your child to leave a sanitised bubble because you’d feel guilty if they got ill anywhere? That way lies madness.

A child enjoying a nursery is more than enough reason for them to go. This competitive martyrdom is getting out of hand.

Ostryga Not comparable, at all.

Sending you kids to school during winter with all the bugs going around = unavoidable

Sending you kids to nursery during a pandemic because they like it, but don't need to be there = totally avoidable.

See? BIG difference. But as parents we make decisions for our DC all the time. Some are right and some are (unknowingly at the time) wrong.

I just personally think this is a very obvious answer to a question I personally wouldn't even need to ask 🤷

@ReefTeeth

Sending children to nursery is not avoidable unless you are completely out of touch with actual reality.

Single parent here, with family who are all front line workers so unable to provide childcare.

I CAN work from home with Dd, but I absolutely do not want to. I’m a terrible parent when I’m shushing her for the 50th time while I’m on zoom with the board of directors. Not especially professional.

You can try and guilt parents all you want, but a child’s enjoyment and ability to have fun in a place where the pandemic isn’t a thing for a few hours a day is so bloody important. They are going to be living with the after-effects of this for decades. Keeping them at home constantly is not doing them any favours.

The risk to children is absolutely minimal. They’re more likely to be hit by a car on the way to nursery. Obviously if a family has a CEV member then I totally get wanting to keep them off. As long as the nursery is on top of their covid safe procedures (like mine, zero cases in a high case area) there is absolutely minimal risk, to them or the wider community.

Ostryga as strange a concept as this may seem, I was replying to the OPs question about HER situation as a SAHM married to a key worker.

Not your situation, which I know nothing about.

I totally think each parent needs to make their own decision, based on their situation.

In the OPs case, no I couldn't send my DC in because they enjoy it, knowing what I do about Covid 19.