Anxiety over childcare

[stressed58382]

Just returned back to work after a year off for maternity. We now have two DC. Before I went off DH had a great job with set days off when I worked so never many childcare issues.

Due to Covid DH no longer has that job. He has found a part time job minimum wage that he can mostly work around my hours for now. However we are just making ends meet. No option for me to increase my hours and DH really wants to get back to full time in a job relevant to his experience.

The issue my oldest has 30 free hours nursery and due to covid she has been in and out like a yo-yo. Also picking up constant bugs and passing them on to the baby. I just don't know how on earth if DH did get a full time job we would balance it as youngest would also have to go into nursery. I also can't see DH being able to have the set days off he use to for a new company.

No options from GP who are very elderly to look after them especially as the times they would be off is when they are sick anyway.

I am becoming extremely anxious about it. In the last 8 weeks my DD has only managed 3 full weeks in nursery. The thought of DH being in full time work would just be a nightmare. But we are literally just paying the bills at the minute and that's it.

Not sure what I'm really asking tbh. Just seeing how others are coping and what they do each time their DC are off?

Ooh glad to hear it's not just me. Not too sure about the in-and-out due to covid, as our nursery seems to take in children that have anything and everything from diphtheria to plague (and the whole family including the newborn is currently recovering from a horrendous virus cough infection thanks to that attitude).

Can you WFH? It's hell squared to try with a sickly child but may be an option. We both work full time and have no other childcare (no GPs or friends or anything). I have some friends who had DCs in childcare while in full time work and it was very stressful and hard and they had to take days off all the time and it was not fun.

Make sure you do the math to see what you can and cannot afford financially, which was what we did and we will do before the 2nd goes to childcare too (in terms of full time work, hours, childcare times, cost and similar). I have no real advice, but a bit of commiseration here.

I think you just need to put your dc in nursery and take time off as needed if they are ill. This is what everyone else does. We have only ever had about 4 days off in the past year mostly related to one of us self isolating for a covid test. Time off for illness has been really minimal. But it’s very normal to need time off and I think you’re conflating time off for covid and just normal parenting responsibilities. Honestly, Dh and I work FT with no family help and we have one dc who is in primary school so need to balance school holiday time off. We still do that with nursery sickness and school holidays and both still have loads of time off for annual leave. I actually can’t even use up all my AL even with lots of traveling and family holidays. I really wouldn’t panic at this stage.