Are you sending your DC to nursery?

[elleceedee]

I'm 32 weeks pregnant in a tier 4 area where cases are quite high. I kept toddler DD at home with me this week as was worried about numbers rising (especially with the new variant) and being in my third trimester.

Luckily, I am able to WFH reasonably flexibly but obviously quite hard to do so with a toddler around so have been spreading myself quite thinly this week and feeling like I'm doing a terrible job of being a parent and doing a crap job of doing my actual job. DH is a key worker, doing long hours and unable to help more at home unfortunately.

I'm not going on maternity leave until 38 weeks and another 6 weeks of this may just tip me over the edge but obviously feel extremely nervous about sending DD to nursery given the guidance about pregnant women.

I'm wondering if I should just send DD back to nursery next week so that she gets some stimulation and I get to actually do my job properly! I don't know what to do for the best.

If you are in the third trimester and have toddlers/pre-schoolers, what are you doing about childcare?

My friend sent her daughter last week who’s bubble burst so her DD had to self isolate, meanwhile friend went into labour so her MIL had to risk catching covid by looking after DD whilst friend In labour.

I’m currently 38 weeks and decided not to send DS to preschool. For me if primary schools aren’t deemed safe then sending little ones to nursery is a risk which I just couldn’t afford to take this late into my pregnancy. Just thought about how I would feel if they had a positive case at his preschool just before or whilst I was in labour and the decision wa a fairly easy. Good luck whatever you decide x

I’m similar to you lots of cases here so kept her off nursery

Son is still at nursery in london and no plans to keep him off. He needs the stimulation and interaction and I need the rest. I'd rather take the small risk of catching COVID than affect his routine.

No I'm not sending mine in. The risks seem too high to me at the moment.

I’m only 20 weeks but have chosen not to send my son back to nursery. I’ve had to take furlough for childcare reasons which luckily my work have been ok about; could this be an option for you? Or could you use up some annual leave and start mat leave early?

My friend sent her daughter last week who’s bubble burst so her DD had to self isolate, meanwhile friend went into labour so her MIL had to risk catching covid by looking after DD whilst friend In labour.

I had similar happen to a friend this past week (London, cases are bonkers). It seems a high risk thing to keep them in if you can avoid it at all.

I'm only 26 weeks and am sending my 2.5yr old but he has extra needs and really benefits from going. Nursery have had no cases as of yet but as soon as they do we will pull him out and if cases continue to rise we will keep reassessing and make a decision as and when.
But when I get to 36 weeks and if we are still in lockdown with this many cases we will pull him and all self isolate.
My hospital are asking that couples try and isolate as much as possible before due date

I'm 33 weeks and work 3 days a week from home. I'm currently sending DD in for the 3 days as it's very quiet in there at the moment and she loves it. I have some flexibility around when I can do my work but god I feel so tired already!

I am going to keep an eye on the situation though and if it continues to escalate I will think carefully about keeping her off. I'll also consider doing this from around 38 weeks to limit the chance of catching it before birth.

I've taken my DD out because I've a few weeks to due date and cant get parents to look after her if she hasn't been self isolating and would rather not give birth alone. But I'm working full time (at home) until due date so it wasn't an easy decision!

Thank you so much for the responses - really useful to see what everyone else is doing in such an impossible situation. My gut instinct (and definitely the safest thing to do) is to keep my daughter at home with me but I feel huge guilt about trying to parent while WFH and doing a terrible job of both. I was promoted earlier in the year and then announced my pregnancy so definitely feel like I have something to prove before I go off on maternity as it has not really gone down very well, sadly!

I've taken my DS out of nursery for at least this month. It's just not worth the risk imo unless absolutely essential.

I am 28weeks my 3yo goes to preschool 5 mornings. I recently started my 5yo in an in person kindergarten because his school hasn't been open at all. My 7yo is still distance learning at home (where we live the schools never reopened after closing in March 2020). I debated not sending them for the first week or two after the Xmas break but decided to go ahead. We restrict everything else we do to limit the risk and prioritise the children's education.

I’m another one who is not taking the risk, I’ve taken mine out of nursery until after the birth at least.

I'm 30 weeks and sending my DS to nursery five days a week at the moment. My husband is a key worker (NHS) and I WFH. His nursery are great and making it as safe as they can, and there haven't been any cases there since the beginning of covid. Having tried to wfh and look after him on my own during the last lockdown, I know that him going to nursery is what will work best for our family at the moment. I will reassess once I get closer to my due date. I think you've just got to weigh it all up and do what's best for you and your family - everyone's circumstances are different

No I wouldn't, the new strand is super contagious and you should be extra careful if you don't want to catch it. I tested positive this week ( luckily im not pregnant at the moment, but my 3 month old baby probably has it too) I don't go out, my kids are all at home, I have no support bubble, i follow all the guidelines, my husband works from home and I still managed to catch this virus. The only place we went to was the supermarket, and I always clean my hands with the hand gel as im doing my shopping. No matter what people say or do, no place is safe.

Pulling them out a fortnight or so before due date to try to reduce risk of someone in the household testing positive and needing to isolate when I go into labour. I'm still working though so they are currently attending; it doesn't really worry me but I've worked in a primary school throughout pregnancy anyway.

For those of you sending your DC into nursery, what are cases like in your area?

I'm really suffering with SPD at the moment and so really struggling to do anything active with my daughter. She keeps asking about her friends at nursery and I feel awful keeping her at home!

That seems sensible @Subordinateclause
How many weeks are you at the moment?

@Lilice that is worrying that you caught it despite very limited contact with the outside world! I hope your symptoms haven't been too serious and you and your baby are ok.

I’m in tier 4 in the north west so cases are pretty high. I’m 34 weeks and have a child in nursery and one in reception, as my husband and I are both key workers (he’s a teacher and my job is directly covid related in public health) we can still send them both in. We tried 2 days of juggling them at home after Christmas but it just wasn’t working as we are both so busy, so we took the decision to send them in. We do plan to completely isolate 14 days before my due date in the hope it’ll stop me or my husband from catching it and prevent my husband missing the birth.

@elleceedee I'm in California and in my county we are running at 1% ICU availability atm, so that will give you an idea of what the cases are like 👎 -not great.

@elleceedee thank you. I got my baby's results today and she also tested positive. Luckily she's fine now. She was very sleepy and not feeding as much, but it looks like we were fortunate and only midly affected. My other daughter also tested positive, and she hasnt shown any symptoms at all. If the schools were still open, she would have probably passed it on. Im still waiting for my son's results but i suspect he'll also be positive. Out of 5, 4 of us tested positive so far. This virus is super contagious. I think my husband got it at the supermarket and they passed it on to us

@Lilice best of luck for a mild dose and a good recovery x