Daycare - 6 month old

Hi there,

I get so furious with these Paeds and their opinions. At the end of it all, we make the best decisions around our circumstances for our babies. If we wanted judgement on that we would have asked for it.

Ok, rant over. My LG went to school at 4 months. She has had colds and flu's for about a year now and she's even been hospitalised once. Yes, it doesn't help that parents send their sick kids to school but she also has allergies which gave her an almost constant post-nasal drip and that caused most of the infections.

Your baby is going to get sick, the good think is that he is building his immunity and you're also building it with breastfeeding.

At creche they learn to socialise, you're not at ransom if a helper can't come to work or have to leave early, there is (in ours) a definite developmental curriculum stimulating baby's development from 4 months.

I agree with StellaK, stick to your decision, you made it with all of your options weighed!

Hi Nelly,

i don't think you should second guess your decision.
your baby can get sick at home as well as sick people come to visit or you go out to the shops or hubby comes home from work sick.

and as for sending baba to school in winter. it is not a given that he will get sick at school - unfortunately babies get sick all year round not just in winter, and what people are not telling you is that it is not a given that he got sick at school.

i truly think it will make no difference sending him to school in Jan or June

my baby got a terrible cold while i was still on ML and at home when he was 4 months old and that was after the winter. he started to go to school in Jan at 8 months (my SIL looked after him for 3 months before he started school) and there are constantly at least 1 of the babies sick in the class, and he only got a runny nose mid feb, but i am almost sure that he didnt get that from school.
i dont give any additional vitamines or cresh guard or anything.

i sent my baby to nursery school at the age of 4 months in september last year
they are going to get sick either way, summer or winter

it was the best decision we ever made, she loves it and is very sociable.

she goes to magic beings in northriding - they are the best and really awesome

Hi Nelly,

My baby is due end of May, and I will prob have to go back to work mid Sept, when it is also still cold. However, just like you, I am not in the position to give up my career. I also would have wanted to get a nanny instead of a school, but the hours just wont work for me - I have to leave home at 6:45 and only get home just before 6pm, I dont think I can get a nanny working those kind of hours. I also cannot afford for a nanny to not show up for work or to be late, which often happens. So after thinking about it long and hard, I've decided to put baby in a creche that is down the road from my work. Yes, they do get sick at school, but I also think it helps them build immunity by being exposed to diff kids and their germs. I have friends who's babies stay at home, and they get sick anyway (and they are breastfed as well), so I don't think that keeping baby at home will guarentee them NOT getting sick.

Unfortunately in this day and age it is not possible for all moms to stay at home or to get nannies. School has benefits too, so I wouldn't upset myself about it too much if I were you. Good luck!

Baby boy was born on 15/12/14. Perfectly healthy and progressing well. During his 6 week check-up I mentioned to my pediatrician that I am going back to work on 1 June and that DS would then go to nursery school. (The nursery school comes highly recommended and takes kids from 3 months to 6 years) She lambasted me when she heard me , saying that this was the worst time to send my son to school (middle of winter) and that I would compromise the heath of my very healthy son. My mom still works full time and my husband's family live in Namibia. Staying at home isn't an option since a. My career is important to me and b. We need a 2nd income.

What would you do? With all the recent nanny abuse reports I'm hesitant to employ someone I don't know.
Does anyone know of a reliable retired nurse/daymother (dagmoeder) with a small group of babies in the Randpark Ridge/Boskruin/Bromhof/Randburg area?