What to do during daycare's summer vacation
Hi all,
We are moving to Berkeley and we are very excited about the daycare we found for our soon-to-be 18-month-old daughter, The Good Earth School. However, they -- and many other daycares in the area it seems -- have a two-week summer vacation in August, and since we will be busy with work during this time we aren't able to leave town. What do other people with small children do during this time if they are sticking around? All the summer camps seem to be for children at least 2-4 years old. Are there any daily or even hourly activity programs for children under 2? Do you get a short term nanny?
Thanks!
Jun 4, 2018
Parent Replies
Oh the joys of daycare/preschool breaks for working parents. When we’ve been in that situation we cobbled together care and often was a combination of things. Things we did included taking a vacation if we could (even if just a couple days), asking grandparents (even if it meant flying them in for the break), alternating working from home a few days, babysitters, joining up with other parents. Sometimes the preschool teachers are willing to offer care for a small group of kids at their or someone’s home.
This is tough. Definitely no camps for such young children, at least not full day ones. I usually take time off or work from home with the kids playing and getting a lot of screen time :( when daycare is closed, or use my emergency childcare benefit at work. It is called Bright Horizons and gives me a certain number of days per child per year subsidized by my employer to use at their centers or affiliates, so maybe check with HR if your company has it or something like it for its employees. If not then looking for daycares with empty spots in summer who will be ok with drop-in for 2 weeks is likely the best solution. The last option is hiring a babysitter or a nanny for short term but that will be expensive. Good luck. My kids are a bit older now so grandma takes them for school/preschool closures, but I remember it was tough when they were babies and grandma could not handle them all.