Reduced hours at childcares during COVID
Hi parents, i'm beginning the daycare / preschool search and am finding that a lot of places are operating at reduced hours and late morning start due to COVID, i.e. 8:30. How do working parents manage around these hours if you have a job that requires early start like 7am? Do you hire help in the mornings to bridge the gap? I would imagine it would be difficult to get a nanny to come for just 1-2 hours in the morning? Would love feedback on what other parents are doing. Would note that both my husband and I are on the same early work schedule so it's not possible to stagger our hours unfortunately.
Feb 9, 2021
Parent Replies
Most preschools and other in-person programs right now require you to only be in one childcare "pod" so you may not be able to hire outside childcare in addition to the preschool (our school doesn't allow it in order to keep the bubble contained). So it's worth checking with the places you are considering to make sure they would allow that if you need it. I think it is actually not necessarily hard to find someone for just a short time in the mornings, for example a student or someone with another 9-5ish job who wants a little more to supplement. I've heard of people hiring morning nannies even in non-COVID times because very few daycares or preschools start before 8.
I'm responding not because I "have it figured out" , but precisely because I don't, and I feel that that can be just as valid (and maybe helpful) input as any other... Our preschool doesn't open until 8:30 now, and I work from home. My first work zoom call is often at 8am. I'll get everything ready, feed him breakfast, and give him the iPad to get thru my meeting, and then when that's over (between 8:30 and 9) I put him in the car and race the 10 minutes to school (5 min for drop-off), and 10 minutes home. My work only sort of loosely knows this is happening. We're all just doing our best. Sometimes my mornings are extra-crazy because I'm trying to catch up from falling behind (that 30+ min I wasn't working), sometimes it's OK. Occasionally my Mother in Law can help and drive him to preschool - those mornings are nice. Good Luck!
We had to negotiate with our jobs that each parent can arrive at work early 2-3 days a week, and the other 2-3 days they will be in later (but can stay later as well!). We both work about 9-11 hours a day not include commute time, so even without covid we had to make this compromise with our work. We found that we were not the first people to have young children at our jobs, and they were able to accommodate us. Might you consider broaching the conversation with your supervisor or with HR? You are a caretaker, and they have a certain obligation to reasonably accommodate you.