How Does Pregnancy Affect Owning A Daycare Business?

[JLH]

My husband and I decided to try getting pregnant and after trying once here I sit about 4 weeks along. Guess I should have figured it wouldn't take long since the last time we tried, we had twins. . We are licensed for 9 children, we take ages 18 months through 11 years, and we just applied to have our capacity increased to 12. My hubby is my assistant and promises to pick up the slack for me but I worry, as the daycare is my baby and our only source of income. Plus, we just re-opened it 6 months ago. I would love to hear from the other women on here that have ran their daycare while pregnant. Is it possible to run a daycare with 9 to 12 children for 11 hours a day while pregnant? Did you lose customers when you told them you were expecting? Did you have to take tons of time off for doctor appointments? Did you have to close for long when baby was born? I have so many questions and concerns! I would love feedback!

[MarinaVanessa]

Well everyone is different for me at least I run a small FCC with a capacity of 8 but I care for 7 because other than my own DD I don't want any SA kids. I don't have an assistant and do everything myself (other than my DH helping around the house with cleaning).

I got pregnant with me DS (now 2yo) while doing daycare and other than needing a little more time to load/unload the daycare kids in/out of the car I did just fine on my own. I spent a lot of time in a chair or on the floor and avoided getting up and sitting down on the floor frequently. I did get tired (pregnancy fatigue) but after a few months that went away. I didn't get morning sickness with my DS and when the time came to deliver him I gave birth on a Thursday early in the morning and stayed at the hospital until Saturday morning (I had my sister fill in for me at daycare both Thursday and Friday) and was back on my feet and running my daycare that same Monday. I personally did not need any time off and being that I was home and did FCC I still got to spend LOTS of time with my DS to bond. My DH then took the 2 weeks off from work so that he could bond with him. For me it was easy.

I am now just crossing my 5th month of my 3rd pregnancy and although the fatigue hasn't quite yet gone away fully and I do get some nausea I can deal with it. I don't plan on taking any time off this time either and I'm hoping that it'll be as easy as my last child. (fingers crossed).

[Play Care]

I had my second child in the very early days of my day care. I wasn't full yet so I didn't have the full responsibility I do now. I had one FT girl and one boy who was leaving anyway for school. I scheduled my appts as late in the day as I could and closed early. Now, I have a sub and would use her to cover. I was placed on bedrest and took a full six weeks off after - I was off for about 9-10 weeks. I have no regrets about taking that much time off. The girl came back and I had her for 3 more years.

I had severe "all day" sickness and was borderline HG, I was put on Zofran as a last resort. I honestly felt like crap from about 8 weeks until the middle of the second trimester. I felt good for a few more weeks until I started to get huge and tired. Keeping the sick clear of dishes was for more than just looks

For the most part it was fine. No one left because of it, and everyone who was coming back came back. My advice would be to try not to worry because things usually work out for the best in the end.

Best of luck for a happy & healthy pregnancy!

[sahm1225]

I was pregnant when I started my daycare and only had one dcg (2 year old) that came 4 days a week, so I would go to the doctor on my days off. I did the same as Marina and had my baby Thursday and was neck at work Monday.

Then fast forward 2 years. I was running my daycare w 12 kids and a full time assistant. My appointments were on Saturdays or on our slowest day. Morning sickness ****ed and I had to take zofran. It went away around 21 weeks. Then I got the biggest burst of energy and it was wonderful until about 32 weeks. I got painful vericose veins, my legs and body ached and I was exhausted. I was able to hire a part time assistant to help out. Daycare remained open and my assistants filled in for me. I had planned on taking 2 weeks off and ended up taking 4 weeks off (but that was for other reasons. I felt perfectly find about a week post partum, but my you hear had a lot of medical issues that required surgery and it was emotionally draining).

So that being said - no, it wasn't that bad at all... But I would see about hiring a part time helper to ease the burden on you. Good luck and congratulations! s!

[MNMum]

I too was afraid of how this would go being pregnant, time off etc. This is my 4th baby, but the first one while doing daycare. I care for about 7 kids under school age. Physically everything has gone just fine for me. I was tired in my first trimester, we just took it easy those days. My biggest fear was what to do about maternity leave, etc. I decided to find someone to be a co-provider. I will close for one week to have our house to ourselves, then my assistant will run the daycare for 6-8 weeks.

My assistant started in January and I am due in July. She has been coming 2-3 mornings/week. I schedule my appts during these times. I'm hoping the transition will be nearly seamless when she takes over. I will continue to do all the grocery shopping and probably a fair bit of food prep when she is running the daycare.

[butterfly]

Just wanted to say Congrats on the pregnancy!! happyface I have no advice about juggling both. I didn't start daycare until after my kids were born. I wish you the best though!!

[JLH]

Well, the simple fact that so many people replied makes me so happy because it means others have gone through this and still have their daycare business in tact. Thank you all so much! I needed to hear the stories of "good" pregnancies because last time I found out I was pregnant was with my 3 year old twins and I had to close immediately to go on bedrest. Ugh!

[TheGoodLife]

Well, the simple fact that so many people replied makes me so happy because it means others have gone through this and still have their daycare business in tact. Thank you all so much! I needed to hear the stories of "good" pregnancies because last time I found out I was pregnant was with my 3 year old twins and I had to close immediately to go on bedrest. Ugh!

I agree. I would love to have a 4th baby, but am nervous with having a home daycare. Its nice to see so many positive experiences! Congrats and good luck with the pregnancy!

[Texasjeepgirl]

I started my home daycare in August 1992 when my oldest daughter was slightly over 2 years old...
My younger daughter was born August 1994.
During the pregnancy I was fortunate to have a trusted daycare mom that was a full time student... I worked with her each month to schedule my doctor appointments around her class schedule so that she could watch the daycare for me...
I closed for 6 full weeks.. 1 week before... and 5 weeks after... I did loose a client or two... but the rest returned to me...
Ironically... I did without income for those 6 weeks to have the baby.. but then in '07 I didn't close the daycare a single day in order to have a partial hysterectomy... my school teacher sister ran the daycare for 3 days.. Tuesday-Thursday...while I had surgery Tuesday morning.. I was back on the job... sitting allot.. and with the assistance of my husband and teenage daughters... on Friday...