Going into Labor During Daycare Hours?

[Miss A]

So I have 4 months left until my due date, and I am working on my official maternity leave letter and labor during daycare hours policy. This will be sent out later this summer, I am just a planner and like to have all my ducks in a row.

As of right now, it is worded that should I go into labor parents will be contacted via their updater emergency contact sheet (Thanks, BlackCat!) And will be given 30 minutes to pick their child up. All parents work within 15 miles of my home in a rural area with no traffic. I also think that should labor start during the day, I will be calling my mom who is my back-up provider to assist me while I prepare to leave the home, get my SO called and home, and wait for parents.

Is this reasonable? What did you do when you went into labor?

[LittleScholars]

Miss A, I'm working on the very same thing so I'm so glad you posted this. Can I ask what your maternity leave plan is? Thank you!!

[Miss A]

Miss A, I'm working on the very same thing so I'm so glad you posted this. Can I ask what your maternity leave plan is? Thank you!!

My Maternity plan is 2 full weeks of daycare closure (Mon-Fri, 2 consecutive weeks) plus whatever spare days are left during the week I deliver if I deliver on a Wednesday or later. My mom is then coming to stay with us for 2-4 weeks and will help me run daycare so I can adjust to my new baby and their schedule, breastfeeding, and sneaking in a few naps a day.

[LittleScholars]

That's great. I was thinking the same thing. Do you have a plan if you deliver earlier or much later than your due date? I'd love to give families concrete dates I'll be closed, but I'm not sure how to do that. Thank you again for sharing!

[JackandJill]

I had a similar labor during the day plan. I gave all parents 30 minutes to be here, and made sure I had updated information.For dcp who couldn't keep their phone on them at work, I made sure I had a back up pick up (like grand parents or aunts) who would be able to answer a phone call anytime of day to pick up.

Thankfully I went into labor around 4 am, so I have no idea how smoothly that plan would have gone.

Congratulations on your new addition!!

[permanentvacation]

I went into labor during daycare! I LOVE to tell my story...here it is...

As my daycare mom opened the door to get her child, I was breathing like they teach you to do in Lamaze class. She said, 'You're in labor'. I told her that I don't have time to be in labor. I'm working! I had been writing my contractions down and had already called the doctor's office. My doctor was with a patient and I was waiting for her to call me back. My younger daycare kids were still taking nap and my older ones were on their way walking home from school. And I had already called my substitute who was on her way over.

My doctor called me back and told me to go to her office so she could check me to see if I was actually in labor or having Braxton Hicks contractions (false labor). So, when the school kids arrived and my substitute arrived, I drove myself, my older daughter, her best friend (one of the school daycare kids), and the mom of that child for an hour while in labor to my doctor's office!

The doctor told me to get on the examination table and I either peed myself or my water broke. I went to the bathroom to try to finish peeing or leaking into the toilet. When I tried to get up off of the toilet, I literally could not stand up!! My water had broken and all of my muscles were pushing down. I COULD NOT stand up off of the toilet! So I started yelling for the doctor. She put her arm around me and told me that she'd help me up and get me to the hospital. I grabbed her shirt and pulled her nose to nose to me, gritted my teeth and announced 'We ain't going to no hospital!' My grammar was a bit off at the time! So her nurse put towels and pillows on the bathroom floor and told me to lay down. I laid down right there in the bathroom and pushed 3 times and the baby came out!

I tried to get up right after having her (my baby), and the doctor pushed me back down and told me to relax. When they did tell me to get up, I had blood on my one foot, so I kicked my foot into the sink and washed it off!

They had an ambulance come for the baby and me. They told me to get on the gurney and I told them that I was fine... I just lost 30 pounds! I felt great! But they made me get on. Then they wheeled me into the ambulance and HANDED ME MY BABY on the gurney! I said, 'Do you have a car seat in this thing? If not, I have about 10 in my van. I'll meet you at the hospital!' The ambulance driver looked at me like I was a horrible mother and told me that most mothers want to hold their babies. I told him that I want my baby to make it to the hospital alive if they get in an accident. So he flipped a little car seat down out of the wall of the ambulance and strapped my baby in. Then I told them, 'Okay, we can go now.' :: I am a horrible patient! Good mom, but horrible patient!

They made my daughter and me stay in the hospital that night and released us the next afternoon. The following morning, I had my dad and his girlfriend at my house to do daycare for me. At 6 in the morning, all I kept hearing was the kids telling my father, "No, mine is the blue cup", "Mine is the purple one" etc. and my father saying, "It's a cup! Drink from it!" They were already, at 6 am plucking my father's nerves about who's cup was who's. So I got up and did daycare the day after I gave birth while my husband (now ex) spent time with our baby in the bedroom.

After doing daycare that day all day, with just a little assistance from my dad and his girlfriend, I decided that I might as well just do daycare myself the next day. So, technically, I had a night and a day of maternity leave!

[Indoorvoice]

I'm due in less than 2 weeks and still don't really have a plan. I have no idea how this will work. Hoping I give birth on a weekend!

[Miss A]

That's great. I was thinking the same thing. Do you have a plan if you deliver earlier or much later than your due date? I'd love to give families concrete dates I'll be closed, but I'm not sure how to do that. Thank you again for sharing!

My letter states that babies come on their own time, and I asked parents to be prepared for the possibility of labor and delivery from the beginning of September to the middle of October, as I am due 9/27/16. I then wrote that it is an approximate 2 weeks, depending on what day the baby decides to come. If baby is born on a Wednesday I will be closed 12 business days, and so I asked parents to be prepared to have back up care for 10-14 days, depending on my baby's schedule. Never once have I said a concrete 2 weeks, or 10 daycare days only, as I do not want to lock myself into something I have no control over. I also stated that if I have a difficult labor, or Baby needs more time due to health issues, I will notify parents and will be closed for a longer period.

As my SO is always saying, everyone that uses our services has had a baby before, and they will understand our need for time off with our new babies. I also offered my parents a small discount for the 2 weeks after my return as a thank you for being understanding of my time off.

[Miss A]

I'm due in less than 2 weeks and still don't really have a plan. I have no idea how this will work. Hoping I give birth on a weekend!

Wouldn't that be ideal! I am such a planner, and it kills me that I can not plan this baby's arrival for a Friday night!

Good luck, Momma! Hoping all goes smoothly for you!

[finsup]

So I have 4 months left until my due date, and I am working on my official maternity leave letter and labor during daycare hours policy. This will be sent out later this summer, I am just a planner and like to have all my ducks in a row.

As of right now, it is worded that should I go into labor parents will be contacted via their updater emergency contact sheet (Thanks, BlackCat!) And will be given 30 minutes to pick their child up. All parents work within 15 miles of my home in a rural area with no traffic. I also think that should labor start during the day, I will be calling my mom who is my back-up provider to assist me while I prepare to leave the home, get my SO called and home, and wait for parents.

Is this reasonable? What did you do when you went into labor?

That sounds fine to me! The two babies I've had during daycare were planned c sections (medically nessacary but I wasn't complaing about the convience either ) but parents were told they would need to be prepared to lick up within half an hour if I by chance went into labor early. All were fine with it!

[LittleScholars]

Oh, I love the discount. This is so helpful.

[spud912]

I always deliver right by my due date or after, so that helped when giving the dates. I had a plan for parents with "likely" dates, but told them all to have a back up plan starting a month early and to have a back-up should I require more than the 2 weeks I allotted myself. I also ensured that I had my mom and dh available in case I went into labor during daycare hours. The plan stated that they had to be at my house within an hour but at the 30 minute I was leaving for the hospital with my mom present as the back-up. My labors are very quick so I didn't want to be waiting around.

I ended up going into false labor 2 days before actually giving birth and had everyone come pick up their kids, only for there to be no progress at the hospital . The parents were all super understanding. Then the day before going into labor I fell down the stairs and my dh had to take over the daycare for the day because I hurt my back and my OB/GYN wanted me to get checked out at the hospital (so the second day in a row I was in L&D and no baby ). Then the next day my water broke. It ended up being on a Friday at 9 pm (I close at 5 pm), so it didn't end up affecting anyone. Monday was a holiday so I was off anyway. I took 9 additional days off.

[Ariana]

Once labour starts you have plenty of time to get to the hospital so don't sweat it too much or go into a panic.

I did similarly to you. During the day my mom was to come up to finish the day and and then daycare was closed for three weeks. I allowed the kids to stay until the end of the day and my mom and the parents were ok with it (kids were older). I talked to every parent about this and they all had standby care ready to go. I ended up going at around 2am and my husband texted everyone to let them know that there would be no daycare in the morning. My mom came up to be with my eldest.

[lovemydaycare0912]

If you close for 2 weeks, or whatever timeframe, is that paid or not paid? I would assume not paid but I don't want to be wrong.

[Miss A]

Thank you everyone, you have all been so helpful!

And yes, my maternity leave is unpaid.