How Long Should I Take off for Maternity Leave?

[MamaJ]

I took 12 weeks with each of my two kids, but I was working part-time in an office, and I was allowed 12 weeks per FMLA. I'm not sure 12 weeks would be acceptable here...to have parents find alternate care for that long.

I have two kids I watch now, maybe one more (my nephew) starting in the fall. What is a reasonable amount of time to take off?

I'm 13 weeks and haven't told the parents yet. I'm afraid they'll start looking for other care, or be upset that I'm pregnant, etc.

How do I go about telling them?

[Crazy8]

I took 2 weeks with each of my kids. Probably not the answer you wanted after taking 12 weeks off with your first but in this business around here I would never have gotten my clients back if I took much longer. Parents knew we were on a more relaxed schedule and they were fine with it.

[CheekyChick]

Is there any way you could train someone to be your substitute while you're on maternity leave? You won't make money during that time, but it will guarantee
that you won't lose your current clients. Plus, she can help you with the baby during the day. A nap here and there might be nice. It's a win win.

[Crazy8]

and as for telling them, at 13 weeks I imagine you will have to tell them soon but I highly recommend having a plan of action in place before you tell them. It will go over much better if you can tell them that you are pregnant, your approx. due date, how much time you will be closed or have an assistant lined up, etc. That will ease their minds knowing that you have it planned out already. Love the idea of an assistant, but unfortunately I didn't have anyone that could do that and really couldn't afford to take too much time unpaid.

[lpperry]

I took 3 weeks off with my most recent baby and then all of the daycare kids came back. I told the parents way ahead of time, so everyone had a chance to make arrangments. They only had to make arrangements for about 2 1/2 weeks because I had one of my subs watch the kids for the 2 days that I was in the hospital.

For the next two months, I hired a sub to come and help out 3 mornings a week when I was the busiest.

I would suggest having someone to help for a few hours a day a few times a week. You will still have most of your income and will keep all of your clients, but you will have some extra help and will be able to spend more time with your newborn.

[anya]

I'm due in September and have someone who has for a while been my sick back up/playground assistant taking over for me for at least 6 weeks. We plan to overlap for at least a week to make sure the kids are completely used to her, during which she'll get paid much less because she won't be doing as much but observing/being with everyone, then I will give her about 75% of my income (which shes actually aware of - helps that shes a friend who wants me to have a chance to recover!) once she takes over for me - because I'll still be providing lesson plans (even though I plan to do these ahead of time), food and cooking some meals, rotating toys/books in and out, possibly helping with lunch time, and providing electricity!! haha Everyone is really comfortable with this and have met her, and I've even had to interview for several new families pregnant, had them meet her and explained the situation, and they still went with me! So I feel really good about that. I explain to parents that - I'll still be in the house for the most part (although hopefully not bothered too much, hiding upstairs!) if she needs me or if a parent needs to talk to me, and also will continue to visit with the kids throughout recovery here and there so they know I'm around, I baby wear a lot in the very beginning and have cared for kids before postpartum (see below), I have a big play gate thing that I put up when infants are really little so I can put them down somewhere without worrying about them getting accidentally injured from toddlers, and I will have this sub phase me back in/overlap again and be available for another couple months to give some hours here and there if I need it. I think this is the best situation to give me the amount of time I want off.. I was 4 weeks postpartum after a c-section nannying for a heavy toddler who still needed to be lifted a lot after my first was born - hoping to not have a c-section again but the recovery took forever for me (more like 10 weeks) because I couldn't take the full amount of time I needed, and of course I hadn't planned for a c-section, never know what happens... I would definitely agree- hire a helper to sub for your recovery and help a little afterwards! And, if you're desperate like we are, think of some ways you can justify keeping some of the income Good luck!!

[cheerfuldom]

I took one week off, went part time for the next three weeks (had an assistant) and then full time within a month. Take what you need though. You can't ever get that time back with the baby and I know I have regretted sacrificing during my maternity leaves trying to accommodate DC parents and you can guess how grateful they were about that....don't even get me started.

[Michael]

More threads on the subject: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...aternity+leave

[MamaJ]

good idea on the helper/sub. Since I only have two kids, one paying $130/wk, and one PT at $80/week....think I'd be able to find a sub to come in for that amount of money? If I kept 15%...that would give them $714/month. I'm not sure anyone would want to do that? that's $4.60/hr for 40 hr week. I do it b/c it's just enough to allow me to stay home and not work outside of the house.

however, I COULD have someone come perhaps just for the mornings up until 1pm which is when everyone goes down for a nap. One of the girls naps until 4, the other boy naps until 3:30 or so....so my afternoons are pretty easy.

Thanks for the advice I will look into it for sure.

[GretasLittleFriends]

I was due with my youngest May 3, so I took the week before that off just in case. I do 24/7 care, so I took off starting April 25th (last year). Glad I did, she came on the 28th of April. I was going to start back up on Sunday May 9th, but then I realized that was Mother's Day, so gave it to myself, and started on May 10th. Parents were responsible for finding their own back-up care during that time.

I told them when I was 2 or 3 months pregnant. I couldn't hide it long because it was my 3rd and I showed pretty quickly.

My MIL (retired dc provider) did come and stay with me for two weeks when I started my business back up. It was wonderful to have an extra set of hands here, especially when I was nursing.

[KEG123]

I'm due in mid/late october and will be taking off two weeks. Ideally, I'd like to take more, but it just isn't realistic. 1. I need the money, 2. I can't expect parents to find backup care for a month or longer.

Luckily my kids are in the 2-3 range (well, they will be when baby comes) so they're pretty much able to play nicely with me sitting right there (nursing the baby round the clock I assume, )

[daysofelijah]

I took two weeks of when dd was born and all the families were fine with that. I will only be having one dcg left when I have this one (#4) so will take 1-2 weeks off. I'm letting everyone else go now and will only continue with the one.

I think much more than two weeks and you should try to get them back-up care, or worry they might leave. That saying I quit for six months when I had ds2 and all the families I offered to come back when I re-opened came back.

[daysofelijah]

As far as when I told them I told everyone around 12-13 weeks each time and let them know the estimated due date and that I would take about 2 weeks off.

[Crazy8]

good idea on the helper/sub. Since I only have two kids, one paying $130/wk, and one PT at $80/week....think I'd be able to find a sub to come in for that amount of money? If I kept 15%...that would give them $714/month. I'm not sure anyone would want to do that? that's $4.60/hr for 40 hr week. I do it b/c it's just enough to allow me to stay home and not work outside of the house.

however, I COULD have someone come perhaps just for the mornings up until 1pm which is when everyone goes down for a nap. One of the girls naps until 4, the other boy naps until 3:30 or so....so my afternoons are pretty easy.

Thanks for the advice I will look into it for sure.

I think you might be able to find a SAHM to come in from maybe 9-12ish for a smaller amount of money - maybe $100/week? It will give her just a little pocket money and give her child some socialization (if she has one to bring along) and give you just a little break till nap time and you wouldn't need it long term. I had planned on doing that with an older woman in my neighborhood but I found I really didn't need it - after 2 weeks off I was really fine to watch the kids.

[Abigail]

Do any of you have a section in your handbook or contract about maternity leaves for you the provider? Can I see what you wrote?