Find Alternative Care
If you find yourself in trouble at work, you may need to find someone who can help you out when your child gets sick. I realize that this is probably not an easy task and if you are like me, it’s not someone else’s responsibility to care for your sick child. However, if you have a close family member or friend who is willing to help you occasionally then I would take up their offer to avoid being terminated from your job if you have already had too many absences.
Search for Drop In Sick Care
Next time you are at your pediatrician’s office, ask them if there are any daycare’s available in your area that allow you to take your child to when they are sick. Drop in care is usually more expensive but if you don’t have any paid time off then this might be a better option for you and your family. Finding a part time nanny might also be a great alternative because a nanny can be more flexible when it comes to caring for a sick child.
The Number of Sick Days Gradually Decreases Over Time
If you just put your child in daycare, you can expect them to be sick possibly every other week for the first six months to a year of them starting daycare. As a parent this can be frustrating, but I promise you that it does get better. During those first few months of being at daycare, your child’s immune system is working hard to build up immunity to all of the germs that lurk around at a daycare center. Once they build up a good immune system, then you will notice a decrease in the number of times that your child gets sick.
How many times on average do you have to miss work in order to take care of a sick child?
Comments
7 responses to “Do You Feel As If You Are Constantly Missing Work Because Your Baby is Sick?”
I guess this is one of the advantages of being a stay-at-home mom. No filing for absence at work, no getting questioned by the boss, etc. Of course, we’d all rather not have our kids sick. 🙂
Oh boy, I do not miss this drama. I was still working until we had our fifth kid and I said, “THIS IS IT BABE! No more!”
The guilt, finding alternative care, missing work…I always felt so bad for my babies when I was working and they were sick.
Excellent tips, Christy. It’s so hard to balance mommyhood and work
I can definitely attest to the fact that sick days will dwindle as your child ages. My first was a preemie and she was sick constantly. By the time she was in middle school, she was much healthier. Today she is age 22 and rarely sick. Hang in there moms! It gets better with time.
working at home don’t have this issue =}
I had no idea there was such a thing a drop in sick care. That is a great concept. I doubt our small town has one, but I’m glad that’s an option in some areas.
It would be so hard to juggle work and a sick baby. I wonder if that care.com is a good resource. Have you seen that?
That might be a great option to find someone or sittercity.com. I personally haven’t used either of these services.