Uh-No! Back Up Child Care

“I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war. Where everyone hugs instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.” - Shel Silverstein

There is a high demand for good quality, affordable child care in Scarborough. Simply put, there's not enough supply to support the demand. Since I'm back in the work force, I need consistent and reliable child care service. Yes, having it be affordable is a huge factor, but to me what I value the most is consistency. I know we can't avoid illness, personal appointments, other reasons to be absent from work but if your primary child care service provider calls in sick last minute, what do YOU do? Ask family members? Friends? Work from home?

Sometimes parents don't have a backup support of family or friends. How do they overcome this issue? In regards to my situation, I am lucky enough to have in-laws who can assist if I'm ever stuck without a babysitter.

Also, here's one of my backup solution: I've asked whenever possible with my babysitter to please let me know 24 hours in advance IF they feel like they're unable to watch Raychel the next day (a cold/sickness is starting). This isn't always possible but if a friendly "headup" is given to me, I have the chance to start coordinating alternative child care arrangements before it's too late.

Setting up alternative child care is very important to us at this current moment because of my new job. I have a 3 month probation period and I want to make a good impression. My child care needs to be solid because I can't afford to take time off or work from home. Ray will need to be a stronger support unit too during this probation period since he would technically have more flexibility to work from home if necessary.

I will however take additional precautions by investigating last minute babysitting services that are frequently advertising in Today's Parent. Here are a list of Babysitting Vendors in the Toronto area I plan to research:

Nannies On Call

www.nanniesoncall.com

Canadian Sitters

http://www.canadiansitter.ca/

Custom Comfort Care Inc.

www.customcomfortcare.ca

I'll keep you posted on my discoveries and experiences.

Toddlers and the cold/flu season

It's near the end of cold/flu season, however children are still managing to get sick. We as parents take preventative measures to avoid our child(ren) catching a cold but some how they manage to still catch a cold. Don't feel like a bad parent; it's very common. No matter how frequently you wash their hands, dress accordingly to the weather, stay hydrated and get the proper amount of sleep, we can't stop them from getting sick. Here are a few signs and symptoms of your wee one starting to get sick:

Watery eyes, runny/stuffy nose, bad cough, diarrhea, fever, achy ears, loss of appetite.

Raychel is almost 16 months so my fears and concerns are very different to when she was under 6 months if she started to show signs of sickness. She's a bit older , has been healthy all of her life and didn't have too many complications from 0-6 months where it's a higher risk for sick babies. They say if a child under 6 months develops a fever, call your doctor immediately.

A common sick trait for Raychel is watery, red sore eyes. Just by looking at them, it affects her whole facial expression and you can tell she's not herself. She looks very dazed and tired; just suffering. Some people would say this is a common allergy symptom but this trait is due to a cold.

When this occurs, I give her Coryzalia Cold - from the boiron line. Also, I wipe and pat her eyes with a clean, damp cloth.

Lastly, to help Raychel sleep through the night with a cold, I turn on the humidifier in her room (Thanks Rehana). It's made by Vicks and it has a section where you add Vicks vapour eucalyptus oil that releases through the mist vapour to help with breathing. It's very soothing and calming and works well for her.

Todaysparent.com states when using a humidifier for your child, it's important to keep it bacteria-free. Use distilled water when filling it up, be sure to empty all the leftover water from previous use, and clean/disinfect the water reservoir frequently.

Good luck; this season is almost done!