Doulas - What Do You Do For Childcare??

[ericaz]

I was wondering what the doulas with young children at home do for childcare? I'm covered if my client goes into labor overnight but what if it's during the day??

And, for post partum doulas - do you only work in the evenings/weekends??

My friend and I are hoping to take the courses this winter and then work together. She has a 3 yr old and a 6 month old. I have a 4 yr old and am due in early May. We're just trying to figure out how we'll work childcare once we're in business.

[Rockies5]

you essentially have to have someone on call who can drop by at a moments notice and cover your mama-duties.

[ericaz]

Originally Posted by Rockies5

you essentially have to have someone on call who can drop by at a moments notice and cover your mama-duties.

Really? May I ask if you use a family member or a babysitter?

[RebeccaWells]

May I suggest that you and your partner/friend babysit for each other? I have found that having someone one is passionate about birth babysit for me is essential as it is not always convient. It is alot to ask someone to basically live on call like you do. You really need to have more than one person you can call on.

I have 5 living children and am expecting another. They are homeschooled too. What I do is this, I have a doula partner that has 6 homeschooled children and her oldest is old enough to babysit. We use each other, often her oldest either sits for me or for her. Occasionally if its a long birth, I take all her children. I also have a very good friend that has had 2 homebirths and is passionate about birth that will sit for me at the last minute. She is whom my hubby takes the kids to at 7 am if I left in the middle of the night and Im not home when he has to go to work (having a super supportive spouse is essential too, my hubby never complains, even when he had to take my son in for stitches when I had to go to a birth)

A few weeks ago, my partner was out of town, my good friend had a wedding and I needed to call someone else so I could go to a birth. I called a friend that used to be a doula, but is taking time off right now. She was more than happy to take my kids for the whole day (10 am till 6:30pm) and even fed my hubby when he came to pick them up. Again, the fact that she was a doula, is passionate about birth and knows what it is like to live on call made it easy for me to call her.

It works really well to have grandparents in town, but I don't have that option. Otherwise, a stay at home mom(or two or three) that you can drop your kids off at during the day works well too. Pay them well so they get a bonus and don't mind doing it. They need to be willing to get an early morning phone call if your dh needs to be to work early and you are gone.

Good luck!

[tlcdoula]

Originally Posted by Rockies5

you essentially have to have someone on call who can drop by at a moments notice and cover your mama-duties.

I totally agree and that can be so hard!!! When I first started I relied on my mother and it got to be a huge mess. She got sick of being on call and being called at the last minute to watch her grandchildren. There were a few times that my dh had to call in sick to work so that he could watch the kids.

I have found that many people will say they will help out, but they don't really realize what it means to be on call and to need to take someone else's children at a moment's notice.

I was so happy when my oldest dd got old enough to watch her siblings, but this past August she moved out. My ds will be 18 yrs old in January so we still have someone, but he will move out next August - then my next dd will be 17 yrs old.

As for postpartum work - I have done it days, evenings, and overnights. It really depended on the client and what they wanted.

Since you have someone you want to work with have you thought about the two of you working together and when one is working the other will care for the children? This way both of you would make out and both of you could work and both would understand what it means to have on call childcare.

[Contented73]

There is an in-home daycare provider who lives a few blocks away from me. She has agreed to be "on call" for me during her normal business hours (7am-6pm). It generally works well because she is almost always available, and she is set up to watch kids. Only problem for her is that she is already full, so taking on my kids means a lot of extra stress for her. I do pay her well though, so hopefully she feels good about the occassional extra cash.

Besides her, I have a couple of stay at home mom friends, who are willing to help out with the smaller time periods -- ie, I get a call and have to leave at 4, and I know DH will be home at 6:30, so there are just a couple hours needed. It's nice to have a few friends to call in these cases, because then I don't have to pay every single time.

The really stressful times for me are when DH has to go out of town overnight. This only happens occassionally, and luckily I've never had a client need me then.

[MidwifeErika]

We have two drop-in childcare centers in town. I have to call ahead until this summer when my youngest turns 2, but they can take the kids if there are spaces. I also have a few SAHMs who have agreed to babysit my kids if they happen to be home. Last resort is that I can call my husband home from work if I can't get any other situation to work.

The postpartum hours really vary. Right now i am doing overnights.... I have done evenings and afternoons as well. I am kinda liking the overnights the best.... I am kinda a vampire though

[DoomaYula]

I pay my bff to watch my kids while I'm at a birth. I don't have a ton of business, about 6 births/year, so it's not crazy for either of us.

I also have several babysitters who I can count on as back-ups, and my dh's job is flexible.

I'd probably need something way more concrete if I had a ton of clients. I should be so lucky!

[stellimamo]

CHildcare is the hardest part for me because of dh's job. We really never know when he will be here and usually have little notice (less than 12 hours)about when he is going to be gone and for how long. That makes life really stressful. So I have it worked out that my mom will take the kids if I have to go in the middle of the night and she will drop them off at child care in the morning for me. I also have several people lined up to help w/ day time childcare.