If you have an infant/toddler with disabilities, what do you do for childcare?

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I am starting the process to adopt a second child. My first was adopted as a child with special needs, in his case medical, but outgrew them completely. I would like to adopt a special needs child this time around too.

However, with my first child the biggest problem I had during the first two years was childcare, hands down. We went through 3 childcare centers between the ages of 6 months, and 26 months, and had significant problems at all 3.

I'm in a new area now, and I wonder what options I should explore.

I'm a single mom, and while my new child will likely have medicaid as a special needs adoption, I still need to work to keep a roof over our head and insurance for me and my older child. Without childcare, I will be in big trouble.

 

[minkydog]

That's a tough one. I imagine it will depend on what exactly the special needs are. With my youngest, he was hypotonic, develpmentally delayed, and had feeding issues--specifically, he choked many times/day and had to be fed in a special way. Needless to day, NO daycare or private sitter would touch him. We had no choice but to have one of us with him at all times for the first 2-1/2 years of his life. If I had been a single parent, I don't know what I would have done.

Will Medicaid provide any sort of care? Sometimes it is easier to get those services when you are a single parent, due to your extending need. It has to be hard any way you slice it. I think you're wise to look into all that *before* you bring a new child home. We didn't adopt, but we had no idea that our son would have such severe disabilities. Even with the best planning, everything changed after he was born. Some things you just can't plan for.

 

[Rekenna]

Hi! Not that it helps, but in our area-Northern Kentucky-there is a day care service called Kids Club, and Medicaid can be used to pay the cost. It is a very nice day care center for children with special medical needs, there are nurses on staff at all times when children are present. Is there a children's hospital in your area? Maybe they would have some suggestions or even a day care?

For our DS3, we have been very fortunate that there is before and after school care for his public school preschool. He goes to Children's Inc. for about 2 hours, then walks next door to the preschool for 3 hours and lunch and then returns to Children's Inc. for the rest of the day. Everyone is very good to him and he is very happy there. I will say my son has Autism and does not have any other medical needs that he would need medication or a nurse/doctor to check in on him.

Good luck, I hope something works out that you can feel comfortable with and where your child will be happy.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Thanks both of you!

I did some research and it seems that there are 2 childcare centers in my county, one run by Easter Seals, and one by the ARC which serve infants and toddlers and have a specific mission to serve children with disabilities. The Easter Seals one is inclusive, so I could use it either way, the ARC one is all medically fragile kids until 2 and then becomes inclusive.

I have a tour set up at one and an email in to the other, and am waiting to hear back.

 

[minkydog]

Thanks both of you!

I did some research and it seems that there are 2 childcare centers in my county, one run by Easter Seals, and one by the ARC which serve infants and toddlers and have a specific mission to serve children with disabilities. The Easter Seals one is inclusive, so I could use it either way, the ARC one is all medically fragile kids until 2 and then becomes inclusive.

I have a tour set up at one and an email in to the other, and am waiting to hear back.

That's great! ARC has been providing us respite care for Christian for about 9 years. I think they're a wonderful organization. Easter Seals also has some good daycares. We have one in Atlanta that is very well thought of. Good luck to you!

 

[BEloveDisney]

When my son was born, we tried to work out childcare. We discovered care.com. Its a website that allows you to search for childcare providers that meet whatever criteria you select. I selected someone with some nursing experiences because of the anticipated needs of my son. Unfortunately, he didn't live so I never got a chance to use the website as it was intended, but it seemed like it would have been very helpful.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

BeLoveD,

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your precious child.

Thank you for the Care.com reference, it looks that might be a great resource for us!

 

[Britgirlus]

I run a family (in-home) daycare, and have had many children with special needs enrolled over the past 10 years. (I have actually worked with kids of all ages and abilities for over 25 years, in various settings). I know childcare is hard to find, but there are providers out there

 

[Nathanstory]

First off~ this is my very first post in any group here. I just joined. I was thankful for all the input everyone was sharing and I think all of it was really helpful. One of the things that can really help a childcare provider is if you have things mapped out. (med list, emergency contacts, how to handle different situaitons that commonly arise, and if there's any special treatments he needs~tube feeds/breathing treatments etc.) If there's things that can bedone better with you at home, wait~ even if you haveto re-arange a schedule some, as long as it's not going to harm that child to do so. If it's thing that someone has to learn how to do, let them run it through with you there like on an off day so that they can feel more comfortable. Sometimes for someone who's not used to dealing with medically fragile kids it can be intimidatin. just like it was for us as we're learning how to del with our own children's various needs. Usually through some community groups,hospitals or small clinics, therapist~sometiems even local new stations, there's a variety of resources for people who will have information that would be speicific for your area with regard for childcare for you. It's ALWAYS best if you are able to take care of your child yourself~ however I have been a single mom myself before and I know that that's a luxury & sacrafice (espeiclaly financialy) that a lot of people don't have~ of feel that don't have. Blake Foundation through Easter Seals is a wonderful resource, and also you can check if you have a free service similar to a "child resourse & referal." in our area. I hope you find someonewonderful for your incerdible child.

 

[jlr9882]

We have Developmental Center for Exceptional Children (DCEC) which serves infants-5 years and some other centers in the area that provide childcare for special needs children. Public school system start serving special needs children at age 3, some offer full day preschool. Another option is depending on the child's medical needs is a nurse that will stay home with them. http://www.psahealthcare.com/ We do have a few daycares that have been great about working with special needs kids, but it all depends on the teachers and their training and the child's needs. If the child has an early interventionist, they should be able to refer you and give you resources to programs in your area. I am a single mom of a special needs child and work with special needs children, so I know how hard it can be at times. good luck!

 

[SoonerSarah]

Our situation is new for us, so we haven't had much opportunity to need a sitter. We did go see a movie the other night and my sister (who is 20) was visiting us so she stayed home. We did all of her medications and her feed and got her to sleep and went to a late movie. It's not at all likely that we will be leaving her with anyone who is not extremely experienced in medications for quite some time. Possibly not until she is taking less medications (she currently gets 24 doses a day). With my sister I showed her the feeding pump and made it have some different problems so she could see what the display read and what to do in order to fix it.

We are also looking into something called MDCP, which is for medically dependent children and can provide with a nurse. It is not something I would want daily, Not really even once a week, but I've still got to get all of the details.