Day care with a physical birth defect (omphalocele)

[orangepickle]

I'm getting closer to my due date so have started checking out the options in terms of day care, nannies, etc. My LO has an omphalocele so he'll be in the NICU for a while, but after he's home for a bit I do need to get back to work, so he'll need someone watching him from the usual 9-5.

If your child(ren) have had physical special needs/birth defects, did you go the traditional day care route? I know it's different for every child, but I'm wondering how open day cares actually are to watching a special needs child. I would love a nanny but not the cost that goes along with it (although I would do it if it was necessary).

Also, I live in the Bible belt, and a lot of the day cares around here are within churches. I'm not religious myself - has anyone used a religious day care when they aren't actually church members themselves?

[jmski]

There are some daycares specifically for children with special needs if your son will need specialized nursing. You would probably have to be lucky to live near one though. I do not have a problem with my child going to a loving religious daycare when they are young especially as a baby.

[numbbears]

I'm in the south, also. My cousin works at a daycare in a church. I think they may say a prayer before lunch, but that's it. I attended a daycare and after school program that was in a church when I was a kid. I don't remember doing anything religious at all. It was kept pretty separate from the actual church. Different staff and all. I wouldn't have a problem with DS going through one as long as they had experience with kids like him.

Good luck with your delivery!

[toastie]

Welcome! Is your DS's birth defect going to affect their overall health? You should probably bring this up with a pediatrician, or another doctor (maybe a neonatologist?). I would be concerned that after the stress of a long time in the NICU and the healing his body will need to do that he will be very susceptible to illness and that a traditional daycare may be too much on him.

You also have to consider what kind of care your DS will need beyond a typical child. I don't have any experience with omphalocele so I'm not sure. Will he need wound care? Specialized feeding? etc? You may need to weigh how well that a day care can accomodate that when there are numerous infants in the room.

Good luck, I'm sure this decision is hard to begin with and your son's extra needs complicate it further.

As for the religious part, I think that's going to differ from church to church. Our church's preschool and daycare were religiously themed. They sang Christian songs and read christian stories. However, the one when I was little had no relgious affiliation beyond being located in the church building.

[orangepickle]

Thanks for all the responses - jmski unfortunately there aren't any special needs daycares near me (I don't even live in a small town or anything... I just assumed there would be).

toastie if he does has more complications than the omphalocele (feeding/breathing tubes, etc.) then I will bite the bullet and get a nanny for specialized one-on-one care, but if not then I'll wait until the omphalocele is covered with skin and then it's just a matter of wrapping it up in the morning and being careful that there's no direct trauma to his abdomen. At this point, it's just a matter of wait and see, I suppose - I'm just a planner so thought I'd have a few options in my back pocket.