Allergy Friendly Home Daycare

We recently found out that our son’s current daycare worker is moving to Toronto in July. Her husband is in the military and has been transferred. It’s a great career move for them, but it leaves us in a predicament. I interviewed close to 20 home daycares prior to finding the lady we chose and none of them came close to being a safe environment for my son. We thought we would send him to a daycare center, however the cost for a baby his age (17 months) is almost $42/day. Including the amount we pay for our daughter, this would bring us up to $1500/month in daycare costs. We both have decent jobs and make decent money but that is just not an affordable cost. I though about applying for a subsidy considering my son has a type of a “special need” and can’t just go to any old daycare. However, I immediately felt guilty even thinking that as the subsidy money is there for people who desperately need it – I don’t think we are at that point.

When I was searching for daycare for Liam the first time around, I was surprised at the number of daycare workers who did not feel comfortable having an allergic child as part of their group. Now when I reflect on it, it doesn’t seem surprising to me at all. It is a lot of extra responsibility. I find it funny though how they get to choose not to accept that responsibility, as parents, there is no choice. I often think a lucrative business would be an allergy friendly home daycare with reasonable rates. There was once a time when I thought I would take on this business venture, however, I quickly realized that I might not have the patience a good daycare worker needs to enjoy and be successful at their career.