For parents that do daycare drop off / pickups, what time do you get in the office and leave the office? New job requires hybrid and I don’t see how I can be in the office 9-5 and still make daycare drop off & pickups. Commute is almost an hour

Interesting daycare hours, very constraining, almost feels like it’s not intended for working parents. Daycares in my area are typically between 6am to 7am and typically go through 6pm to 630pm. Outs is 630am to 630pm, so it’s easier to navigate flexibility with work

This struck a nerve. I did not read any comments. Day care sucks, work life balance sucks. It all sucks.

The only thing that saved our marriage, was resetting our lives, we both took a giant, and I mean giant! Over $100,000, reduction, each, and took different jobs with much, much, much, less stress.

In the end, I am a very happy person, and we are a very happy family 


Our daycare is 9-3, so I had to find a job that was flexible. I start my day at 930 and on the days I need to pick my son up, break at 230 to go get him. My role is global so I'm available later for APAC calls so this works. My employer is flexible and I found a place that is great for working parents. But it was a point of negotiation when I started.

Following!

I have my calendars blocked for drop offs and pickup. My husband works weird hours so he can do pick ups a lot of the time but when you add my commute, some days I don’t get to the office until 10am with train schedules. And if I want to get home to do bedtime/bath/dinner, I need to leave the office by 4:30.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a manager/HR person/team that all understands and I always get my work done, even if it means logging back on once both kids are down.

Be transparent with your team and set boundaries. I’ve worked on multiple teams since starting and every single one has accommodated my schedule when needed. VM also does are about parents, despite having a lot of younger people. And I’ve found they do their best to prioritize family needs.

For the first year of my son's life, I was able to use FMLA to leave early from work to pick him up from daycare. My commute was an hour and my daycare is open 7am-5:30pm. My husband would do morning drop off and I would leave work at 4:30 in order to get there in time. I didn't have to use my FMLA for maternity leave, so I was able to spread it out as "bonding with child" which can be used until they turn 1 year old. After that, my husband had to do pickups as well because I couldn't get there in time. He works from home- he is supposed to be 9am-6pm, but he began to start his work day early after morning drop-off and that lets him stop early if he needs to.

I am hybrid as well but a child in elementary school. I log in early (6am) log out for school drop off (8:45am)& my commute which is about 30mins in all. Arrive at the office for 9:15. Then leave at 3pm for school pick up at 3:30pm. I work during my lunch and I only take 30mins so I use my commute time for that. I was kind of grandfathered in with a great boss who was completely understanding and allowed for this. Maybe something like this could be considered. Good luck!

Most day cares open about 6am or 7am
And close at 6pm.

I don't have any issues with drop off or pick up but my daycare opens at 6:30 am and closes at 6 pm.

Is your daycare an hour and a half away from your office? Our daycare is 8-5 as well and we can make it to work by 8:30. We also have one parent do drop off and one parent do pick up as my work is more flexible in the morning and my husbands is more flexible in the evening

My husband and I adjusted our schedules to share the load.
I drop off of the 3 kids in the morning to the 3 locations, Day Care 7:40am, 7th grade 8am and 3k at 8:15am & then get into work at 8:30am and I work until 5pm with a 1/2 hr lunch. Its a rush in the mornings getting everyone ready and out the door and feels like a PT job before even getting to work..

My husband works 5am-2:45pm, he picks up the kids then at 3:00pm, 3:15pm, 3:30pm.

Without two parents/caregivers sharing the load, one would need extended daycare hours. Most places in my city are 8-5, but some places do start as early as 6:30 and go as late as 6:30. If your commute is almost an hour and you are solely responsible, I think your only choice getting help for pickup/drop off or finding a place that can accommodate your schedule. Congrats on the new job, keep on making it work!

What we do is whoever goes late, drops the kid, whoever comes first, picks up. In your case, if either of your employee allows, continue remaining work after reaching home.

I have always worked in jobs that were very flexible, even before kids I rarely got to the office before 9:30am. So with kids the drop of has never been a problem with arriving in between 9:30 - 10am. I only go to the office once or twice per week anyway nowadays.

My son's daycare is 6:30 am to 6:00 pm, half an hour away from my workplace. So I am in the office usually 7:30 - 5:00. If you can't find a daycare that is accommodating to your work schedule you're going to either have to work shorter hours or share pick-up/drop-off responsibility with your partner (if you have one). I am a single parent, but I didn't look at daycares that couldn't accommodate my work schedule.

Your solutions would be you or spouse find employment that accommodate child care Or hire a nanny simple

My kids were young years ago, so before any flexibility in working hours or working from home. We relied on neighbors and friends, almost like carpooling. I would pick another child up as well as mine on some days and the other parents would pick up mine on the other days. We also paid a neighborhood teen to pick up our kids from daycare at the latest possible time (5pm for example) and babysit for a couple of hours until we got home.

Perhaps try looking for a home daycare or look for a daycare near your work that is open until 7pm.

My daughter is 17 now but when she was small this was always a struggle for me as a single Mother. I always had to worry about the logistics of drop off and pick up. My advice is to find a daycare (I know this can take some time) that has extended hours for drop off and pick up. You will end up paying more, but this is what I had to do. When she was a baby I used private daycare and the hours were not conducive to my schedule so I eventually was able to get her into our local YMCA daycare which opened at 6am and then closed at 6pm, making my options more open for drop off and pick up. Then when she became school age I was able to slide right into the YMCA’s afterschool program, which is offered right at the school. Most YMCA’s offer this service in most cities / towns. I’ve from a very small town and we have it at all our elementary schools and our one middle school. Before i found my current employer (I’ve been w/ for 10 years) I dealt with a couple jobs who were not sensitive to my situation. It’s not easy, but you can do it :)

If the company has a flex time policy and your manager approves it, I work 2 days in the office and arrive at work around 9:20-9:30 and leave after 6 or 6.5 hours. Then on my work from home days I work a 10 hour day 2 days a week to make up the hours missed in the office.

when our child was in preschool, I worked for myself and was able to balance my own hours and only work , 20 hours per week. This was wonderful so that my daughter had her mom around, however, it was pretty intense financially. We really struggled every month to put food on the table and pay bills. it was a trade-off that we made, And looking back, I would do it again. It has even affected the amount of Social Security that we will receive when we retire due to lower income during those years. I wish there was a better way that our culture would handle this scenario. Our children are so precious and it’s so difficult when both parents need to work. I wish you all the best in finding the best situation for you.

Some places, where the mandate to be on site is coming from higher up, don't really care what hours you are there on days at work, but then you are expected to finish your work at home if needed. Be there for in person meetings, be seen between 10 am and 3 pm. That is what I do.