It was overall a very disappointing experience.
Magarita came highly recommended from someone we know. After taking a tour, we decided to go with her. She seemed very confident about handling infants. She said that she's taken care of many infants over the course of many years, she held babies all the time, and she's familiar with fussy babies. That was 2.5 months before I was supposed to return to work.
About 1 month before I was scheduled to return to work, I put my baby with Magarita for a few hours so I could go run some errands. 30 minutes after I brought my baby to her, she called me and said "I think you should take your baby back."
I was very shocked and confused, and I asked her why. She simply said "I don't think your baby is ready for day care." At that time, my baby was about 15 weeks old, which is about the time most working Moms send the baby to daycare before they return to work.
When I went back to her after she called, she said:
"your baby is too used to you." "She needs more of you." "I think you should spend time with your baby for another 2 months or so." "I can tell that he's not ready for the day care." "You should find another daycare or nanny."
In my opinion, of course my baby is used to me. I'm his mom, who else would he be used to? Also it takes time for a baby to get used to her and the daycare environment. If my baby is crying nonstop for 8 hours or a few days, then I understand that she's having trouble. However, she called me within 30 minutes and demanded that I brought the baby back home after making the comments above.
Basically, she didn't give the baby a chance, and she gave him up within 30 minutes. I feel that my baby deserves more than that.
Now I'm just 2 weeks away from getting back to work, and of course thanks to Magarita, I'm having trouble finding another daycare. All the good ones have been booked up, and they don't expect to have openings for several months.
Magarita also doesn't seem to ask a lot of questions about the baby. She always seems very confident about handling all different kinds of babies, but in reality, she just wants the best babies possible so she doesn't need to pay too much attention to them. She doesn't seem to have the patience and love that a caregiver should have. She also doesn't tell you the truth about her capacity upfront. We used her because she was recommended by someone we trust. However, I don't trust Magarita anymore, and I don't recommend using her as a caregiver at all. read more