Thinking of fostering, but scared

[Jennifer13]

My Mum fosters (at +60 years!), specifies that she will only take babies (at this point mostly babies who are going to be adopted as she finds dealing with access visits and the parents more difficult than dealing with the little ones) and toddlers. She will take siblings in an emergency where both are that young. She has taken care of some with medical conditions and has done training to be able to (one little guy was extremely premature so needed oxygen, for eg, and the little girl she has permanent guardianship of has CP. She's had a few babies who are suffering drug withdrawals straight from hospital).

Some of the other foster-Mums she deals with work part-time, although they haven't always done so.

I think it would require a great deal of commitment for a family to consider doing this. And your children and other family members will be required to make sacrifices. Even though my sisters and I are grown, my Mum and DD's Nana fostering has affected whether she can spend time with us, incorporating extra children into any holidays, family events, etc. It can be very tricky to work around your personal commitments and desires. And from our point of view, there are some children who we wouldn't want around our DD. We never made the decision to take this on (I hope this doesn't sound too selfish ) and we have to work around a disabled child every time we want to see my Mum. She has numerous behavioural issues and in many ways my DD misses out on her Nana. We don't live in the same city and don't have the freedom to just drop by and see Nana often. If she has multiple children it can be too stressful to even consider staying with her if we've planned a holiday, etc, etc. Finding someone to take the children you are fostering for a break or so you can fit in with your own family is not always easy.

I don't want to take the gloss off the whole thing for you, but it is definitely not easy from what I see!