what is the right age to send your kids to day care?

Annabelle - posted on 07/26/2012

I used to be a child care provider and have a degree in the area but I believe that it is a personal decision between parents on when to start daycare. I watched babies as early as 3 weeks old because a single mom had no other option but to get back to work (and of course it broke it her heart). The most important thing is QUALITY time not QUANTITY of time. Make the most of every moment you have with your child that's what will make an impact. And check out several child care spots (including home child care) before settling on one. Just my 2 cents! :)

Anne - posted on 07/26/2012

I personally think that it should be 3 , before that a child needs a moms care more than a day care. I agree with the fact that a day care helps a lot to develop a positive attitude among the kids, make them more outspoken and self discipline. But before 3 , I would not send my kiddo to any day care , as they wont will able to provide mother nourishment .

Chrissy - posted on 07/25/2012

I put my son into day care at 15 months and I feel that even at that age he learned to socialize with other children. I can see how much he's learned because when he plays with children that he knows outside of day care he is the one to initiate play. I also felt comfortable knowing that the day care had a set daily schedule and routine is very important for young ones. Another positive outcome is that he is independent. That is, if he is not around mommy, he doesn't show signs of anxiety at all.
I went back to work when he was 6 weeks but he was with his grandmothers and father throughout the week so I was extremely comfortable. Though many parents have no choice but day care for their infants, they all seem to grow up just fine. The most important thing is to communicate with the day care workers and to maintain a good relationship with them. Let them know how his night was when you drop him off. When they see how important communication is to you, they will continue that open communication.
I used to pick him up early from time to time just to make sure that he was attended to at all times and that they kept to their schedule. I think the only issue I had was that he was taking long naps at the day care and going to sleep really late at night. I addressed it with them and his sleep pattern improved. Do your research and before picking a day care, try to research audits online. I was able to find out exactly what citations each day care got in my neighborhood. I'm pretty sure that it's a law across the country to display the results of all annual audits.
Hope that helped. Good luck.

Claire - posted on 07/01/2012

Like you say its individual. I had to go back to work when my daughter was 9months. my mum lives 200 miles away so i had no choice but nursery. From day 1 she loved it and i can definately see the benefits in her. her speech and social skills are far above average. i think nursery can offer structure and all sorts of extra play and development opportunities. She goes 3 days a week and i feel this gives her the benefit of both worlds - she gets mummy time 4 days a week and the stimulation of other kids at an amazing nursery 3 days. i would send a child to nursery even if i was sahm because it definately helps them develop important social skills. my daughter is amazingly confident and the credit for some of that goes to nursery. i also think its important for her as she has no siblings and feel all children should socialise with other children regularly from a few months of age - whether thats playgroup siblings babygroup or nursery. having said that a big factor for me is that it is an excellent nursery at my work so i still feel close enough, on the odd occaison when she's been unsettled they get in contact and i completely trust them to identify and meet her need or contact me which is not always the case with day care.

Allanna - posted on 06/29/2012

I don't think there's a right or wrong age to send a child to daycare. I think it should depend on how comfortable the mother/father feel about having their kids taken care of by others. There's a lot of factors that should be considered, pros and cons. For example, kids tend to learn quite quickly when they're around other children in the same developmental range as them. My son was 27 months when he started daycare and wouldn't speak at all. He wasn't interested in potty training no matter how hard we tried, and he was very anti-social. Once he was in daycare for about a month, his vocabulary grew extensively, and he was peeing/pooping in the toilet (aside from the odd accident), and he also was great at sharing and playing with other kids. One down side to daycare is the amount of children who are sick frequently. In the year span my son was in daycare, he was sick a good 6 times, with things varying from common cold to stomach bugs and rashes.

If it would benefit your children like it did mine in their development, then it's probly a good idea to go through with daycare early on. It is also a great prep for school because it teaches children routine and how to play/treat others with respect.

Marisol - posted on 06/18/2012

thank you Louise Gough for sharing your thoughts about my question. Well i guess you're right. I am also a working mom and i can say that i am not that ready to send my son to day care, why because i want to be with him on his first day of school. But as a working mom, i think it would be hard for me to do that. I've been working from 8am to 6pm. And my son's schedule is every 1:3pm everyday. But the good thing is...every time i asked my son if he likes to go to school, he will answer yes....so what i did....i asked my mom to send him to day care and guess what? he plays and eats from the 1:3pm. what can you expect from a 2.8yr old boy??? but i'm happy that this will be the start of his "socialization" session with other kids. To get along with his classmates and soon, he will be able to understand why he's in the day care.

Louise - posted on 06/18/2012

I think every mum has her own opinions here and there is never a right and wrong age. Although it is sad to see a small child being sent to day care at 8am and picked up at 6pm every day.

I have worked in day cares and I feel that a child should be at least 4 before being left all day, why, because a child needs his mum and needs to be taught one to one and experience small child things, like cooking, going to the library, going to the park and not sat in a class room all day. That is my opinion. But saying that I do understand those mums who have no choice but to place there child in nurseries to be able to work.

At the age of 3.5 - 4 a child needs more than mum at home to grow. They need friends to experience things like sharing and game playing and emotional, interlectual growth. I was a pre school teacher and I have taught my daughter at home until she was 3, now she attends three mornings a week at playgroup to learn how to play, and socialise with other children her age. She gets to experience new activities that we can not do at home and form relationships with the teachers. All these skills she will need when she starts school in 18 months time.

So what is the right age to send your child to day care. The simple answer is when you are ready to let them go and feel happy about it!