Daycare for children under 2 (day care, infants, toddlers, single parents)

[MSJones]

No, I didn't, but I was lucky. I had a mother who kept my daughter every day, and I know that not everyone has that option. We put my daughter in daycare to interact with other children when she was about 3 1/2, and she loved it.

[BusySocialWorker]

Yep daughter has been in daycare since she was 12 weeks old when I had to return to work full time (she is 2.5 now) and the new baby will also go when he is 12 weeks old - hard to leave them (I cried and cried) but I LOVE their daycare and feel very comfortable with it (it is provided through my work) They kids are in seperate groups based on age and they have very low turnover in staff which is wonderful for the kids Not everyone has the option (or desire) to stay home... if we hit the lotto, you bet (DH and I both have "day jobs" where alternate schedules are not an option), but I have grad school loans and do enjoy my work... I would enjoy it much more as part time (maybe 2-3 days a week)though - espeically while they are so little as they grow so fast

[belovenow]

Each child of mine is completely unique.

My first had a calm cool collected personality and my wife ended up becoming a stay-at-home mom when he was transitioned from the infant age group to the 1's group. The teachers in the 1's room were for lack of a better term evil. Yes I said that correctly... not child friendly they are not fit to take care of any, and they got my son sick multiple times on what was obviously tainted canned pineapples even after we addressed the issue the first time. The two ladies (still at the daycare center today) have to be among the worst day-care employees I've ever seen and we just couldn't put our sweet child through that abuse for any longer. To get him healthy again and to give us peace of mind my wife basically sacrificed her corporate career (at least short-term) - a decision I think was spot on. Our second child has been a handful since birth - a spirited baby for sure. Very loud, quick to anger, and stubborn - I hate to use those words to describe her, but it's true... After 1 year at home we made the judgement call that she needed to socialize in a daycare-like environment for a couple reasons. First, she didn't act up with teachers and others the way she did with my wife, son, and I. Second, my wife really was itching to begin part-time work again and it made sense to enroll both children in part-time daycare to facilitate that. Both children love their school (it's not just a daycare but an educational institution with real certified teachers), and the socialization aspect has been very positive. They are only gone for the afternoons but that is just the right amount of time for my wife and I to do our work and also for the kids to have fun playing and learning with their friends and teachers.

I see no problems with daycare or preschool types of environments for young children. However, you need the right teachers for it to be good. My son as an infant was put in a group of great kids and the best teachers imaginable (they are still our friends and ask about him even though they don't live nearby anymore). Other than more frequent illnesses suffered in the infant room my son was treated very well and thrived in that environment. Lastly, you also need to make the right call for your child so I won't make a blanket statement about how it would be great or not great for all kids. Each person appears born with certain personality traits and those need to be taken into account.

[Mrs.Bewitched]

I never did it until each of mine were 2- but I had to, due to school.

If I have a third, I will have to put him in daycare as an infant. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't. I really don't think daycares are good for babies- IMO. They can get sick so easily, you don't have to be educated to work in daycare, and I would't want to miss some of my baby's firsts...plus, they can't quite tell what they want yet and I know in the daycares here and in my previous state it was 4/1- 4 babies to 1 person, and if you have 4 babies crying at one time....it would be so hard for that person and I wouldn't want my baby on the receiving end.

However, I might have to do it

I do believe it was good for children after 2. You start to learn speech better, social skills, and s o on.

[FarNorthDallas]

Mine started at age 2. He was in a 2 year old class with 7 other kids (2 teachers). This was full time daycare. I was the only mother in the class who actually worked. The other 7 moms were SAHM moms and one child was even dropped off and picked up by a nanny. This was a very wealthy area. (I am not wealthy and just stumbled onto this church daycare one day and it was quite nice.)

My son really liked going to daycare because he liked to play with other kids. He's an only child. He's a teenager now and still has fond memories of that daycare.

[tiffela74]

we tried an inhome care place for my 2 older kids, after school for my 6yr old and couple hours a day w/my toddler. And we hated it. Tried a few other places, it just didnt work out for what we wanted and how we wanted our kids to be. So I ended up making a total career change, and while it cut our income by a HUGE chunk, for us, it was sooo worth it! My husband and I worked pretty much opposite hours so we could juggle parenting time, and the kids were at work w/me the other part. When my youngest was born, I took about 3weeks off, then left her w/my best friend for a few hours while I was at work and my husband would pick her up on his way home. Then when she was about 3months old, i started taking her to work with me. Now they are all old enough, they are either at work with me, or in a boys and girls club. Its made things very tough financially, but for us its been really worth it. I know we are very lucky because most people cant make the changes we made and have their kids at work with them. See, I coach gymnastics, so my kids were around other kids all day anyhow, plenty of socializing time. and TONS of active play! They have all grown up to be very social, with all ages. Theyre great w/the younger ones, very patient and helpful, fit in terrific w/their peers, and can also fit right in w/older kids/adults. We've been able to raise our kids w/exactly the infulence we want, nobody else disiplining my kids, or teaching them different morals/values than what we want. Plus, no daycare costs! Again, its worked great for us, and Im glad we were able to make the changes we did. I really wish every parent had the ability to make these decisions like we did. I know some people have to put their kids in daycare and are miserable about it. but have to due to work. but then again, theres some very very terrific daycares out there for all ages, and as long as you do your homework on them, if thats what is best for your family, theres lots of benifits.
anyhow, this was a bit rambling, but just our story.
Tiffany

[jessiegirl_98]

Here is a good article about quality child care for children (and the impact of child care) from the Children's Defense Fund:
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site....pdf?docID=794
(By the way, the CDF, has a lot of great data available on things regarding children at Children's Defense Fund: Children's Defense Fund)
Basically, the summary is that children can get a lot of benefits from being in good quality daycare. The problem is that many children aren't in a high quality daycare, which can then have negative impacts on children. The take home message (besides the need to improve overall daycare quality) is that if you child is in a high quality daycare, they actually have social, emotional, and academic benefits, but if they are in a low quality daycare, there are consequences to their social and emotional development.

[cmcwilliams]

I have used daycare since my son was 10 months old....Out of neccessity. My Husband is in the AF and works days(Now in Iraq..I love You Babe!), and I also work and go to school full-time. My mother was gracious enough to take a sabbatical from work for 6 mo and help out but she had to leave...:-(. At that point my husband and I HAD to find a daycare. We were put on the waiting list on base so we found a really nice, loving daycare where all the workers are registered and you can even view the areas where your child is online with a pin, you can view background check info on all the workers(they run them every 6 mo!), and is very family oriented! Alot of our friends say we were lucky! It is one of the most in demand daycares in our area. When our time came up on base, we passed, our son is 2 1/2 now and knows everyone there like family(as do we) and has started to develop friendships at school and outside with the kids he has moved up a class with...

[FightinPhils]

No daycare, especially for babies and young toddlers. How can you trust leaving an infant with strangers, who can't tell you if there's anything fishy going on at the daycare center? Plus, to those daycare workers, your child is a number...and as long as they are quiet, they don't care all that much. If daycare can be avoided, by all costs don't do it! Thise are the most formative years of your kids' lives, why trust theit development, especially emotionally, to some low-wage daycare worker? Maybe its different if its a family member or someone close you can trust...but I still think its more beneficial for those years to be spent building a bond with your own child, rather than chasing the almighty $$$. If money is the issue, in most cases with the high cost of daycare, its just as financially advantageous to have one parent work full-time during the day and have the other parent pick up a part-time job for evenings/weekends. Plus, it just so mcuh better for your child's health and development, both emotionally and physically.

Most schools have Pre-K programs for getting kids socialized and playing/interacting with other kids. Our public schools have a 3-year-old program, where they go for a half-day 3 days per week, and then a 4-year-old program which is half-day 5 days a week. That is a much better option than a daycare center, and they are a bit older at that point.

[nicolepsy]

if your child is in daycare they will get sick alot which means you may end up spending a lot more money because of dr visits.