Raising a child comes with several decision-making instances. One inevitable instance, especially for working parents, is deciding when to take your child to daycare. To help you make a worthwhile decision, we will learn about daycare, its importance to you and your child, and things to consider when taking your children to a daycare facility.
What Is Daycare?
It is a program where infants are taken care of by professional caregivers and teachers on behalf of the parent. A care center is a facility where these professionals take care of children.
There are various daycare options to take into consideration. Upon carefully analyzing these options, you can now decide which is best suited for your child.
Center Based
Center-based is when a care service is offered in formalized centers where a trained staff monitors and supervises a group of children. Some of the benefits of this type of care are; more resources are available for learning, and your child gets to interact with various children and adults, which is essential for their social development.Â
Furthermore, these centers are more professional and safe since they are state-regulated. On the other hand, this type of care is disadvantageous due to its high cost, and also, your child might not get the desired attention since there is a large group of children in this setting.
Home Care
This type of care is similar to the center-based where your child will be in a group of others. However, its setting is in the caregiver’s home. It is advantageous from its lower cost than center-based, and your children get one-on-one attention with a single caregiver and interact with other children.
In-Home Care
This type of care is administered in the child’s own home. The nanny taking care of your child can be living with you or can be a live-out nanny. The advantages of this care include the ability to control the type of care your child is receiving, and your child will receive undivided one-on-one attention. On the other hand, finding the most suitable person to take care of your child can be demanding.
Importance of Daycare
Day care has several advantages for you and your child. Here are some of the importance of choosing a daycare program for your child.
- It prepares your child for learning by introducing them to early education.
- Through socializing with other children at an early age, your child will gain valuable social skills to help them with problem-solving and teamwork.
- Daycare helps make childhood less lonely and isolating.
- You will get time to work, make friends and get some time for yourself which can be hard to come by when you have an infant.
When to Send Your Child to Daycare
There is no definite answer to when to send your child to daycare. However, many things will help you determine the prime time to take your child to a daycare program. Here are some of the things to take into consideration.
Length of Your Parental Leave
The length of your parental leave can play an essential part in determining when to take your child to daycare. It gives you time for parent-child interactions and gives your child increased parental care. Upon the end of your leave, work-life reduces your time with your child, and you can decide to send your child to a daycare.
Your Child’s Independence
When your child shows some signs of independence, it can be a prime time to introduce them to a daycare program. Some of the cues to help you determine their independence levels include the ability to express themselves and play with other children and walk on their own.
Curiosity
When your child starts showing signs of wanting to learn more, it can be a great sign that they are ready for daycare. Some signs to help you determine their curiosity include spending more time trying to create shapes with blocks, curiosity to learn more about the things around them, and many more.
Ability to Adjust to a Routine
Tiny babies do not have a sense of object permanence. They tend to sleep as long as they want and do not differentiate between night and day. A child will cling to the things close to them, you included and will not take separation from you and these things as a temporary one. Taking them to daycare when they cannot adjust to simple routines can be stressful. First, train them to adjust to simple routines such as feeding, playing, and sleeping. Upon obtaining this sense of routine, introducing them to daycare can be an excellent time.
Stress Levels
Children have different stress and anxiety levels. Your child will get anxious and restless when not close to you in most cases. With this level of anxiety, it can be challenging to adjust to a daycare setting. However, when your baby does not get anxious and stays calm when separated from you, it can indicate that they are ready to adjust to a separate setting from you. Upon achieving this, you can send them to daycare. To deal with their anxiety, you can introduce them for a few days to a daycare setting while observing their reaction till they develop the desired stress and anxiety levels.
Daycare has several benefits for you and your child. But determining the best time to take them to daycare can be demanding. However, upon considering these issues, coming up with the appropriate conclusion can get easier.
