Hi IM's
I may have to return to work part-time when my baby is (exactly) 7 months. As I do not have family nearby, it will mean he will have to go into either a daycare centre or a family daycare. It will probably be twice a week (Mon & Wed) with my husband staying at home with him on Tuesdays.
I've read a lot about the pros and cons of putting very young children into care. The main argument against it is that with carer to child ratios (1:4 or 1:5) in larger daycare centres, babies miss out on 'joint attention sequences' which means babies learning through shared experiences one-on-one with a adult carer who knows them best.
With that in mind, it seems the best outcome for my baby would be to be in care where the adult has the least amount of other babies to look after and respond to. Obviously one-on-one with a relative is ideal. Failing that, I've heard family daycares only take a few kids so there is more chance of one-on-one interaction which babies crave.
What is your experience of babies in care? Plus any recommendations for day care centres or family carers in the Cairns area (city or southside) that may have low carer to child ratios (1:2 / 1:3)
7 Replies
Don't over think it. There are plusses and minuses to every form of care. You could find a lazy arse family day care worker who spends no time with your child. That is highly unlikely to occur in a daycare centre because the staff are being monitored.
I think the thing to remember is day care will not cause a delay in learning, or cause a developmental delay. In fact my experience of day care centres is they are more able to pick up if there is a delay and they can apply for funding for kids who need extra assistance.
Hi, I know this must be a difficult decision for you. We have been able to experience both daycare centres and family daycare. My first child started in a long daycare at 3 months and my second child from 6 months. It's tough and I still battle with my decision for daycare and they are 3 and 6. Daycares are great from an hours and convenience perspective. The staff are generally there because they love children. One thing to ask when considering a daycare though is whether they are a training centre? This often means that they have high turn over of staff, and usually quite young too. This use to drive me mad because it would always be a different person. But at the same time, it's not like they are left alone unqualified. Family daycare on the other hand we loved! We loved that he got one on one care and that he wasn't restricted to one room all day. It took some warming up, but I didn't like that the carer would undertake Her to do list banking, drs appointments etc with the kids, also lots of outings in the car, made me nervous. Best advice I can give from both perspectives is don't settle. Make sure that your child is getting the best care possible!
I'm a family day are educator. I will tell you how it is, there are plus's for both. I have 3 different daycare children come to my house a week. That's it. 3. It's perfect, no one gets sick I can plan our days to meet the developmental interests of the children and everything is age appropriate. The younger children learn a lot from the older children and it's much more a family environment, I know my daycare children so well and I have a wonderful relationship with all my daycare parents. Although when I'm sick or my own children are sick they have no care. Although due to our small number we are very rarely sick. Most my daycare families pay $1-$2 an hour after the rebate and benifit, you will find family daycare much more affordable. I plan different activities every day to keep my daycare kids learning and thriving. My daycare parents all have my mobile number and on average I send them about 5 text messages a day with photos and quick few words to say what we are up to. At a daycare center it's always different staff and the staff may not know your child personally. I get spot checked randomly every week from my field officer and I am also able to be spot checked from the department of education at any time without notice. I have journals for each child which has their art work, a learning story for every month, 2 observations for every month (ie today I observed John attempt to build a house out of blocks, it took a few attempts and lots of concentration but finally he built a house 7 blocks high - clapped his hands then delighted in knocking it down) I also give the children certificates for their own personal atchievements ie toilet training, learning to cut with scissors, sharing ect. You will find in daycare centers that majority of places the journals are not as in depth. We also do developmental checklists every couple of mo ths to ensure the children are learning ie if we notice that one child has weak hand strength we will then plan activities proven to strengthen hand muscles.
I'd suggest booking into both and asking a lot of questions, family daycare is not for everyone but neither is long daycare.
It's me again I just wanted to add that my kids and the daycare kids are all great friends and also some daycare centers can have over 40 children, some even upwards of 80 so you can imagine sickness and illness is rampant. We haven't had a sickness since September last year in my daycare
I have 2 year old twin boys and they started daycare at around 7 months. Whilst it was hard at first leaving them there and adjusting to work, it has also been a very positive experience. They have lots of fun, playing with the toys, teachers and other kids and doing arts and craft and socially have developed tremendously more than they would have with just me.
Whilst their young I found it helpful for introducing different foods and generally diversifying their diets.
I chose daycare rather family daycare simply because I was worried what would happen if the carer got sick or wanted holidays whereas at daycare this isn't a problem.
Overthinking parenting will drive you nuts.
I have an 8 year old and a 4 month old. I'm so much more relaxed this time around because I know that they all meet their full potential anyway.
The important things are holistic anyway, don't just focus on leaning sequences and intelligence, focus on what's best for you child across all factors
I highly recommend family day care, one where your baby is the only baby there would be ideal. My son went to a family day care from the age of 3-5. There was only one baby there and she got got so much attention as all the bigger kids (like my son) loved her so much!