Daycare, yes or no?
There are many childcare options available, for example daycare centres, home daycares, nanny care, preschool, relative care and stay-at-home-parenting. Here’s a list of The Top 3 Pros And Cons Of Daycare Centres, which I hope will help you decide if daycare centres are for you. Let me know what you think!
Pros
- Better qualified staff. Childcare staff normally hold qualifications in childcare and/or first aid, in addition to having years of experience. This enables them to better care for your child’s needs, keeping him/her happy while also nurturing growth and development.
- Structured learning environment. A good daycare centre will provide a proper curriculum for your child. Methods vary from daycare to daycare, but should include age appropriate activities like baby signing, sand-play, finger-painting, etc. These activities are designed to fully engage your child in a manner that will encourage growth and development while also enabling him/her to simply have fun.
- Opportunities to socialise. One of the key benefits of daycare centres compared to options like relative care and stay-at-home-parenting is the chance for your child to mix with other children and adults. Social interaction can be very enjoyable for your child, while also helping develop communication skills, confidence and a sense of self. It’s also very heartwarming to witness your child sharing something or comforting another child who is upset.
Cons
- No one-to-one attention. Daycare centres will assign each member of staff to several children. Unsurprisingly, there is research which suggests that a one-to-one environment is better for very young children. As children get older, the staff to children ratio generally increases (for example Math Monkey sets a maximum ratio of 1:6), but you should always favour daycare centres that keep their staff to children ratio as low as possible.
- Many many many germs! Daycare centres can be a great place for germs to breed. Despite various precautions, illnesses will commonly spread among children and even staff members. Furthermore, few daycare centres will provide special care for sick children.
- Picking up bad habits. Young children will imitate almost everything they see or hear. As such, you can look forward to your child bringing home delightful habits such as biting, throwing objects and being disruptive for the sake of attention. In the worst case scenario, left unchecked these challenging behaviours could turn into a child behaviour problem!
How do you feel about daycare? Know anybody who sends their kids to daycare? Ask them what they think! Unfortunately, sometimes both parents have to work, making daycare a necessity rather than an option.
Posted by p a t t on 20 August, 2009 at 4:42 am
so how do you find out which are good and which are bad before you shell out your money?
Any tips on what to look out for when you step in for the first look?
How about questions to ask the centre before enrollment?
Posted by MarkLim81 on 20 August, 2009 at 9:12 am
There’s quite a lot to answer for your question.
I’m hoping to do another post on how to pick a daycare, but briefly, things you should check include:
Reputation, quality of staff, equipment and outdoor play area, learning curriculum.
And of course, don’t just do everything online. Drop by for a visit, if the place just doesn’t feel right when you visit, that nagging feeling will probably stay with you.
Posted by mumzzy on 20 August, 2009 at 7:56 am
Maybe send half day would be good enough
Posted by MarkLim81 on 21 August, 2009 at 8:06 am
Lots of people do that.
There’s no rule which says you have to send your child 9 to 5, 5 days a week.
Posted by I'm a Full-time Mummy on 21 August, 2009 at 3:18 am
I came across some articles on the Net which said if you send your child to daycare center too early (like 3mths onward), they have higher chance of being fatter.
Read: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2262305/Putting-babies-in-childcare-makes-them-fatter.html
Posted by MarkLim81 on 21 August, 2009 at 8:19 am
But fat babies are cuter!
Yea, the article says that babies in childcare and relative care are more likely to be heavier, probably because they’re missing out on the magic of breastmilk.
I think people in UK are more likely to be overweight though.
http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/uk-obesity-statistics.htm
46% of men and 32% of women! So if you see 10 people, 4 of them will be overweight!
Posted by Syn on 29 August, 2009 at 3:08 am
My girls go to the daycare, both started at one and a half month old. They are now 3 yrs, 8 months and 10 months old.
This daycare was recommended by a friend. To tell you the truth, if it wasn’t recommended, i would have opted for a babysitter.
Anyhow, I have no regrets sending my girls there. The owner is a dedicated lady to her centre and I am very pleased with my elder’s daughter progress at the daycare. She learns more there than she does at home actually. LOL. She will be starting kindergarten next year.
No doubt it is true that they don’t get their one-to-one attention there, i feel this makes them very independent instead. Besides, their one-to-one attention will come later when they’re at home with us parents.
As for germs, we had our fair share of them being sick but we have been considered lucky so far with no major ones (just the usual cough and cold).
Just my two cents.
Posted by MarkLim81 on 29 August, 2009 at 9:14 am
Hi Syn,
Thanks for dropping by!
Good to hear that you find the daycare centre beneficial. Looks like your daughter Rye Li has some fun activities at home too, like pizza making.
As kids get older, they’ll need less one-to-one attention as they build their independence. But from their point of view, it’s always nice to feel that you have someone’s undivided attention for the whole day.
Posted by p a t t on 1 September, 2009 at 2:59 am
this soudns fantastic! which day care is this? and where is it?