Becoming a parent was one of the most exciting moments in your life, but what happens when it’s time for you to go back to work after your baby? You’re left looking for someone to care for your child when you aren’t home.
Finding the correct type of care for your child isn’t easy. This decision can have a significant impact on how your child learns, develops, and grows!
A local daycare facility is one of the most convenient and sure-fire options for care that will benefit your little one. If you’re not sure if daycare is right for you or your child, here are five signs that it might be:
1. Your Child Needs to Get Ahead of Learning
Daycare is likely the first place a child will be exposed to a school-like setting, often making it the first place a child begins to learn more about the world. With days full of structured activities facilitated by qualified caregivers, it’s no wonder children who attend daycare are often better prepared to go to school later on.
Children can gain quite a bit of knowledge from simply attending daycare for a few hours during preschool. Exposure to numbers, letters, and objects all help to provide basic knowledge that leads them forward.
Not only will daycare teach your child important topics and skills, but it will also get them familiar with the school environment. Learning to listen to their teacher, raise their hand, and be respectful when other students share happens in the daycare setting and will come with your child once they head to kindergarten.
Daycare sets an excellent foundation for any child to prepare them for the years of education that lie ahead!
2. You Want Your Child to Develop Strong Social Skills
Your child may begin learning to talk while attending daycare. But even if they are not, there is still so much to learn about socialisation that daycare can help facilitate.
Being in a classroom with other children and teachers gives your child a space to communicate their thoughts and feelings. This is a vital piece of their development, as you don’t want them resorting to harmful methods of communication (like kicking or biting) if they don’t learn better ways to express themselves!
Interacting with others day to day teaches children appropriate ways to communicate. Not only that, but it also helps them build up the confidence to express themselves as they continue to develop their verbal and social skills. They also learn self-advocacy skills, an important component of socialisation.
The best way to ensure your child is getting enough socialisation is through the daycare setting, where they can be around peers and learn with them.
3: You Need Teachers and Caregivers You Can Trust
Let’s face it: it’s tough to drop your little one off with someone you barely know. The good news is that you can count on reliable and quality care for your child at a daycare.
All staff members of any daycare are carefully vetted before they are hired. From having a background in child education to boasting years of relevant experience, caregivers are chosen for both expertise and the confidence they can give to you, knowing that you’ve left your child in good hands.
Of course, it comes down to finding the right daycare that suits your needs and has a staff that you fully trust with your child. It helps to set up meetings before committing to the school so you can get to know the caregivers and learn more about their philosophy.
Any licensed daycare will be brimming with friendly caregivers who only want what’s best for the children under their watch.
4. You Don’t Know If You Want a Nanny
Daycare isn’t the only option for daily care for your child. Hiring a nanny is a good option for some families, but the cost can be high, and children may not get the peer interaction they need.
As seen on ladybug-daycare.com, hiring a nanny or a babysitter can cost as much as $25 per hour! Multiply that by your entire workday plus any extra time you need to run errands, and you end up paying much more than you initially expected—as much as $5,000 a month for full-time care!
Daycare isn’t free, but it won’t run as high as a full-time nanny would. Plus, your child is learning and socialising throughout the day, giving them even more skills than a nanny could offer.
Hiring a nanny can also cause conflicts concerning your parenting style. If you and your nanny disagree on how to take care of your little one, it could lead to an uncomfortable situation for both you and the baby.
With a daycare, you can ensure that the caregivers provide the same level of care to every student and will not try to overstep parenting boundaries. You should also choose a daycare that aligns best with your child-raising philosophy.
5. Your Child Needs to Develop Positive Behaviours
Being in a classroom from such early stages in their development can establish solid and positive behaviours in your child. Even if they are already well-behaved, spending the day with other children and away from home can lead to new skills that help them grow.
It can be as hard for you as it is for them on the first few days of daycare, but eventually, your child will learn to be more independent and that being away from you isn’t scary! Separation anxiety will diminish over time, and superb caregivers at your child’s daycare site will help your child work through those fears.
Daycare is also a great place for your child to learn from their peers. Children model behaviour for each other, and your little one will learn from same- and older-age peers.
As your child continues to develop, having the positive influences provided in a good daycare facility can make a huge difference!
Daycare Makes a Difference
Once you decide that daycare is the most effective choice for your family, the next step is to find the right one. Tour a few places, meet their caregivers, interview the directors to understand the site’s philosophy of play and learning and make sure you find the place you trust to care for your child.
