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Working Moms
NicoleWI
member
Clicky Poll re: day care for kids under age 1
NicoleWI
member
in Working Moms
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Clicky Poll re: day care for kids under age 1
Exactly.
Given our situation at this moment, I think daycare is much better for DD than if I were home with her all day. We really can't afford for me to SAH and still do things with her that I think we would need to do in order to stay busy and break the monotony.
If we could afford to be out of the house at the zoo, museums etc a couple of times a week, I think daycare would only be slightly better. That would be for the interaction she gets with other kids & being used to a classroom setting.
There's no way to answer that without looking into what type of daycare you child is in and what sort of SAHM you'd be.
DD was in daycare from 3-8mths and has been home with me since. DD thrived in daycare and loved it so much that we kept sending her 1x a week for months even after I became a SAHM. Of course, I think she's doing wonderfully well home with me, too. But is she better off? Who knows. It's just different. Her verbal skills are a little more advanced than most her age and I assume that it's bc we talk one-on-one all day and I have the time to teach her (my mom's a lang teacher and I seem to have inherited that gene - I've found that I drill DD on words without even realizing it), but on the flipside DD's socialization has taken a huge backslide - even though we do lots of classes and playgroups, etc. For socialization, there's nothing like daycare, imo.
All that to say it's really a tradeoff. Even in the best of circumstances, there are pros and cons to both situations.
Huh? It's an anonymous poll. And the overwhelming majority of people who answered say there is either a neutral or positive impact of their child being in day care.
The question is "How do you think day care influences your child's development, as compared to how things would be if you were a SAHM?" It's the second part of the question that irks me. I think daycare has a good influence on my child, but that has nothing to do with what I think about how it would be if I stayed home.
Exactly. I am (though I shouldn't be) shocked that someone would answer that way. WTH? Although, I bet I know which women answered that way.......probably the same ones that regularly b!tch and moan about how they depressed they are because they have to work.
Under 1, I think DC was slightly helpful for my son. I think the socialization with the other babies and the teachers was great for my son. I also think the different styles of care from the teachers helped my son become very adaptable and flexible.
Over 1, I think the DC offers great benefits. My son learns a lot from the other children and the teachers. I think the two environments, learning at home and learning at school, are very helpful for my son. I speak very highly of my son's DC and teachers.
Plus, a PP made a good point. I would go crazy as a SAHM. I need a daily routine to function. Of course, my opinions are based solely on my son's DC and my own personality.
I see.
I think maybe the one troubling thing about this poll is that it implies that a child's development has to do with daycare. It's the same idea that creates an argument about SAH v. working - the idea that someone else is 'raising' your children. Let me be clear in that I would never expect my childrens' daycare providers to be responsible for their development. My husband and I are responsible for it. Our children's daycare providers can be beneficial to their development and I think they are. If they weren't, I'd find new ones. I think the daycare atmosphere can be beneficial for many children - primarily over 6 months because of the positive influence other children can have on development. But I answered that my children's development as compared to if I were home is the same because I think my children's development has more to do with our parenting than it does to do with daycare, regardless of the hours spent with us or in daycare.
Just like I don't expect teachers to parent my kids when they are in school, I don't expect my daycare providers to be responsible for my children's development.
I've had it both ways...my DH SAH with my DD until she was 1, but we put DS in daycare at 5 months.
Both are very happy, healthy, well adjusted kids.
DS did crawl nearly 3 months earlier than DD, and babbles much more already than she did at the same age.
I feel that the right daycare setting has been a positive impact on his development/reaching particular milestones. But DD is not 'behind' in any way for having been at home that first year either. And maybe crawling is a boy vs girl thing and DS would have crawled earlier anyway.
For me, I say a little better because of the socialization & more developmental toys. I think I work with my daughter (and DH) on her developmental milestones & skills now so it would be more of the same. But my center with their weekly themes is more creative than I would be.