The Absolute Worst Age to Start Daycare Is…


worst age to start daycare

Finding the right daycare for kids is not an easy thing for parents. Most parents are simply unaware of all the factors that should be considered while selecting an appropriate daycare. They also do not know at what age their children should start daycare.

A responsible parent has many concerns about what a day spent at childcare will be like and when their kid should start spending time at a daycare center. Leaving your infant in the care of someone else is certainly not an easy decision.

If you have been struggling with similar questions, you have stumbled upon the perfect article.

Risks of Starting Daycare Too Early

Although it is quite challenging to balance work and the demands of your new role as a parent, you have to make a conscious decision. Sending your child to daycare early has its risks and you must be well aware of them before making any decisions.

Disorganized Attachment Issues

Infants establish initial attachments to their mothers and other caretakers who are around them on a regular basis.

Although the attachment is formed predominantly during the first year, the first three years are considered to be a critical period for attachment. Disorganized attachment is a significant risk element for a variety of reasons. Two key issues that have arisen but are not been scientifically confirmed are:

Impeded Connection: The child’s bond to the new parents may be harmed because quality time has not yet been well-established, or because the baby experiences so many prolonged pauses that the relationship is no longer perceived to be stable or healthy.

Anxiety and Attachment Issues: When toddlers are deprived of an attachment role, they develop an attachment-craving reaction. If no attachment character is present, infants may disconnect from that behavior and appear to be fine on the surface, but they are still experiencing anxiety as a result of the lack of an attachment character. Even though childcare workers are highly empathetic, they are initially strangers and are not attachment characters.

Aggressiveness & Disobedience

When children spend long periods of their day with outsiders, they tend to have mood swings. It is true that most children show mood swings throughout their development, but if they spend a large amount of time in daycare at a young age, their mood swings will become their habits.

These unhealthy mood swings can potentially lead to aggressiveness and disobedience. All infants want love, affection, and attention from their loved ones, and if they do not get these necessities, they may show tantrums and moodiness.

When Should I Not Send My Baby to Daycare?

You might feel guilty when choosing to send your child to full-time daycare, but if you and your partner are both working outside of the home, you may not have any other options!

Do not send your kid to daycare if they have had diarrhea, a fever, or been vomiting in the past 24 hours. There are several reasons for this, the most obvious being that a child needs their mother the most during such a difficult time.

It’s usually best to have your child examined by a medical professional before taking them to daycare if they have strange blotches or blisters. The basis for this is that if your kid has gushing sores or a contagious ailment, there is a great probability that it may transmit to other children.

Is Daycare Harmful to Children’s Development?

Is Daycare Harmful to Children's Development

The simple answer is yes.

You have to watch out for particular detrimental impacts of daycare settings on a child’s development. As compared to babies at home, babies in childcare may feel unguarded and insecure. This can affect a child’s personality considerably.

Caretaker to Child Ratio

In a daycare, one caretaker may be responsible for many children at the same time. As a result, she or he may not give exclusive attention or individual importance to your child. For instance, there may be times when your child is weeping and is simply ignored by the caretaker.

It is quite understandable that, from the caretaker’s perspective, this is merely a job and that they must multitask in order to simultaneously handle quite a few babies. This makes it impossible to attend exclusively to one or two at a time.

Behavioral Problems

The lack of individualized attention may push a child to develop various insecure attachment patterns. It may also impact their social and emotional development. Your child’s development may be hampered and he or she may develop aggressive or violent conduct and emotional repression.

Health Risks

Other daycare consequences include children being ill more frequently than they would be if they were in a home setting. Since there are always many kids at a daycare facility, if one of them is sick, it poses a risk to everyone.

There is an increased risk if the childcare facility is not sanitized or cleaned on a routine basis. When selecting a daycare for your baby, you have to carefully consider how many kids in that daycare often have health issues. This could be an indication of how stringent the regular cleaning procedures are.

What’s the Best Age to Start Daycare?

New moms and dads frequently have a series of doubts when reviewing their early childcare options. Even stay-at-home moms or dads may need to enroll their child in a preschool or daycare program at some point.

One typical concern is figuring out the best and worst ages for your child to start daycare.

Nowadays, a lot of working parents are starting daycare at the age of nine months. At this age, children experience an important milestone in their development. Once a baby reaches this age, he or she may start to develop feeding and sleeping habits.

This is also when babies appear to be more self-sustaining as compared to the first few months after birth. Even though nine-month-old babies are still infants, they tend to do well at daycare and parents should be aware of this.

However, when mothers begin to send their babies to daycare, it may affect the well-being of the children. It can lead them to feel alone, insecure, and unhappy. The later you start daycare, the better it is for your young child.

In an ideal situation, a child would stay with family members instead of going to a daycare facility. If you must send your child to daycare, decide the age at which they will start with care. You should also make sure to choose a quality daycare facility.

Signs That Your Child Is Old Enough for Daycare

Your child may be at the right age to start daycare if they satisfy the following metrics:

  • They have a strong bond with their parents, yet can also play individually for short periods of time.
  • They’re curious about their environment.
  • Sleeping and eating at regular intervals have become routine habits.
  • They are learning to communicate with isolated words.
  • They are able to express basic needs like thirst.

How Long Does It Take for 2 Year Old to Adjust to Daycare?

While the time to adjust to a daycare facility will vary from child to child, it’s usually between one day to a week for a two-year-old.

Childcare is expensive and not everyone can afford to have in-home daycare or a nanny for their children, so it all comes down to selecting a good daycare and starting at the best age.

Perhaps you’re starting daycare at the age of two years which happens to be the ideal time for this transition. This is the age when, as a parent, you can be comfortable with sending your child to a new environment.

You have to keep the most important thing in mind, and that is the adjustment period. Every child goes through an adjustment period, no matter the age at which they start daycare.

If you do not recognize the adjustment period and do not provide your child with the support that he or she needs, it may have negative effects on the overall development of your child. He or she may remain under stress and have raised cortisol levels, which will have various adverse consequences.

Summary and Final Verdict

When you are when your child should start daycare, you have to remind yourself that daycares are not all bad.

There are many benefits of a daycare facility, as they can provide supportive environments for young children to explore and connect with other kids. They will experience opportunities for social development and learn other important skills while with their peers.

As a matter of fact, there are many benefits of a daycare environment, such as increasing emotional maturity and readiness for school and providing a structured schedule.

However, if it is at all possible, it would be best for your child to be with family members or a one-on-one caregiver, or to spend only half of each day in a daycare facility.In simple words, if your child must be placed in a daycare center, carefully consider the age at which they should begin.

Stephanie Edenburgh

I'm Steph, a mom to 3 beautiful children and lover all things having to do with my family and being a mom. I've learned a lot raising my own children and working in education and healthcare roles throughout my career. Living in beautiful Southern California I enjoy documenting and writing about all of the hard work us mom's do on a daily basis.

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