We are going to start my 15 month old in day care here shortly. I cared for him for his first 6 months and returned to work. Since then, he has been cared for by his grandma so this will be a big change for him. We are debating whether to do 2 full days or 3 1/2 days to start. I've heard 2 full days will be too much for him (too long of a day) and not enough days in the week. I've also heard that 3 1/2 days will be less traumatic and give him more days in a row to adjust BUT also that 1/2 days would rip him away from the setting during the day, just when he's getting used to it. Any thoughts or actual experience you can share would be greatly appreciated. I now that each child and situation is different - I'm just looking to start my pros and cons list.
Thanks!
Kids will adjust to whatever life throws at them. Go with whatever grandma would think best (her schedule is the most affected). Also, he will probably catch any illness that exists at the daycare, so factor in a plan to deal with him when he is sick. The first few weeks he will be adjusting, so he will probably be tired on the days that he attends daycare, but he will get into the swing pretty quickly.
I owned a daycare for 11 years and worked for someone else in their daycare for about a year. Number one is pick your schedule and stick to it. Things change and kids are able to adjust but from the start, put him in the daycare the same days and times every week. Later on, if you have a half day off and pick him up early, it's a big treat. If you put him in half days and then switch to full days, it will be harder for him to adjust.
Don't show your child that you are stressed over the decision or emotional when leaving him there. Go in ahead of time, take him with you. Meet his teacher, sit in her class with him and let him observe for an hour during play time or circle time. You are responsible for showing him how much fun the other kids are having. Encourage him to participate with you in the room. Then, when you leave him there and go to work, let the teachers do their job. If you hover, console, worry, get teary, you make your son resistant to the change and I promise you, through her smile, you will be driving the teacher crazy :-). She is trained to do her job, to know how to comfort your child and engage him in what is going on in his classroom that day. If you will bring your child in, help him get his jacket off and lunchbox put away, find a toy and a friend, then smile, kiss him, say goodbye and leave, the teacher will step right in behind you and take over his care from that moment. She'll know what to do.
He may struggle with the adjustment going from a one on one situation to a group setting, but a good daycare with a trained staff will have the tools to help him with that transition. Don't panic if he seems out of sorts for several days when he realizes you are going to drop him off. He may struggle for a few days, but it always gets better. The transition will probably be harder on you than it will on him.
Being a good mom is sometimes tough, but our kids are tough too and he will be fine. Good luck!
i say 3 half days..my son is 4..i started him at preschool at 3..he goes 2 half days a week..12:30 to 5:45pm...when i pick him up he's so tired..at first he wasn't into being there and would cry but as soon as i would leave he'd start playing and participating..i always feel bad for the kids that are there all day..some every day all day...that must suck..i think you should start with 2 or 3 half days..to get him used to it.
good luck
xo
I think either way, he'll be fine and there will be an adjustment period either way. I agree with one of the other posts, pick one and stick to it. He needs to know what to expect, and my kids go full time 5 days a week since both my husband and I work full time and both of them are great. Your very lucky you've been able to have the arrangement you had and children are adaptable. however, according to my provider, this is a really tough age to start them at daycare, and she would prefer them start younger, so be prepared for maybe a longer adjustment period due to his age.
I had to put my daughter at the same age in a day care full time-had no choice...she did fine nervous at first-i was probably more nervous than she was, was in day care ever since until last year (she was in day care for 5 years)
I say do the whole days...it's going to be hard enough on him now that he's older adjusting to a new place and new people. At least give him time to settle in each day and have fun before you move him on to the next place.
-M
We have always done 1/2 days with my son (either 2 or 3 days/week). We are at a university so there are lots of kids who come and go throughout the day, so I don't ever feel like I'm ripping him away. Personally, I have loved it. Also, he would take those lovely, long afternoon naps at home and I could get a lot of work done without having to pay for childcare which was a plus for my situation (I do a lot of grading/writing at home). I'm sure he'll be perfectly fine either way, but we've really liked the 1/2 days.
As long as you are consistent with his routine he will be fine. He just needs to know what to expect, when. If his days/weeks follow a predictable pattern, he will be happier.
After I went back to work, our son was cared for part-time with a co-shared nanny and part-time with my Mom. When my Mom realized that she couldn't keep up with our son (around 15 months also), we found a fantastic daycare who took our son part-time 2 days per week. He did fantastically and loves the kids. Within a couple of months, the co-share ended and our son went full-time to the daycare. He still loves it there and it's great because he gets so much social time and play time with the other kids. It definitely was never too much for him. A good daycare will know how to make your child comfortable and he will be fine. While our son was a few months younger than most of the other kids, we were very lucky because the majority of the kids were close in age to our son and him being younger was actually good because he had them to 'teach' him.
Our daycare is awesome and we love them - they feed great, organic food; they provide nurturing, care, fun time and learning time. They treat it like a community and have monthly potlucks with all the families. We all planted a community garden in their backyard that the kids help maintain. Finding the daycare that fits best with your family's ideals and parenting style should be your first priority. Once found, your child will feel right at home;)
Hello, Can Grandma pick him up halfway through the day? If so, I would start that way. I am a grandma and I also used to run my own licensed daycare. I would suggest this to start and then you can move him to staying for the full day later.
Good luck with your precious little boy.
K. K.
Hi B., I am a daycare provider, and to be honest with you 2 days a week 3 days a week, there is no such time frame there cause all children are different, I will tell you tell you this in my 13 years experience when your son starts daycare absent days in between attending days will be harder for him, go one day, don't go the next, or go 2 days then don't go the next, that's way to confusing, if you are going to put him him daycare put him in daycare, dabbling him in it will make it harder on him. J.
I think full days are the way to go. I agree that once he's in the setting, he should be there for the amount of time that you're at work. I do think that 1/2 days will be a bit "confusing" for him, disrupting his day.
Also, kids thrive on routine. So whatever you do, stick with it and give him time to adjust. If he's used to 1 on 1 attention so far for his whole life, there's bound to be an adjustment period where he gets used to the school, teachers, schedule, and not being the #1 little guy.
Best wishes. He'll do fine. Just make sure in his presence you are happy and optimistic and save your concerns for when he's not around.
