Daycare Mums

Not a debate (please )

Out of interest, do you feel daycare is beneficial to your child? Do you (those of you whose kids are at daycare) experience any negative effects of daycare on your child / family? Or do you find they totally thrive?

Well, for me, it's not about it being beneficial. It's necessary. But I think he does get a lot out of being there, and he really enjoys being with the other kids.

In a perfect world I would still send him, but maybe just two days a week rather than 5 (although he is only there from 9-3).

Possibly not much help sorry Fiona!

Charlotte totally thrives, is very switched on and definitely ahead of her non-daycare peers. You can really see the difference when you put her with another child about her age who doesn't go to daycare at all. She gets so much stimulation and is exposed to everything from painting to play dough to sand to swings every day. She loves it and is itching to get back after the weekend.

IMO, its awesome and I will happily send along our next one (out of necessity as I will have to come back to work) but even if I wasn't going back, I would still enrol for at least part of the time.



Edited by CuriousG

I'm considering 3 days per week. Since I won't have another baby to care for, for over 12 months, I'd like to work more hours for the next year to help with mortgage etc. Plus, despite my best efforts, Elle gets bored at home so we are always out at parks etc. I think she would enjoy daycare but it is REALLY REALLY REALLY (emphasis not shouting ) hard for me as I was always 100% sure I'd be a fulltime stay at home Mum and to be completely honest, was totally anti-daycare (sorry - but I was...not now though). Now our circumstances have changed and I have learned that kids are all different and benefit from different things. I think my assertive, intelligent (yes bragging) strong minded wee girl would love some time at daycare. I couldn't do fulltime, it's just not me but part-time might work. Eeek. I want to do what is best for all of us but Elles does come first, since financially we can cope without me working if we have to.

Caitlyn has always been assertive and strong minded, and ahead of her peers in speech , walking etc (yes,bragging too ) and she really thrived at Daycare, it really helped stimulate her and gave her chances to challenge herself, so if Elle is anything like that i think she would love it.

Jaymie has been doing 2 days a week for a month. It has already had some benefits - she is more sociable and ready to accept other people more readily. She use to cry whenever another child came within her personal space, but now she is able to have other children near her and playing with her. I think as she is our only child, the socialisation is important for her.

My olders kids loved it and they thrived, they are still friends with the kids that they went to daycare with, which is so special. Conor is still in the same class as one of the boys that he started DC with. Unfortunately next year they will be separated for the first time since they were 3!!

So not only will she learn heaps, she will make "lifelong" friends.

Fiona i think given her personailty Elle would thrive.

To answer your questions, I think it has been beneficial. Since Paris pretty much stayed home for the 1st year of her life, she was scared of EVERYONE, i mean if anyone other than mum, dad, and nana came into the room, she'd sream from the time they came in to the time they left. She started daycare at 11 mths and i was so petrified of how she'd cope. She coped well and became much more confident and happy with new people, to the point that now, with her going to school soon she is wonderfully outgoing. She still has her shy moments but overall deals well with new situations which previously she seriously didn't.

Ok, so, downside.. which probably doesn't apply was for sending ayja to daycare so early, it mucked up her routine something mental, but again she was 11weeks, and they couldn't always get to her right when she was showing itred cues, or couldn't put her straight to bed cos she'd cry for a couple minutes then go to sleep but if others were just going to sleep that wasn't ideal. Though at this stage that shouldn't affect Elle.   

Ayja, from being in daycare since so young, has always been very very sociable, plunges head first into new situations, very independant. For both my girls it has given them the opportunities to experience a world of things that really if they were at home, i could have tried to provide but probably not to the extent of what they can. Also, socialising with other kids, in an environment where teachers are watching out for them is great, they learn what's right and wrong and how to deal with other kids, they learn to sit and listen at mat times, to sit and eat nicely at meal times etc.

It's quite funny because our group of mums through daycare has commented before that at birthday parties etc, you say it's food time and the daycare kids all go sit down nicely at the tables and wait quietly and eat nicely etc whereas some non-daycare kids will usually need to be called another time, and tend to leave the table pretty quickly, the daycare ones are the ones that are there till it's all gone!lol. I think they learn alot of how to behave in situations with other people/children, and it's good for them to learn to trust other adults outside of their family and learn to form bonds with other people in a caring relationship.

Again, downside, which you'll get with all situations.. ie playgroups, kindy school, is that yes from time to time they pick up on some behaviour that might not be great, they might pick up on some interesting words which they might try, or try a new thing like the mega-tantrums that ayja tried out after seeing her little friend use them effectively. In those instances we just carry on with our way of doing things, our routines, and remind them that THAT type of behaviour/language is not acceptable here in our house, also it's great to let daycare teachers know too and they'll keep a watch for it and help kurb it as well as looking for the source that they might be picking it up from.

The biggest thing too, as others have said, is the amount of knowledge they pick up. Ayja astounds me with what she's coming up with because since going in with the over-twos, she is now in with kids ranging up to 5 years, so picks up alot of knowledge from them.. probably helps that all paris's friends have adopted her too, but now at nearly three, she can say abc's, identify letters and numbers (even knows a few that her sister gets stuck on which paris gets grumpy about), and aheap of other stuff - they learn alot about life and the world around them - our girls go to the recycling centre to see where the recycling they do goes, they go to the gym, they go on park trips, they go to the A&P shows, they go to kiddie concerts like baby proms, and they have topics about everything so learn a heck of alot and might even find alife-long interest.

There's a huge difference betweent he effects of having a kid that's in daycare from 7.30 am till 5pm every day of the week, and having a child that's in there a few days a week which i think is a really good balance.

Edited by mum2paris

Probably around here as I work in the city. For some reason I prefer the idea of a suburban one.

Thanks for all that info Janine :)

I overheard some ladies talking at the playground today and they were convinced that their daycare kids were more relaxed, adaptable etc than their stay-at-home kids (it sounded like they'd gone back to work with their first and stayed home with their second). Not suggesting that is necessarily true as temperament etc comes into it but it was interesting to listen in.

I've got Coopers name down at Toybox on Manukau Road (Trafalgar St end) and KiwiSupertots by KFC. I'd prefer Toybox as I've heard it is family owned and one of the teachers at school used to teach there and knows the owners well.

I won't be sending him to the same one has Conor and Nyah went to as I wasn't happy with them towards the end.