Should You Send Your kid to daycare Despite being a Stay-at-Home mum?
Being a working mum or a stay-at-home mum is a choice for some, and the only choice for others. Let’s assume, for the purposes of this post, that you are a stay at home mum.
If you are reading this post, there is a good chance that you are.
I am one too. For me it was a choice. We could live comfortably on my husband’s income, by controlling our expenses a little, until I recovered and was ready to help pitch in a bit through my freelance work.
This was the reason that I dived headfirst into the amazing world of blogging. My blog was and still is something that is ALL ME, and it allowed me to have a purpose and work from home while staying at home with my daughter!
But why then, you would ask, that I decided to send my daughter to daycare? Isn’t this the very reason that I was working from home making only a small portion of what I could be making at a regular job?
Well, first of all, since sending my daughter to a daycare is a choice, I only send her for 2 days a week. The rest of the days, we go to our local library or a park nearby.
Secondly, I sent her for the first time when she was 2 years old. By this time, I felt that she was ready.
When to send kid to Daycare?
Well, as I mentioned, I sent my daughter when she was 2 years old.
When I was pregnant with Hussaina, I talked to my GP about going to work, who became my advisor for a lot of pregnancy problems and postpartum ones too.
She told me, “Wait at least a year, and if you can, then wait for 2 years!” I took her advice to heart. I know some people may agree with me, and some won’t but this really worked for me.
Sending before 1 year is in any case too soon. But you got to do, what you got to do. And you will never hear me pass any judgmental remarks about it ever. This is just how I feel about it.
When I sent Hussaina for the first time, it took her months to settle down, so I’m not saying that sending a kid to daycare after 2 is going to make it any easier than sending them at say 1 year or a few months old.
But the main advantage was that that I could talk to her, and she could talk back so I could explain to her that leaving her at daycare wasn’t because I wanted to abandon her, it was because she could have fun with friends.
5 Reasons for Sending a child to daycare even if you are a stay at home mom:
1. Lack of Company:
She is my first and an only child (as of yet) and thus craved company of people her own age. I feared that if she didn’t go and socialise with other kids, she wouldn’t develop her social skills and might become vary of other kids and people in general.
2. Opportunity to learn:
You learn more in a group. I knew that I could teach her only so much. When you are in a group, every single thing is an opportunity to learn. Learning ABCs and 123 is not the only kind of learning. Having new experiences is a part of learning too.
3. Independent Kids:
I felt that my daughter was becoming pretty much dependent on me for everything. I felt that being away for a while would do us both some good.
4. A little Time for Yourself:
I wanted a little extra time to focus on my own learning and career building. I say this for the sake of complete transparency. I took a break for my family. But I didn’t want to resent my own daughter for becoming a barrier. Because, she is never a burden. And she can never be a barrier.
I felt that when I sent her to a childcare, she could get the care that she needed, and I could get the time that I needed. Instead of squeezing in a few minutes, here and there in between her nap times, I could now dedicate hours to my own work. This way, I could actually be there with her and for her, instead of my head being somewhere else all the time.
5. Kids get bored:
After a certain age, kids tend to get bored all the time. So, unless you have the liberty and the space to buy toys pretty much everyday, sending them to childcare is a pretty great option.
Does Daycare/Childcare have any negative impacts on a child?
According to a research, sending a kid to daycare has no negative impacts on their cognitive development. However, it also depends on the quality of care that the child receives, so choosing the best one that you can and doing some research beforehand does help!
It is completely up to you if you want to send your kid to daycare or not. I feel that it is especially important for a child who doesn’t have a lot of company at home. Being with other kids, instead of spending time on their devices (which is inevitable nowadays), is in itself, a pretty strong reason for sending a kid to childcare.
So, what do you think?? I would really love to hear your take on this, in the comments section below!!
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Hi, I’m Alifya. I love doing fun activities with my daughter, Hussaina and write all about it here! My crazy hobbies include:
A. Binge watching Friends upto a point of memorizing it!
B. Watching Air Crash Investigations and Mega Structures on
NatGeo and
C. Reading Harry Potter for the thousandth time!!
Love this! I think it’s so important to send kids to daycare young! As a teacher, I am a little bit biased – but I think the sooner that your child can get used to a school-like setting the better they will do when they enter Kinder. Kids also need to be around other kids and socialize!
I’m not a stay at home mom – but if I was; I agree that kids should go before they enter Kinder.
xo. Josephine
Yess, my daughter was really shy, but now she’s a lot more comfortable with people around.