Baby Blogging: The Truth About Sending a Baby To Daycare!

Growing up my Mum was a childminder; it meant I didn't leave my Mum's side - other than for afternoons at nursery school - until I officially started school. Laura had a stay at home Mum. We were lucky to have a lot of our Mums' attentions for our childhoods and so when it came to having our own child we knew our preference was to have one of us stay home.

That preference is changing though. It didn't change overnight but it did change when we talked about our reality. The reality of living on one salary. The reality of saving for future children. We just so happened to see a new daycare being built on the corner of our street and then visiting that day care shifted the preference too. And so we went from being set on one of us being a stay at home Mum immediately to factoring day care into our plans (although likely not forever, as we still plan on Laura being a SAHM hopefully next year!).

We both agreed that full time day care wasn't something we wanted but we agreed that some time at day care could be beneficial for Annabelle.

For us we could not have made a better decision.

As I write this blog I find it shocking that I have been back at pretty much full time work for 4 months (I shared my thought on the end of maternity leave in this post). I am fortunate enough to have enough annual leave to take two or three Mondays off a month to look after Annabelle this year. My Mum has her two days per week and she is in day care two days.

Her first observation

We're pleasantly surprised at how far we have come as a family and how much daycare has helped so many parts of our lives. That includes:

• Annabelle eating - she is now a pro at feeding herself and a lot of that is because of watching other kids at day care, and their onsite chef has introduced her to new foods we may not have had a chance to expose her to!
• Annabelle walking - of course she would have gotten there, but watching other babies figure it out definitely encouraged her
• Imaginative play / playing by herself: at first, watching her play by herself made my heart sink until I watched her making herself laugh and I realised that actually it is a positive development. At home we are often quick to jump in and play - desperate to spend every moment with her - but we have learnt that giving her space helps with her imagination.

• Confidence - Annabelle's and ours. Annabelle because she is encouraged to be capable. To help put shoes and socks on, to help tidy up, to join in on games, to play with different textures (water, sand, flour, food - thankfully with them clearing up :) ), in different environments (mud kitchen, garden, sand pit, dress up area, play kitchen, soft play area, climbing frame), with different children and daycare staff. All of it means that she walks into her room with confidence now and barely notices the goodbye. 

• Our confidence because we get feedback on A's progress that assures us she is developing well for her age and we are doing the right thing. This is a big one for us. As first time Mums who don't know many kids I was worried about what I should be encouraging Annabelle to do and how I should do it. This development class I did was great but other than that it was just me and her at home and while it was great when she was a baby it would be a lot of work to entertain her and help her develop on my own day in and day out now. 
• Social Skills - Our Annabelle shares, cares and loves big. If we are out and about or she's in daycare you will see her beeline to other children wanting to play. She will share her toys, kiss others and be gentle to babies - we love it so, so much and I don't honestly think she would have had the same exposure if it wasn't for day care.
• Communication - I know kids develop skills as they get older but you can tell being around her peers has sped this up for her. Her pointing and happy squeals get us in the feels right now and you can tell she is really trying to have conversations.

• Routine - at first we were afraid of having to adapt to the day care routine but they have actually been guiding us and telling us when they think Annabelle is ready to make a change. They've been good about working with our concerns/opinions too. Together, we have always guided Annabelle through routine changes very successfully.
• So much love. I know that sounds weird, how can leaving Annabelle create love - in our world it's simple. We have quality time with Annabelle as we have been able to clear our life admin / get our jobs done without having to compromise time with her. Annabelle appreciates the one on one attention from us but loves being around the other kids - I mean who wouldn't want to play all day in a purpose built room :) And then the daycare staff, they all love Annabelle. I mean ,not in the same way as us, but they are excited to tell us how good she's been or when she achieved something, or enjoyed something. They smile when they see her and give her hugs goodbye. From the receptionist to the room leader, the chef to the garden attendant they all know Annabelle. And she waves at them like friends. It makes our hearts happy. 

At first Annabelle would come home exhausted, her naps there weren't as long as at home, but now she comes home full of smiles and we have three wonderful hours together. She has nap time there sorted and often sleeps longer there than at home.

It is amazing. We have mentioned before that we get video access and that does make a big difference but we also really like the reviews we get that score her development against the Early Years Foundation Stages. We also like term summaries that share things like:

'Annabelle has a good relationship with adults and her peers. She has started to engage more in activities and play alongside her peers, sometimes copying what they do.'

And the observations we get are great. They are pictures with descriptions of what she has been doing.

All in all we have had a very positive day care experience and we hope it continues. The fact that the day care is a 3 minute walk away makes it feel like she's not far away and we can get to her quickly should we ever need to.

Have you put your child in nursery/daycare, and what are your experiences with it?