At What Age Can Infants Begin Daycare and Key Considerations for Parents

Are you thinking of sending your infant to the best toddler daycare? Have you been on your phone looking for the ‘best childcare near me’?

Well, before you even start searching for a daycare center, you must know when infants can start attending daycare. What you need to consider to find the best daycare.  How to choose the best toddler daycare, and more.

And did you know that most daycares do not accept children who are less than 6 weeks old? 

So your decision to send your infant to a daycare must be taken with great care and understanding. It is a huge decision that’s going to affect both you and your child.

And there is a lot to unpack here. So, let’s look at the topic in detail here.

When Can Your Baby Start Daycare?

To answer the question of when they can start, it depends. Some families wait till their child is three years old to send them to daycare. Some other families need to find daycare as quickly as possible. It is a personal decision that depends on the situation of each family.

Here are a few elements that affect your decision:

• Your financial conditions and responsibilities.

• Whether your infant requires special care.

• The duration of your parental leave.

• The health and nature of the birth of your baby

• Whether or not your partner can take leave.

• If you have other childcare options, like family.

According to pediatric health practitioners, the longer parents can wait to send their infant to daycare, the better. But children can start their daycare at 6 weeks of age.

By delaying daycare, you are allowing your child to develop a better attachment with its parents.

It allows the child to build sleep and feeding patterns and adjust to the new life outside the womb. Further, the umbilical cord gets enough time to heal well.

However, not all families or parents can wait longer as there would be financial constraints and challenges. But there are many options other than daycare for parents to look at.

Types of Infant Daycares for Your Baby

Of course, daycares that often offer group child care may not accept infants younger than 6 weeks. But that should not stop you from looking. Other types of daycare centers may help you.

Here are a few options you can try.

Family Childcare Centers

These centers take care of your infants at their facility after dividing the children into groups based on age. You can opt for this type of daycare if you have no other option.

Here are a few benefits of sending your infant to a family child care center:

1. They are comparatively more affordable than childcare centers and nannies.

2. In-house childcare centers may need to adhere to certain state requirements and criteria. However, these requirements are different from childcare centers.

3. Your child gets adequate care from adults who are trained to do it in a home-like setting while also being with other children. This is important for growth.

4. These centers have more flexible schedules. Hence, depending on your job, you can drop off or pick up your child or children at different times.

5. You can also get part-time care from certain in-home care centers. This can be a more economical option for you.

6. They may also accept infants who are younger than 6 weeks, unlike other childcare centers that don’t.

Your child can thrive in situations where they get one-on-one attention. And in-home childcare centers are the best option to ensure such care. They assign every caregiver a small number of children, which ensures that the caregiver can attend to the needs of the child quickly.

Hiring nannies

Another popular option is to hire nannies who can offer specialized care for your infant at your home. Nannies may stay with you where you are or come in daily to care for your child.

While hiring a nanny allows you to get one-on-one care for your baby, it is one of the most expensive ways to offer childcare. This is because you are hiring a person's full attention to care for your single child.

A great way to reduce the expense is to do a nanny share. This allows you to find another parent who also needs nanny care. You can arrange to have nanny care in one of your homes.

This ensures that your child gets personalized attention while not being very expensive.

Here are a few advantages of hiring a nanny:

1. Your child gets personalized care and attention.

2. You can schedule the care at your convenience.

3. Have more control over the kind of care your child gets.

4. Ensure undivided, special care if your child needs it.

One of the challenges of having a nanny is that if they fall sick or have an emergency, you may need to change your schedule. That can become an issue if the changes happen at the last minute.

However, with work-from-home becoming more popular now, opting for nannies has become more prevalent in Canada.

Childcare Centers

These are institutions that offer childcare and supervision at their own facility. They divide children into groups based on their age to provide adequate care for the infants.

A few crucial advantages of relying on childcare centers are given below:

1. They have multiple staff qualified and trained to provide adequate care for your children as per their needs.

2. The centers must meet various licensing requirements, including safety and cleanliness parameters, to be able to operate.

3. They often have replacements for assistants and teachers if any one of them falls sick or is on leave due to an emergency.

4. The centers may also have medical and healthcare professionals available to attend to any emergency needs.

5. Your baby gets to interact with different children and adults. This enables excellent social development in children.

6. Your baby will develop routines and habits related to food, sleep, potty, etc., as everything is done every day at a fixed time.

However, such care centers may also have different requirements, like fixed times for drop-offs and pick-ups, whether sick children can be brought, extra care at additional fees, and so on.

How to Choose the Right Daycare for Your Child?

Choosing the right daycare for your infant needs to be done with great care and patience. Here are a few tips to ensure you are selecting the right childcare option for your child.

Check the center’s license.

Check the licensing requirements and the center’s history. This ensures that you are giving the best option to your child and you can save yourself from unnecessary stress.

Consider the staff’s qualifications.

Providing care for children is not everyone’s cup of tea. The staff at the center must be qualified to do their job. Hence, check their qualifications and experience.

The hours of operation.

You and your partner need a childcare center that fits your schedules. Hence, consider the center's hours of operation before finalizing any daycare.

Children to caregivers ratio.

Another important factor to consider is the number of staff available at the center. The ratio of children to caregivers must be adequate to ensure that your child gets enough attention.

Check reviews and testimonials.

Before you make the final decision, you need to check the reviews of the center and the testimonials. You can also talk to parents to get an understanding of the quality of the overall service.

Why Nurture with Care Kids Academy is Your Best Option?

If you are looking for the best daycares in Oak Harbor, WA, Nurture with Care Kids Academy is one of the best in the area.

Check the following factors that make us the best daycare for children.

• We have a team of experienced and caring professionals who will offer the best care for your child and make them feel valued, cared for, and cherished.

• We know that every child is unique, and they have singular needs. Our holistic approach ensures that they get the care and attention they need.

• Your child gets to learn through various day care activities for toddlers that are educational and entertaining at the same time.

• At our academy, we have the most stimulating and safest environment where your child can indulge in a range of activities to learn, engage, and explore.

• We have strong partnerships with parents to ensure the best care for the child. Through regular parent communication, meet-ups, and involvement, we ensure stress-free care for your child.

Conclusion

Finding the best daycare for your child is never easy. But you need to take the challenge and plunge into the unknown to make sure that your child is at the best daycare you can get. It not only ensures their safety and care but also offers you the peace of mind to work without worries.

At Nurture with Care Kids Academy, we focus on providing comprehensive care to the children while also making it hassle-free for the parents.

If you have been looking for the best toddler daycare, speak to our parent service desk.

We would love to help you.

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