My boy ,six months , goes for his first settling in sessions with
childcare this morning. His mammy has to go back to work on Monday.
I’m rather sad & feel a bit sick about it, but it’s necessary.We’re trying to be positive , i.e he’s going to interact with other people & the carer has a major emphasis on development & play.
We’ll see how it goes ……
Tell me your child care experiences ,I imagine he won’t give a monkey’s
but this morning I feel a bit of a douche.

He’ll be fine, and the importance of learning to socialise with other children shouldn’t be underestimated, it’s very noticeable that kids who went to childcare adapt a lot better to school when they start. It’ll be good for his immune system too – he’s going to be continuously ill / snotty for the next 6 months 🙂

Besides, at 6 months he’s probably still not scared of strangers, which will make adaptation a lot easier.

Blobby jr started going at about 8 months, now does a couple of days a week. As you say, he doesn’t give a monkeys. Happy to see and play with others, probably bored of me and his mum!

Oh yes, and get ready for colds, rivers of snot, conjunctivitis, bronchiolitis, more sleepless nights…

It’s good for’em! There’ll be good mornings and bad mornings, but picking them up is always good 🙂

swavis jnr loves going to the childminders, I also think it’s a real positive him being able to interact with others. He’ll be fine 😀

Don’t stress, all 3 of mine in Kindegrippe.

You have your days where they don’t want to go, but generally they love it!

You’ll notice how much they come along…they’ll be a few older kids and the younger ones soon start to look up to them.

They get to cover them selves in paint..sparkly stuff, play with different toys..they love it.

Yep, get ready for the Germs….and trust me, they’ll bring stuff back that will knock you flat, no matter how fit and well you are.

I swear if you want conduct biological warfare…just parachute a couple of play schools worth of 2-4 year olds in….everyone else will be knocked for six in days!!!

Main thing, when you drop em off, be super cool and let them know that you or mum will pick em up later.

Within 2 or 3 days my daughter was running off without even giving Dad a kiss or saying goodbye…think I was more upset 😉

I felt the same, but believe me its definitely for the best. Immunity, socially it works for them. You may met some like minded parents also.

Now I get shouted at if I pick her up early from afterschool club. I think I am doing her a favour by getting her early so we can spend time together, but no, she would rather socialise with her mates (ps she is only 5.5yrs old)

Also at childcare if there is a range of kids there at different ages, it helps socially greatly

Yep, ours goes 2 days a week from 1 yr old and seems to love it – always smiles as we walk up to the child minders front door which is a good sign!

It was good got him, social interaction is a MUST for kids… it’s where they learn…. he gained so much of his personality in Childcare.

Sadly, he picks up some of their ‘traits’ that i’d rather he never too…. but that’s the way of the world.

My 18 month old daughter goes 4 days a week and loves playing with the other children. We were not sure it would work out but it’s been great for her.

Our lad loves Nursery. He wears the same tutu every day. Sheesh.

Due to shift work, my kids have/had a good mix – just Mum, just Dad, Mum and Dad, or the childminder 10 houses along – different every day. They’re always happy to be dropped off, and always happy to see us at going home time.

One thing to be aware of, although hopefully won’t be an issue for you, is that if your wee one is upset when you leave him, he’ll almost certainly be right as rain 2 minutes after you’re out of sight – too much fun stuff happening to remember you!

putting babar into childcare

My daughter has been at nursery now for almost a year and i can say it has been fantastic for her development. Interaction with other kids is the key as mentioned above and her words are starting to come out thick and thin.

Nursery can be a costly place to send your child but the benefits make it worthwhile.

Both of our have been looked afeter by a childminder from around 6 months old – they both love it, and although we wish we could afford to live on one wage, and Mrs Freeagent could stay home, the childminder has been great.

Agree with the rapid development point. Mini Tobin went from 9 months old for 2 days a week. We dreaded taking him to the extent that Mrs Tobin made me drop him off for his settling sessions as she couldn’t bear to see his sad little face as we walked away. Anyhow, I think it was us who were most upset as he really didn’t seem to miss us at all. Being just a little upset at being left at nursery for the first time would have been nice, but no, we’re apparently nothing to him.

He genuinely loves it and gets to play with all kinds of stuff that we don’t do at home. Its also really good for learning social skills with other bubs.

One downside, other than cost, is for the first 3 months he was constantly ill until his immune system got a bit more robust. There’s lots of bugs that go around.

There are studies that show the benefits of children going to nursery, and studies that show kids are better off at home with their Mum. Pick the ones that suit your situation, read them and ignore the others.

Children are very adaptable and he’ll be fine either way. The important thing is if he’s happy and secure at home, he’ll be the same when he’s in childcare

my wife runs the nursery that our boy has just started at and we were still nervous about him starting yesterday.

So far so good…

He’ll be fine.. Mine boy was six months old when he went he’s now 19 months and has cried twice going in to nursery.. He loves it.

Both went from 18 months.
Number 1 was fine with it.
Number 2 hated it and cried 90% of the mornings she had to go.

If we had that time again, MrsJ would stay at home and look after them.
YMMV

The nipper will be fine, but I must admit to thinking that 6 months is too young.

Mine has been going since 7m and loves it, he has never not wanted to go, he doesn’t want to leave!

My daughter started at 1 year and is now 19 months – she loves it at nursery. Ours cook them proper, healthy meals and do loads of different activities for them. Plus I get a big smile and hug when I pick her up, and I get a bit of cycling in by taking her home in the trailer.

You may find your boy takes a while to get used to it – stick with it.

Rose really likes her childminders (3 days a week, we both work 4 days a week each), and it has been a good thing overall, although part of me would love to be a full time dad (I did it for a few months just before she was 1).

I’m not entirely convinced how everyone seems to know that it has led to massive strides in speech, social stuff and all that; kids I know who are primarily cared for by parents don’t seem any more or less advanced in any way than those who are full time at nursery or childminders. All babies and toddlers have massive developmental leaps on a regular basis, it is hard to know what to attribute them to. Rose had a big leap in her speech and comprehension over Christmas, does that mean that exposure to relatives is massively important for kid’s development.

When it comes down to it, we send our kids to child care because we like our jobs, or want/need the money. Parents are happier because of that. Kids benefit a lot from having happy parents, it’s very important for their development. The fact the childcare setting may be a positive experience is a bonus, but lets face it, how many of us would leave our kids in full time childcare from a very young age if we had the combination of a job that we hated, and enough money spare to be able to easily afford not to work?

Contrary to common perception, children are not made of porcelain, he’ll be fine in childcare.

So says my wife 😀

I think you’ll find studies (as someone mentioned above) to say that baby is best never leaving the house and being home-schooled and breastfed till nine years of age and that baby is best heading into childcare the morning after leaving the maternity ward. Just pick what one suits your attitude and quote that to everyone.

IME, amongst my peers, the kids that stayed at home with mum for years are a bit thicker; especially if mum’s a bit thick too.

Darcy a slightly crass comment, but there may be some truth in it. Same as if the carers are a ‘bit thick’ in a nursery, the children may not learn much from them

We scrape by on my wage and Mini-Wilko stays at home with her Mum, who luckily is very smart. So this has lead to Mini-Wilko being very advanced obviously 😉

joao3v16 – Member
Contrary to common perception, children are not made of porcelain

My sister used to have a doll that was.

While a happy home life is essential, I’d also give a big thumbs up to the rewards that come from using an excellent childminder or nursery.

I’m not one of these “One parent should stop working and look after the kid(s) at home” brigade.” At the end of the day, kids can learn a great deal in their formative years from socialising/playing/exploring/sharing/eating/etc together. If that is backed up at home then IMO you get the best of both worlds.

One word of warning – he’ll possibly be very tired at the end of the days, especially starting so young. I hope they have a good quiet area for his naps.

Ours went from just before 1st birthday (wife got a job she couldn’t turn down) but was only 1 day a week – wife still only works part-time, term-term which is tough on our finances but I do believe that the majority of the time should be spent with natural parents if possible. They start school in September though :-O

Thank you for the reassurance. I now just have to help Senorita J to overcome her anxieties , I’m sure it’s worse for the Mammies leaving their little ones behind.

I went part time 1x12hr shift @weekend so I could be a full time dad as I wanted to raise my daughter, she started pre school(just turned 2) last week, just twice a week for 3hrs and loves it, it was hard letting her go, i was more worried than her even tho she is not clingy etc, you have to do it at some point and they will be fine 🙂

One for the ladies/mothers..
Just spoken to the missus -she’s very very upset,understandably.
Doesn’t want to leave him & go back to work,(it’s her company)but has to.
Please tell me this is normal….and she’ll be ok after a while.
I think the main concern now is her , he loved it apparently( as you all said he would).

Its not the dropping off that’s most upsetting, the crying when they see you’ve arrived to take them home is worse!