Poll; Providers: Would you use Full-Time Daycare for your Infants/Toddlers?

[Cat Herder]

Just a quick unscientific poll of childcare providers.

If there were no other issues involved (aside from moral/ethical)... like finances, after school care, transportation, etc...

Would you send your Infant/Toddler to Daycare Full-Time?

You are encouraged to give reasons below since it would be interesting, IMHO.

[emosks]

My first born was in daycare four days a week from 7a-5p. I worked from 7:30-4:30 straight (no lunch) so I could have Fridays off with him. If I didn't have the option of working that schedule he would have been in care full time.

[blueclouds29]

Although i worked at the daycare my daughter was at, she was 5 wks old when she started. She did fine. I have her home now with me cause i started a daycare.

[Meeko]

I started day care so I could be home with my oldest sons as well as make a little bit of money. I know that some mothers have no choice but to work...but I truly believe that if it is possible, a mother should should stay home with her children.

And I make sure that my day care is run like a home away from home instead of school because I want the kids to feel "at home" as much as possible if they can't be in their own home. Plenty of time for "school" later.

[Blackcat31]

If finances and such were not an issue and I had an infant, I would do everything in my realm of possibilities to ensure that I was home with my infant and not putting them in childcare full time. IMHO I don't think infants belong in child care. (This is in a perfect world of course where parents do not have to work. ) I think that infants under 12 months really require their mothers and although I know that is not a possibility for everyone, it is the way I feel even though that is not the way it is.

Toddlers I think may be a different story....they are just beginning to be social beings (outside of parents) and I think being in child care at the age of 18 months or so is probably a good thing for most kids so my thoughts on kids those ages vary greatly compared to my thoughts on children under 18 months.

I did not begin doing child care myself until my kids were 5 and 3. My oldest child spent her first 2 years home with me and never went to any sitter or child care until age 2. My second child went to my MIL's 2 half days a week so I could attend college from birth until age 18 months when he started childcare on a 3/4 time basis. In my case, I was lucky enough to have a really close MIL and my own DH to care for my babies. My DH and I were also raising my sister who was 14, so we also had a built in babysitter too.

Cat, I know you provide services for infants and toddlers only and I am sure you are the next best thing to mother, but my feelings are only my opinions and are in no way a reflection on anyone who puts their infant in full time child care or any one who provides full time child care to infants.

In that regard; yes, I do accept infants and toddlers on a full time basis and seem to have waiting lists for both ages all the time because having an infant/toddler in childcare full time is a reality not necessarily a chosen act.

[mickey2]

I would never have placed my children in full time daycare only because I am the one who wanted to teach them their morals and values and right from wrong. No one can do that better than a child's own parents. I stayed home with my 5 children until they started school full-time because I strongly believed that this was best for my children and for my family. I wanted to spend all of my time with my kids and be there for all of their firsts. First steps, first words etc.

We did not have much while my children were growing up but we were fortunate that I was able to do this. We had to do without a lot of things so that I could do this. We had to walk everywhere as we could not afford a car. We bought a cheap fixer upper home that I hated because in order for me to stay home it was all we could afford. We never ate out, we had to stretch our meals and our dollars on everything because we did not have any money.

Those days were so tough! We were not in a very good position financially at all but we made the choice that I was going to be at home with our kids. Its about sacrificing a lot of the things you would like to have for what you believe is best for your child. We never had any of the things we wanted EVER, but we all had what we needed.

For us, this was the best decision we ever made as parents.

[MarinaVanessa]

The main (but not only) reason that I chose to do DC was to be home with my daughter more. We also wanted to have another baby and I wanted to be home with the baby. I enjoy kids very much and even when working a job before DC I was always the family/neighborhood baby/pet/house sitter so for me DC was an obvious career choice for me.

My DD sometimes gives me a hard time (she's 6) because she gets jealous of the DCK's and I have thought of sending her to a friend of mine that has a DC during after-school hours but my DD wasn't too fond of the idea. If she ever decides that DC is too stressful for her and she wants to go to my friends DC then I'd let her go PT.

[cheerfuldom]

The only reason I do daycare is so I can be with my own kids. I would never send them to daycare of any kind unless I absolutely had to. I would also never do this particular job unless I had to. I do enjoy kids in general and I am good at this job but that doesn't mean that it is even close to my dream job or that I am fulfilled by it. I actually prefer the kids way more than the parents which is probably the case for a lot of providers. Anyway, all that to say, I will not be doing this as soon as my kids are school age (at least preschool age).

[Cat Herder]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

Cat, I know you provide services for infants and toddlers only and I am sure you are the next best thing to mother, but my feelings are only my opinions and are in no way a reflection on anyone who puts their infant in full time child care or any one who provides full time child care to infants.

No worries.... I could not agree more. I think you rock, actually. Nothing would make me happier than being put out of business because more women stayed home with their own.

There is NO WAY my kids would step foot in Daycare if I had another choice. Luckily I do I planned and established this home daycare before I got pregnant with my children. I learned my lesson the hard way.

I even tell my prospective clients I will help them start their own if they like for the same reason. Very few takers, though. I guess that is one of the reasons why I was curious.

I overheard several women state that they NEVER had any intention of staying home with their kids while lunching at the local mall..."not even if I did not work" and I was just shocked. These were small infants in carriers and strollers by their sides.

They were even joking about using the drop in center by the mall so they could catch a quick movie, too....

[KEG123]

NO way no how. I always HATED the idea of sending my kid to daycare. I'm glad I never had to send him, he always had me or daddy. Now that I am doing daycare, he is getting socialization. So it's win-win for him.

[MsMe]

The idea of sending children (I don't even have yet!!!!) to daycare brings tears to my eyes.

I have always planned to say home with any children I would have. As I approach (within 2 years) that time it is becoming a possiblity that we may NEED my income. I have a "home" daycare now and it would still break my heart if I had keep it open after I had children. I have tough choices to make and my first instinct is to scream "THEN I JUST WON'T HAVE CHILDREN" I know a childless life is not for me so I will keep searching for a middle ground.

[SilverSabre25]

I'm guessing you're asking that if we didn't have to work, or anything else, would we send them?

No, not at all. Heck, the entire reason I'm even doing the job I am right now is because I want to be with my own kids. But if finances weren't a concern (and they are now more than ever...*sigh*) I wouldn't even do daycare so taht I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, with my own children.

[PitterPatter]

I personally would not place my toddler in daycare because I didn't trust anyone, especially strangers.

A family member of mine was placed in a state licensed daycare as a young child and was mentally abused and neglected proper food/drink for years. It didn't come out until years later because the child grew up thinking that's how it was supposed to be in daycare.

As soon as my child was born I quit my job to raise him. I had a husband that was working at the time thank God. I decided once he could walk and talk and tell me so and so did this, or so and so touched me etc, then I may enroll him. I never did tho. I was still afraid so I openened my own daycare in my home because I love children anyway so it was perfect! I got to be a stay at home Mom for my child and provide quality care for other children.

[daycare]

what is considered full time? 5 days a week or over 35 hours??

[MarinaVanessa]

Originally Posted by daycare

what is considered full time? 5 days a week or over 35 hours??

Where I am they go by hours and anything 30 hours and over is FT. 29 hours or less is PT. That is how the state pays for subsidy (CDR which is what is used most in our area) so providers go by that around here.

[daycare]

ok so I am also in CA just in the north.... thanks for the reply

[DBug]

Nope. If my husband wasn't dead or absent, I would never send my kids to daycare. I sent my boys (toddlers at the time) to a friends house for about 10 hours a week for the course of a year or so, and I won't do it again. I just have a very specific way I want my kids raised, and I don't trust anyone else to do it my way . If I wasn't doing home daycare, I'd be doing a night shift somewhere to make ends meet, and that way my husband could be with the kids when I'd be working.

I just don't believe in having kids just so someone else can raise them. That said, I'm not about to presume that other people have the same belief system. That's why I don't have a problem with doing daycare .