How much time outside?

[Anonymous]

How much time does your infant or yong toddler spend outside in full-time daycare? My center has a great outdoor play space for toddlers, but my 1yo DS has only been out there 2 or 3 times since starting daycare at 4mo. I Think the toddler room uses the outdoor space more consistently than the infants do, but I am wondering whether this is typical of other centers.

[Anonymous]

I’m past daycare stage, but when my kids were at the daycare we used the infants went out every day that the weather permitted. Sometimes it was just for a walk in the big strollers, sometimes they out down blankets and let them roll/crawl around on the blankets of grass. Our center had a huge playground area and a separate hardtop area do there was a lot of room for multiple age groups to be outside without posing any risk that the babies would get trampled by the toddlers.

[Anonymous]

DD started daycare in September when she was 4 months, and they did daily outdoor stroller rides until the weather got cold. They would often take the babies out to a little playhouse they have and put them on blankets. Now they take them out in the stroller as often as possible, but usually it's just short rides and often go several days without going outside.

[Anonymous]

My DD was at 2 different daycares, we left the first one for this reason. It was a beautiful October day and when I asked how long they were outside they said they did a paint project that day instead.
The one we switched too they went out twice a day. This was toddlers though, not infants.

[Anonymous]

This was a big deal for us, as we recently switched day care centers (our baby is 6 months old).

The first daycare center took our son outside once in the 2 months we attended. It was ridiculously warm this past December and they don't even bother. Our DS sleeps so much better if he gets time outside. I can tell the difference in his sleep quality and quantity.

The new daycare center takes DS outside twice per day, weather permitting. They just do the buggy ride. Even if its cold, they will bundle the kids up (they explicitly tell us to leave cold weather gear at the center - booties, hat, and warm jacket). It makes a huge difference.

Daycare centers that don't take infants outside are just straight up lazy.

[Anonymous]

At DD's center, they go out 2x a day, except for when it's raining or too hot / air quality is too poor. Pretty much as long as it is dry and between 30-90, the toddlers will be outside half an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, if not longer.