Reply to How to not feel bad about putting an infant in daycare?

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[quote=Anonymous]I am a career nanny here and depending on the center and the needs of the kid, for many kids a good center is just as good as a good nanny after a certain age.  I would say some time between 12-24 months is when that change happens.  But I agree that it’s so hard to put a baby under 6 months in daycare bc they are so little, haven’t been fully vaccinated against illness, and at that age, they are growing and changing so fast that you ideally want a really responsive caregiver, whereas daycares often lean more toward structure and the kids adapt to the schedule instead of the schedule adapting to the kids.  By 6-9 months, the majority of babies are on a fairly consistent nap and bedtime and feeding schedule so it feels more acceptable to put them into a scheduled environment—they actually thrive with a schedule by that age!

So instead of thinking about it as “I can’t give my baby what is best,” think about it as “I am solving for a 3-month period where daycare may not be the best fit.”  By 6 months a good daycare (meaning not too crowded, minimal staff turnover, access to outdoor space, etc) is pretty much comparable to a nanny and somewhere between 12-24 months daycare is often BETTER than many nannies can provide.

So look at it as a 3-month window where the ideal doesn’t match the reality and you’ll see it’s not such a big deal.  And if it still really stresses you, consider hiring a nanny just for 3 months, and sending your kid at 6 months.[/quote]

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