u/FriendsFannn

I see so many posts that are negative on daycare (especially recently) and so I wanted to do a little post on the positives. I have to send my 1 year old to daycare because I had to go back to work and I know a lot of people are in this situation. I've felt very down and sad on it but I've decided to think of the positives and focus on that instead. This isn't to say there aren't issues, but rather looking at a different perspective, I guess.

1. How much my LO learns and how much they entertain him. I've noticed he's learnt so much in the last month since he started and a lot of it is coming from daycare. He actually really enjoys it and I see from the app posts that they do so many lovely activities with them. He recently had a week off cos we were all sick and by the end of the week, I was struggling to find things to do to keep him entertained.
2. The educators really love and care for him. Daycare is the village that we pay for. The saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, daycare is that village. Our babies make genuine connections and relationships with the educators and I see when I drop him off and pick him up how much they care for him. He's only been there 6 weeks but already they know so much about him and always look so excited to see him. He's started smiling at them in the mornings too and even reached for one of them the other day (he still cries when I leave but I know he settles and is happy once I'm gone). I know there are some daycares that aren't so good with this but the majority are and the vast majority of educators are wonderful people.
3. It makes me more present and excited to be doing the mundane tasks with him. After the week off when we've been ill, I noticed when my husband got home from work, I was excited to pass on jobs to him and I found myself feeling frustration during more difficult times like when I'm giving the baby solids. I felt a bit more fed up than usual. The day I went back to work, it was quite nice to be at work doing something different and when I went to pick him up from daycare, I was SO excited to get to him and that evening I felt more present and connected to him.
4. Social with other babies. My LO is very social and wants to go up to other babies and interact. This can be hard when you're just out and about and you don't know how other people will be if your 1 year old starts climbing all over their toddler or whatever, so I feel like I'm constantly having to pull him back and try to work out the vibe of the parents 😂 at daycare he gets to be social and start making friends.
5. Edit: thought of another one! Food! They feed them so well. The days he's at daycare, I don't stress at all about what he has for dinner. Pouch and pasta? Fab! Pouch on toast? Great. Just a pouch? Brilliant. I know he's had very nutritional meals at daycare so I don't have to feel like I need to make him some amazing nutritious meal and it takes the heat off a bit. (There's nothing wrong with pouches, they just aren't super high value nutritionally because the ingredients has been heated to very high temperatures so it will keep for a long time without preservatives)

I know there are negatives to daycare, but this post is about celebrating the positives and trying to look at it from a different perspective, especially for those of us who don't really have a choice.