My daughter is 2and half year old. She's an active girl and loves playing with other kids. I'm thinking to send her to a Day Care for 2time/week for a couple of hours. But my husband insists it's not good for the kids to be away from the parent before 3years.
I believe there are 2good reasons:
1)She enjoys learning and playing other kids and teacher in an educational environment.
2)I can do housework, grocery shopping, etc family work in peace.

What's your opinion pls? Thanks!!

My sister went to kindergargen (thats what we call it here but they take care of kids from a few months to about 5yo) at the age of a few months.

So yes she can go and you deserve some rest

Your husband needs to adjust to the 21st century......

possible that he doesnt want to spend the money,
try a spielgruppe - serves the same purpose and is only for a few hours, not all day

My son is 2 years and 4 months. The first thing we did when we moved to Geneva was sign him up for garderie. He attends 3 days a week for 4 hours; a total of approximately 12 hours a week. He LOVES garderie! He is able to be around other kids, play with different toys, sit down and have "tea" with other children. They are even helping with the toilet training. Generally when I pick him up he says "No mommy . . . go home!" ie; leave me alone and go do your own thing.

Now from my perspective, I relish those 12 hours! I can go for a jog, shop, try on clothes, have a cup of coffee, read a book, or even (god forbid) take a nap! Two year olds are a lot of work; keeping them stimualted (no tv in our household), running after them, dealing with tantrums and illness, and whatever else they try to throw at you.

In some ancient village there may have been an extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings to help you. But this is the 21st century and when family or friends aren't available you must use the resources around you! In my opinion this will help in the end with your sanity and the socialization/ language exposure for your child.

Sounds like your husband has separation anxiety.

Sounds like your husband is Swiss :-)

I'm a firm believer in pedagogic activities outside of the home from a very early age. Our kids have both gone to pre-school since they were very young and I am very happy with that decision.

If she loves it...... that's the time to send her there.

I'd definately send her there. It's important for her development and social interaction. A couple of days or a couple of mornings a week is good for her.It's not like you are sending her, all day 5 days a week.

Go for it!

i think that it's really good for kids to spend some time away from the parents and learn to socialize on their own. my son started for a few days a week a few hours a day when he was 2 and then by four he wanted to go every day!
it really helped him to make friends, learn sharing, all those important lessons that little ones learn during that time. and as a mommy it's really nice to have that time to get stuff done around the house without worrying about turning on the tv for a while or what not. it's nice to think that they are constantly doing activities and are active at school.
maybe have your hubby visit the schools with you so he can see the other kids enjoying it and it mayb sway his opinion?!
good luck!

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When the evening is spread out against the sky

I started working part-time when my son was about 15 months old, and I began putting him to daycare a few hours a week. He absolutely loved it from the start! He would do running movements with his feet before they touched the ground to join his friends faster, and he would actually throw a tantrum when it was time to leave...

Now he is 3.5 and he goes to daycare 3.5 days a week. He loves it so much that he misses it when he has to stay at home because he's sick! They do great activities over there, and he learned a lot of new things through interacting with the other kids.

Putting your child to daycare is not a punishment: it is a way for him/her to learn new tools, and for you to keep your sanity

The best thing I ever did for my children was to put them into day care from 6 month old. You'd be amazed how much it improves their social skills. Picking up every virous is also a good thing becasue their Immune system naturally.

Not to mention the amount of energy and love I could show them when they came back from day care instead of being always drained.

Good luck with your decision.

ahahah is he the ones staying home and trying to keep her happy whilst running a household??? Seriously....

She is 2.5 she DESERVES to be with other kids, shove each other around a bit, learn the rules of the pack, watch the older ones play and learn from imitating them

I believe it will truly be hard for her if the first time she is in such a context is at 4 when she starts Kindergarten!

Where did oyur hubby get his ideas anyways?

Our daughter is 14 months and goes to Krippe from 830 to 16 BUT lately I leave her there until 17 because she kicks up a royal fuss and REFUSES to come home... she loves it there! They do so many things with the kids that keeps them entertained all day, mommy is just too boring!

Net: pls do her and yourself a favour and send her! If she really doesnt like (which I highly doubt from what you said) then you can always cancel it.

Cheers,
K

your little girl will let you know wether is a good or bad idea, if she starts going and reacts negative, ie. she cries when you take her and give you stress at home, means you should stop, but that is unlikely, I think you will see that she will be eager to go and play with her little friends.

Hope you take the best option for her, I know you will and she will help you decide.

And about your hubby, ask him to stay taking care of her all weekends long until he agrees (lol )

I agree. I starting taking my son to playgroup (spielgruppe) when he was 2 1/2 for the same reasons. He went happily for about 2 months, and then refused point blank (ie with A LOT of tantrums) to go. I left it few months and then tried it again. It took a little persuasion at the beginning, but now he loves the time there, and has made great friends. Living in a small village he has the advantage that he'll be at Kindergarten/school with most of the children as well.
As for your husband, if he really kicks up a fuss about letting him go, make a list of all the work you'd like to get done while your daughter is away and inform him he'll have to complete at least half of it himself - it might help change his mind
Good luck and try not to let it spoil your christmas.

This is also an important aspect for a child. My son's doctor told us, after we were there for the umpteenth time in the first 6 months he had been in nursery, that all kids have to go through this sick period when they first come into contact with other kids and their bugs, sniffles and tummy upsets.

His consolation was "at least it isn't in his first 6 months of Kindergarten when it is important he doesn't miss too much."

This made perfect sense to me.

I agree that perhaps a nursery for a very young child isn't suitable for all but it is at least worth giving it a try. Our son absolutely flourished from when we put him into his nursery. He has learned things that I couldn't possibly teach him if it were just he and I at home all day. He has also become nicely independent and, if my husband and I need to go out together occasionally, he is more than happy to settle with a baby sitter or a relative for an evening.

I know one 15 month old who never left his mother's side from the moment he was born and when his mum had to go into hospital for a week's stay the child had a complete trauma even though he had his father with him. Life shouldn't be like that.

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Coming from a culture that really sneers at moms putting kids in an institution before they turn 3 (or some 4 since the maternity leave you can take is 4yrs), I think it is great if you can use day care without feeling guitly of being a bad mom, haha...

I also agree it might be the cost that turns your hubby off it, but honestly, you need to get a few hours off to take care of yourself or the house, recharge, etc. The b*tch about being a stay at home mom is, you never clock in and out. Even if you get a sitter, she is not supposed to help out with the house chores but it is expected from a stay at home parent while you 100% take care of the kid to also clean up and have the household running smooth. While if you went for job, you clock in, and out, have a lunch break, some social life, and can even find a time to pee without having a little monster banging on the door... One great advantage is that when you need to start looking for a job then having a child already accustomed to being withouth you makes the search and interviews a lot easier.

I'd say you know the best what's good for your child. Some children are like fish in the water and thrive on group setting, others weather the separation poorly. Just try and you will see. I would also try with a playgroups first, since you can see what your little one will need (in terms of language, food, independence...if she frequently checks upon you still being there, etc). It is smoother to also have a little system of leaving your child first tiny bit, then increase the amounts and see how she has adapted. Hautes Garderies in malls are great for this (if you find a good one where teachers engage with kids), because they only cost 4fr/hr (in our area) and you can leave your child there only for a few mins. We also went for a sitter first, to transfer a child from being just only with me to being one on one with a stranger (we had a really good one...sniff), since we were also trasfering to another language.

With health issues, it is not always true that what does not kill you makes you stronger, for the little ones.. How much can a child tolerate a spell of one infection leading to another one really depends on the indiv kid. A friend has been put into a nursery early before she had a chance to even develop a decent immune system and was getting infected constantly. Apparently as a result of her immune system being so exhausted, she just collapsed into hospital care and diabetes. I'd ask what the policy is in the daycare of keeping/returning fever kids, obligatory vax, etc.

I would assess if the quality time your child is getting there corresponds with your expectations, money and health impact (and your nerves). But overall, 2 is a good safe time to start, they really do look for more stimuli than their good ol' borin' mom. It is lovely to have your child also get used to being disciplined by other non-related grown up and have different rules than at home.

Most parents I know had issues over leaving their kids in daycare (as opposed to their kids having troubles settling down). I'd investigate why your other half objects, too.

Our daughter has been attending Gymboree classes from six months on. First in London and then in Zurich. She loved it from the start, and I only have one concern; her catching a cold from other kids. Having said that -and I have only witnessed Gymboree classes in London- they are really demanding; I would rather go to a gym class than a gymboree session.

So if you are after some free time for urself, do not think about Gymboree.

Our daughter was in a krippe from 6 months old, as we both worked. I cannot say that I regret a moment of it now at 6 years. She is/was far mor socialized than her peers, and probably still is. I think that's great.

Can I just ask why your husband feels that a child should be home until 3 years old? With all due respect, I absolutely disagree. I know we all have our opinions, but it minds me of the doctor who told my sister to keep her newborn in the house for 3 months because fresh air was a bad thing for a newborn. And she did it!!

Hi there

I think it's a good idea to send her to the day care, that way she can learn early how to associate herself with other children and she can also learn from them...I think a few hours a day wouldn't hurt her, she would benefit from it and you could get some mommy time :-).

Take care