https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:57:45 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907362 Fri, 05 Jul 2013 07:57:00 +0000 MsMamaBear 907362@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Before I had her, I said never. lol I never went to daycare, but I also had a ton of cousins around. I say 6 months to 1. They start playing around each other then, from what I saw in my LO. She loves all of her friends. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907304 Fri, 05 Jul 2013 07:16:50 +0000 regberadaisy 907304@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>2 would be my ideal age. :)<br /> I vastly prefer the social setting of daycare. And I think every child is different. M has been playing along side other kids already, even before she was one. And they with her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907135 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:45:08 +0000 yoursilverlining 907135@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm the odd man out of the responses so far, but I think the earlier the better. It's harder once they start having social anxiety; but if they are already in daycare when that hits, for all the babies in our infant room, even if they are wary of strangers, they still are chill with the teachers.</p> <p>Babies absolutely play with each other socially and interact - it happens WAY before they are 2. Every day the infants are passing toys back and forth, sharing lunch and snack with each other, watching each other paint and "helping" each other with art projects, talking back and forth, touching each other's faces, hair, clothes, etc. They build friendships WAY before they are toddlers; my LO was especially friendly with a couple of older infants who moved to the toddler room several months ago and when we see those babies on our way in/out they wave at each other and smile. So for me, the socialization is huge, and it takes place well before they are toddlers so I wanted her in there making friends and socializing early. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907121 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:27:25 +0000 Mrs. Bee 907121@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: I think they learn so much at daycare, esp being in a group setting and having authority figures other than parents. Daycare is way more work for us than a nanny, but we still prefer daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907116 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:19:40 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 907116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: we just lucked out, I think! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907115 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:18:27 +0000 T.H.O.U. 907115@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: yea plus since we are a small city the price of cheaper (aka not crazy expensive) nannys aren't really ones that do tht kind of thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907112 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:16:23 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 907112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: we love our nanny but she pretty much does a curriculum, so it's different than most situations. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907110 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:12:51 +0000 T.H.O.U. 907110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: this is really great feedback on nanny vs daycare. I think my mom thinks I'm crazy for liking my daycare but I like her in this structured setting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907096 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 21:57:57 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 907096@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>18 mo-2 years. For Montessori it is helpful to have some language development. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907095 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 21:57:46 +0000 Mrs. Bee 907095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I voted 18 months - 2 years.</p> <p>Charlie started at 21 months and Olive started at 16 months. Olive had a lot of physical and cognitive delays, but as soon as she started daycare she improved so much. They have both absolutely thrived in daycare.</p> <p>The reason I like 1 1/2 as a starting age is because they're on 1 nap and all the kids are on the same schedule. A lot of daycares don't let kids on 2 naps nap long enough, or push them to a one nap schedule when they're not ready.</p> <p>We've had a nanny and I vastly vastly prefer daycare. I do like a nanny for the baby stages, but overall I love daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907090 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 21:53:27 +0000 plantains 907090@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Crumbs: ahahaha, so glad my DD isn't the only one going round scaring kids. She gets right in their faces and squeals. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-907009 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 20:17:47 +0000 SugarplumsMom 907009@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@plantains: my DD is the same way. She gets so excited when she sees other children. The other day we were at a nearby playground when a grandma and her two grand kids came. My DD squealed and ran toward the boy (who was at least 4). He got scared and took a step back and hid behind his grandma! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906925 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 19:30:20 +0000 plantains 906925@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm planning on starting her around 18 months. She is 12 months and is home with a nanny but gets so excited when I take her to play with other kiddos so she would really thrive in daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906877 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 18:50:02 +0000 mrsmate 906877@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started DD in daycare about a month after she turned 2. At first it was bc she was wearing me out - I find toddlerhood tougher than infancy, and she was colicky! - but now I know maybe she was acting out bc she needed more stimulation and socialization than I could provide at home, even with daily outings and play dates. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906829 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 17:47:41 +0000 Mrs. Pen 906829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am thinking starting after two years is ideal for us. I was home with J for the first year, and as a part time working mom he has my little brother as a nanny. Eventually I plan to work full time after I finish school. </p> <p>There are many factors that go into my thinking but many are mostly personal.<br /> I would have been conflicted doing an alternate vaccine schedule if he were in a daycare setting and exposed to/potentially exposing other children- but I was very sure I wanted to delay many of them. So I'm happy with how it worked out thus far. In addition- I like the idea of waiting until his immune system is a little stronger to withstand all the germs. </p> <p>I also agree with what rawrasaur wrote about social play! If J has play dates- he mostly ignores other babies! So really the socialization aspect of daycare doesn't entice me at this point. I think he'll thrive off of daily interaction with other kids once he's more 2+...</p> <p>I'm glad I was lucky enough to have had a choice! It's definitely a factor I've considered as far as family plans. I want J to at least be in preschool or kindergarten by the time we have to pay for child care for another baby. </p> <p>Who knows- I may do daycare earlier with my second if it works out that way! We'll see :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906749 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 15:59:53 +0000 SugarplumsMom 906749@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rawrasaur: insightful link. Thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906365 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 09:10:24 +0000 rawrasaur 906365@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think 2 1/2 - 3 based on development.</p> <p>"Parallel Play -<br /> Around the age of 2 to 3 years, children become more aware of the people in their world, and move from solitary play to parallel play. According to Child Care resources, toddlers at this stage enjoy exploring their environment. As they play independently with toys, they start to see themselves as part of a social group, yet still remain egocentric in their thinking. Children at this stage enjoy playing next to other children with the same game or activity, but they may not interact or play together. For example, two toddlers may play with building blocks at the same time, but they typically don't talk about what they're doing or build a project together. Instead they work on building their own structure separate from each other."</p> <p><a href="http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/stages-play-child-development-1567.html" rel="nofollow">http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/stages-play-child-development-1567.html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906329 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:50:03 +0000 Mrs. Twine 906329@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ellie started at age three, and I think it was a really positive thing for her. I think if we had waited another year the transition might have been harder. She went for two hours two mornings a week at age three. We plan to do the same with Lorelei. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906282 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:13:32 +0000 heffalump 906282@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends on the kid. My lo is almost two and not ready. Maybe when she's three well try part time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whens-the-ideal-age-for-daycarepreschool#post-906269 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 07:54:37 +0000 SugarplumsMom 906269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you could choose when to put your child into daycare/preschool (finances aside) at what age would you do it? </p>