Leaving my little one in the hands of someone other than me left me cringing.
I visited daycare after daycare trying to find the right fit for him, looking for somewhere I would feel comfortable and peaceful dropping him off, and I couldn’t find it.
The thought of the whole thing brought over the biggest wave of guilt I had ever experienced.
If you’ve gone through this before, I’m sure you know how common it is. I wanted to share with those of you in the trenches of daycare guilt, a few scientific reasons why it’s good for them.
Scientific Studies That Will Relieve Your Daycare Guilt
1. Formal daycare is better for a child’s cognitive development than informal care by a grandparent, sibling, or family friend. Read It.
2. Children who attended day care or play groups had about a 30% lower risk of developing leukaemia than those who did not. Read It.
3. Children in high-quality childcare scored slightly higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement years later as teenagers. Read It.
4. Children eat healthier at daycare centers than at home. Read It.
5. Daughters of working mothers earn 23% more than daughters of stay-at-home moms in the U.S. Read It.
The caveat on almost every bit of information out there, says quality care is extremely important. Not all daycares are equal. If you are leaving your child at a daycare, it should be a good one and you should really do your research first.
Here is a good list of things to do to help in choosing a daycare.
And here is a printable list of questions to ask a daycare you are interviewing.
Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.