On Dec 4, 2:24 pm, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
wrote:
I was all excited to get a spot at our neighbourhood daycare centre
for my 22-month old, who has been at home until now, but a naysayer
relative has made me wonder if I'm hurting my daughter more than doing
her good by putting her in daycare at this age, in winter, no less.

I know my daughter will benefit tremendously from being around other
children in a structured educational setting. She will be in a group
of 9 children, who are looked after by 2 teachers and one part-time
assistant.

I work full-time from home, and have a 9-month old here as well. He
will stay with me until he gets a spot at the daycare at 12 months.

The relative (whose neck I would love to wring right now) insists a
child should be kept at home until age 3.

I am doing this because I need to keep my job. Until now I had help
from my mother, but she leaves in a few days, after having been with
us for six months. Already a huge luxury!

What I'd love is to hear some positive stories, and if there's any
scientific backing to my relative's claims.

Probably the only thing I'd worry about is that at this age, she's
accustomed to being home with you and the change will be a bit
drastic, and may be hard to take at first. That's not necessarily
harmful, just may be a bit of a challenge at first.

All I can say is my DD loves daycare. Her face lights up when she sees
the provider (it's an in home) and she sees her 'friends' there. She
gets so excited. it's so cute to watch her play and interact with the
other kids. I think she's bored when it's just mommy at home ;-)
However, she's been in daycare since 12 weeks, so she got used to it
before she really noticed.