Most working moms would be lost were it not for daycare centers. Daycares are more affordable, convenient and offer development options than any other care arrangement out there for working moms.
In-home care arrangement costs up to three times more and there is no guarantee that the care will be better either. As such many working moms embrace daycare as their best care option.
But at what cost? There are many drawbacks about daycare and why working moms should avoid them.
Proven Reasons Working Moms should Avoid Putting Babies on Daycare
1. Daycares are Havens for Bugs- Top Reason to Avoid them
Babies are nice and all but germy too. Daycares, with all different kinds of babies, are havens for bugs. And the bugs never seem to go away hence you should avoid putting your child in daycare. It is one of the greatest drawbacks of daycares and why working moms hate them.
What makes it even worse is that the baby gets sick and brings the bug home from the daycare and makes everyone else gets sick. And this gets repeated over and over. You will find that a child may miss daycare on some days for being sick too.
As such working moms find that daycare end up being an inconvenience. If you can find an alternative childcare option, then you should stop putting your baby into daycare.
Expert Tips on How to Successfully Avoid Daycare Bugs
If you do not have other childcare option but daycaree, the you must learn how to successfully manage the daycare bugs. The best course of action that you can take against daycare bugs as a working mom is by being prepared against them.
It means improving the immunity of both your child and your family too. If your child catches it, you will most likely all catch it too. Different ways of avoiding daycare bugs include;
- Ensure that your child is getting the best protection and nutrition. It helps the child fights off daycare bugs
- Give your children vital vitamins to boost their immunity. It lowers the chance of the baby and you catching the bug from the daycares
- Ensure that the whole family is eating healthily and taking the right vitamins to boost their immunity. It is an important way of preventing daycare bugs from catching you.
Read: How to Avoid Daycare Bugs
2. Daycares has Too many Baby Fights and Small Injuries
Kids in daycare fight all the time, for varying reasons, and are often seen as normal for their age. But there is a limit if it gets out of hand and becomes injurious. A daycare may refuse to take in a child that is too aggressive and injures other kids.
However small fights between babies happen all the time at the daycare. When you take your child to daycare, be prepared for when your child shows up with a bruise, a scratch, a bite, or anything else as a result of a fight. Your child can also be either have the victim or the perpetrator. As such avoid taking your baby to daycare if you can.
Read: Why Daycare Kicks out Kids
Expert Tips on How to Successfully Avoid Daycare Fights and Injuries
The fighting phase, especially biting is so tough but it’s a stage. The fights do not happen because the daycare aides are not attentive, it is just the kids. Your kids will even bite each other right in front of you so it is not a question of whether the daycare is offering the best care or not.
To address this issue, you need to trust that it is a phase and will soon be over. Kids just have to go through the typical stuff kids go through. Remind yourself that daycare is also a place to have fun and play and let it be your consolation. By doing so , enrolling your baby into daycare may become manageable.
3. Daycares have Inflexible Opening/Closing Time – A Major Disadvantage
Most daycare runs like an office, standard opening and closing hours. This sometimes makes it super hard for working moms who need to report earlier at the workplace but must wait for the time the daycare opens. It is one reason that most working moms hate about daycares.
Enrolling your kid to daycare means a frantic morning and evening for the working mom.During the evening, working moms also have to rush to pick up their kids before the daycare close. Others will even charge extra for any extra hour the baby stays at the daycare.
Such kind of inflexibility does not help working moms attain a work-life balance and is also one of the biggest disadvantages of daycare centers. It is a top reason why you should avoid daycares if you very tight and fixed working hours.
Expert Tips on How to Successfully Manage Daycares Inflexibility
Most daycare centers will be adamant to change their operating hours. Most are uncooperative in accommodating the needs of the moms. But it’s not all centers so it’s worth a try. If you must enroll your child into daycare,then you can follow these tips on how to be flexible with their hours.
- Talk to the administrator about early drop-offs and late pick-ups considering your situation. If this does not work, look for a daycare center that will accommodate you.
- Be sure to ask about the flexibility of the time you can drop in your baby and how late you can pick them up. This will help you stay more organized as well as take care of other personal issues before picking up your kids.
- Also sometimes you may be required to stay longer at the office and you will know your daycare will accommodate you.
Read: Questions to Ask During Daycare Tour
4. Daycares offer Inconsistency Child Care- Avoid Enrolling your Child
Unlike in-home care arrangements, you have no control over the employees at the daycare centers. You have no say in their hiring or firing. Also, you will find that the center has a high turnover and hence the kids are subjected to different caregivers.
All these factors affect the quality of care that your child receives from the daycare. It leads to some inconsistency in care that will reflect a change of behavior in your child and what many working moms hate about the daycares.
Your child is also less likely to form any kind of bond with the caregivers and might hate staying at the daycare. As such stop putting your child through daycare and find other childcare arrangements.
Also, the inconsistency of care can be caused by too much commercialization of daycare whereby they take up more kids without keeping up with the number of staff. In this case, the babies will lack personalized care and attention as the babies are too many for the few staff.
The above are a major drawback of daycare centers for working moms and why you should avoid them.
Expert Tips on How to Successfully Demanding Quality Services from Daycares
- You have the right to demand information about the number of kids in your baby’s house as well as the number of caregivers if you think the number is too high.
- You can confirm with your local law enforcers about the required number of staff and babies at daycare centers. If in contrary the center will be forced to comply with the number.
- Doing so will ensure that the daycare is always taking in the right number of babies and employees enough aides to sustain the right level of care for the babies.
Read: Why to Choose a Nanny for your Infant/Toddler
5. Daycare may Lead to Change in Child Behavior – Don’t Enroll your Child
It is granted that enrolling your child at daycare will change their behavior. Some for the best and some for the worse. On the good side, they become more relational and social from interacting with other kids after joining daycares.
They also develop and become more resilient than those in-home care arrangements. They even adjust well into the formal educational system later.
On the other hand, most baby’s behavior becomes more aggressive and impulsive after joining daycare. Your baby may seem to fight more at home and be adamant in demanding things. If you worry about this, then don’t enroll your child into daycare.
The negative change in behaviour happens because of interacting with different personalities at the daycare that in return influence their behavior. Therefore find alternative child care and avoid daycare to ensure positive behaviour in your child.
