5 Downsides of Daycare you should be wary of

Daycare is a blessing and often the only option for families where both the parents commute to work. Over the years, it has proven itself a safe and structured system for the care of young kids in the absence of their parents. However, no system can be perfect: many parents have faced unsettling situations and unexpected issues. Listed below are five downsides to alert you to be on your guard.

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1 Chances of infection

A kid may have been healthy all through the tender years at her comfy home. However, when exposed to an environment full of kids of the same age group, infections are an enormous threat. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that the chances of contracting an illness increases when children are in daycare.

Parents may have to perform two equally unenviable tasks – nursing kids with runny noses, fevers or even worse, a long illness on the one hand, and managing disruptions in work routine, on the other.

2 Conflicts in behavioral standards

Every family has its own behavioral standards and patterns. Different parents set different standards for children’s private and public behavior, on which depend the rewards and punishments they give.

In a daycare, with a dozen or more children and one caregiver, there may be behavioral standards, which are in conflict with the domestic ones. This can result in your child becoming confused about what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. It may have an adverse effect on her and unsettle her¸ especially in the early years when behavioral patterns take root.

3 Unhealthy influences

Unhealthy influences of peers can be another major issue. Some parents may allow their kids the use of ‘language’ or ‘attitudes’ at home that are unacceptable to other parents. You have to keep a close watch on negative rub offs on your kids from daycare life.

4 Parental guilt and pampering

It is natural for a working parent to feel guilty about ’abandoning’ their children at daycare for the best part of the day. The sense of parental guilt becomes acute, if the child shows little progress due unhappiness in daycare. This might lead to over compensation at home to the extent of pampering and even spoiling the kid.

5 Peer group bullying

This is indeed a serious problem which you can’t dismiss with the saying “Kids are kids”. It is quite common for a kid in daycare to face hurtful behavior of peers – mean faces, threats, object grabbing, pushing, ridiculing and so on. You need to intervene carefully with the help of the caregiver; evolve a strategy to stop bullying and prepare your kid to face the situation.

Find the right daycare

The only way to avoid these potential issues is to find the right daycare. Parents need to look for one that has the right environ, the right behavioral standards, and every other right aspect that would make your kid happy and show good progress.

Finding the right daycare is not easy, but not impossible. There are reputed online resources that can be of immense help. Such a resource will help locate the childcare services in your area and provide details about them. It will give you all contact information facilitating your personal visit to each one of them. You can inspect the premises, examine the facilities, speak with the teachers, and find the one that is best for enabling life pleasant for you and your child.