First 3 months in day care

(Lara reading)

Lara has been going to day care for over 3 months now. She's part of the day-care furniture and "walks around like she owns the place" her teacher told me the other day. Generally speaking, putting Lara in childcare has been a good decision. She's almost always very happy going and afterwards. She learned many new things from daycare, mostly good. She's sociable and seems to like other kids. There are times though, especially when Lara's sick, that I wonder if I indeed made the right decision of sending Lara to childcare as early as one? Should I have waited until she's older? I know that Lara would not get the kind of one-on-one care she receives at home, but the benefits at this stage seem to outweigh the negatives.


(Lara playing with Honey)

Initially, I couldn't get all the days I wanted, so I had to book 2 childcare centres. Since then I found good and bad points in each that I decided to stay with both centres, 2 days each (minimum requirement). Lara adjusted quite quickly to the day-care life. Here's her progress in the last 3 months:

Playing:
I like to read Lara's communication book as soon as we get home to find out what she did on the day. Day care provides more varieties of "play" than I can give her. There seems to be at least one craft activity a day and Lara brings home a lot of crafts/paintings she "supposedly" did. She likes to play in the sandpit, drive cars, climb blocks and cook in the kitchen. I was told she would sit and listen to a story now. The best thing about day care I think is the chance for Lara to interact with other kids. Of course, Lara also seemed to pick up some "not so good" habits, for example, dropping things/food onto the floor purposely and say "uh - oh".

Crying in the morning:
Lara didn't cry at all when I left her in day care in the first 3 weeks. She started clinging to me and crying only after she realised that I would be leaving and not coming back for a long time! The crying didn't last very long (2-3 weeks). Lara doesn't cry at all now. In fact, if it's "toast" time at daycare, she doesn't even care if I'm going or not. Sometimes, she comes over and give me a hug or kiss before I leave.

Sleeping:
This is something I worried the most initially. At first, Lara wouldn't sleep at all. She had to be pushed in the pram to have some rest. Now Lara sleeps for 1-2 hours after lunch. It's still a little short comparing to her 2 sleeps at home. I can always tell when Lara had less than an hour sleep when I pick her up. Luckily it happened less and less. Lara is a light sleeper I am told and I accept that she can get woken up by the sound of other kids crying. Looking at the bright side, she seems to be able to sleep through more noises since going to day care. Since Lara is very attached to her pink blanket, I have to remember to pack it for day care. I had it at the bottom of her bag one day, and her teacher asked worriedly where it was. I could only guess from this that she wouldn't go to sleep without it in day care either.

Eating:
I am told Lara eats very well. They never have problem feeding her. The only problem is the teachers can't feed her fast enough. It's less worrying when I know that Lara eats and sleeps alright at day care.