At what age did your baby go to nursery or preschool?

Question

So this might be a question more to stay at home mom/dads who had the choice of keeping their babies with them at home. My baby is 13 months old and we live in a community where there are no children his age or mom clubs. And i wanted to wait until he is 2/3 to send him to preschool but i am getting many remarks that he will grow up not so “normal” because he doesn’t have contact with children his age. Anyone had the same experience? Is he old enough to be in a nursery? Do babies at this age even need to play together? Please help me i am so lost i dont want to be emotionally hurting this child. He is my first and only.

Answer

You are not emotionally hurting your child. 13 months is still young and there is plenty of time to help them socialize with other children. At that age they don’t really “play with” other kids, but they “play beside” other kids(if that makes sense). If you feel comfortable letting your child spend a couple hours in a nursery/daycare setting then I don’t see the harm, but I don’t think it’s necessary just yet. My kids all started preschool at age 3 and did just fine... we did struggle with separation anxiety a bit though. It took some time for them to get use to being away from me because they never were before—so that is something to think about.

Answer

I'm a SAHM (except I work from home) and I plan to start sending her to daycare after she turns 1, probably a few months after. Daycares just make me a little nervous (we've had three kids in my city get injured by a care provider in the past year), so we may actually wait maybe until she's 2 and talking enough to tell us if someone hurts her. Really, though, I don't look at the socialization aspect of it. Maybe I'm just an anxious mess of a mama, but I'm more concerned for her safety than her playing next to kids.

Answer

My daughter and I dont do mommy and me classes and she doesnt have anyone her age around but they are close. Theres a little girl who is a year or so older and she has a sister who is a year younger than my daughter. She gets to see them a few times. They also have an older sister who my daughter loves despite her being 10. She has cousins but they are all older (10-19 years old) she gets along fine with them. I'm not sending her to school until she is probably 4. Her birthday is in December and she misses the deadline for preschool for age 3. My daughter is 2 and perfectly fine, smart and happy. Yes we spend most of our days together but its not bothering her in any way. Do what you feel is best.

Answer

I’m not a SAHM, but my daughter is cared for by three different grandmothers throughout the week. We did start her in preschool two mornings a week this year, at two, for the socialization. Now that our second is almost here, we’ve made the decision to keep her out of school next year at three, because it’s a bit of a burden to do drop off/pick up with the new baby. She’s enjoyed school a lot, but at that age there is still a lot of parallel play. She’s not at all sad about not going next year. 13 months is young; I think you can definitely wait until 2 or 3.

Answer

I am WAHM (own a home-based Education Consulting Business) and my daughter is 16 months. No, she is not in daycare or preschool and she will not go anytime soon.🤷🏾‍♀️ My husband and I have decided we will put her in a private Christian-based preschool when she turns three for a half-day (we will probably start off doing the T/Th option then gradually increase to M-F🤦🏾‍♀️). However, that will not be until she is three. The school is not far from our house and it has excellent reviews.👌🏾 It's a lot more expensive than regular daycare would be, but that is what we think would be best for her because it more structured and has many other "school-like" aspects that you won't get at daycare. However, right now, she is just fine at home with her mommy!👌🏾 She gets enough of social time with other children. I make sure we get out of the house every day. She and I are always on Mommy/Daughter Dates during the day while my husband is at work. He even takes the day off to do those things with her sometimes. In addition, she has a swim class, a parent/child reading group at one of the museums in our area, her Sunday School class on Sundays (our church divides it by age), etc. My husband is a college football coach so she gets to see his co-workers children and play with them at different events. He also owns a fitness and wellness center so she interacts with some of the children who come there (there's a play area dedicated to children). We will sign her up for other activities as she gets older, such as dance, cheering, etc. She will get to know her fellow Debutante sissies when she gets older. Many of my Sorority Sisters have children, we set up play dates sometimes. Some of my husband's friends and Frat Brothers have children, whom she sees from time to time. We also travel a lot! Now, of course we are not allowing her to interact with children when we are in the airport, in different states, overseas, or whatever, but she is acclimated to being outside of the house. As far as learning, there are no issues there either.👌🏾 I am a former elementary school teacher, now I am a self-employed Educational Consultant so we are definitely having our learning time. We have Learning Time everyday.👌🏾 When my husband gets home, he also does a "brief review". Her and dad also have their bonding and learning time when I am at the nail salon, beauty shop, spa, etc. We read to her every morning and every night. I resigned from my career as a teacher because I did not want a nanny to keep my child for me. I am just against leaving my child with a stranger at this age. We do not live around either of our families so therefore, I do not trust anyone. However, I do know that everyone does not have the luxury of staying home or working from home. Some people just do not want to. I rather have my child home with me though. We chose what we think is best for our family and that is for me to stay home with our daughter!🤷🏾‍♀️👍🏾 Not to mention, I LOVE my business and the flexibility. Daycare is good for social and developmental skills, but you do not have to go in order to be social and develop.🤷🏾‍♀️ Neither my husband nor myself attended daycare and we are just fine.👍🏾 My daughter is thriving being home with me.

Answer

I’m a SAHM and my son will start going to an early learning center two days a week when he’s a year old. We don’t have any family nearby, so I’m pretty much his sole caretaker. I want him to slowly get used to having others care for him before he’s in school full-time.

Answer

I would look into a part time program or two days a week. My son has been going to school 3 days a week since he was 12 months old. He turned 2 in January and we enrolled him in a gymnastics class, you can absolutely tell the difference between the kids who go to daycare/school and the kids who stay home. They don’t interact with the other kids, they don’t listen to the teacher, they cry, A LOT, and they end the class without participating or learning a single activity. I definitely suggest some sort of program for him to socialize and learn how to behave in a classroom setting without you.

At what age did your baby go to nursery or preschool?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey