Toddlers Starting Daycare

When I was looking for childcare for my daughter, she was about 16 months old. That seemed to be a good age for her, she was mobile and wanted in interact with other kids her size. She was fairly confident and didn't have any attachment issues, not saying that in a bragging way, but it made the transition fairly easy; she was ready to get out into the world a little bit. Perhaps you will get this sense from your kid when they are ready for interactions without you/family.

I based my search on geography and transportation, if I couldn't pick her up and drop her off easily as part of my commute, the situation would be too stressful to make any place worth it.

The first place I choose, where she spent about 5 months, totally didn't work, for two main reasons: 1. There were infants as well as wobblers/toddlers, and the staff rarely had time to read or play with the older kids because the infants needed more attention, and 2. The kids were parked in front of Barney videos for a least an hour every afternoon (yikes!). I had no idea about the screens, I didn't even ask - because who puts screens in front of babies and toddlers!

After that I found a traditional Montessori in our neighborhood that took students starting at 18 months old, and that was totally great.

Our daughter is almost 19 months and I have been fortunate enough to be able to stay home with her, but your question about socialization caught my eye. Although we've been having "playdates" since she was very small (mommy-baby support group at Birthways and then getting together with other friends w/similar-aged children), I would say she's only in the last 6 months really started being interested in interacting with the other kids. I do think it's enormously valuable to have a caregiver who can build a long-term relationship with the child (grandparents or otherwise); I also think it's very important for kids to get some exposure to being part of a group. We have been going to a playgroup every week since she was about 13 months, and now she gets excited when we arrive, smiles and waves at the other kids, sometimes "shares" toys, etc. I'd be happy to talk more if you want more thoughts on this aspect :) Good luck!

I  wouldn't worry about a one-year old needing to socialize outside of hanging out with friends (maybe find a couple of friends with kids around the same age and have a few playdates) and family on the weekend. If my kid's grandparents could have watched her for the first three years, that would have been ideal.

My top daycare priority was a loving, family environment. I didn't care about her writing her name and learning Spanish as a toddler (although she did end up doing both), but I wanted her to feel safe, empowered, nurtured, and loved. So we selected a family daycare where  the kids called the owners  "Grandma" and "PawPaw" and she considered the lead caretaker her "other mom." That was most important to me because she was so young and couldn't articulate her needs. I wanted her in an environment where they could look out for her as if she were their own child. 

Expect to pay $1K-$1.2K monthly for full-time home-based family-style daycare (less for PT). More for a daycare center. My kid went to daycare full-time, so I'm not sure what the PT rates would have been. 

• In the ideal world, when do you think the best age is to start socializing the child to be able to make friends, work with others, etc? (We could conceivably have our grandparents long-term, but also not sure if we should try to balance this with interactions with little people his age...)
  • We think 18 mo. to 2 year old is a good age to start a baby in a small group. A share with another child is ideal as you get socialization and the concept of taking turns and sharing but still get a lot of indivual attention. We personally did not want our child to go to a group setting until 3 years old when our child was very articulate. This helps because the kid can verbalize and describe incidents at preschool -- we were aware of some reports that the teacher told us but there were several instances where our child brought up an issue and we reached out to the teacher to investigate further and resolve. Even with a very high adult-kid ratio, they don't have eyes on your kid 24/7. Something will happen when you've got such young kids in a group setting and not all of them will have been under an adult's watch.
• What considerations do you have when selecting a daycare? Obviously safety is our top priority, but what other considerations?
  • Adult - kid ratio. Teacher turnover. Sense of community. Do kids seem happy? No screen time. What do they serve as snacks? Where do they sleep? Hygene. Philosophy. How do they keep you informed? Do they have an app, Facebook page, weekly email? Discplinary method. Conflict resolution approach.
• Related to above, what should we expect to spend as a range per month? I am not sure if certain daycares would accept a part-time situation.
  • $1800 - $2400 / month for high quality care, full-time, M - F, 8:30 am - 5:30 or 6 pm.