Parenting Australia

Hidden Benefits of Childcare

The word “childcare” conjures up so many different thoughts and feelings in parents.

It can bring a smile to a parent’s face as they think about the time their children spend forming new relationships and learning life skills, but it can also play right into our parent guilt when we think about leaving our children with someone else for a few hours or an entire day.

As Noah approached his first birthday in 2007, Harvey and I spent a long time debating the merits of childcare for our baby. He already spent a day a week with each of my parents – time which I used to work on my expanding business. Although, technically, other people were already caring him for, I didn’t count my parents as carers, as such.

Johanna Baker-Dowdell

When we made the decision to enrol Noah in childcare he was nearly one. We went with the option we were most comfortable with – family day care because it was smaller and we knew one or two people would be responsible for Noah the whole time. I took Noah to meet the carers (a husband and wife team) over a coffee and he settled right in, playing happily with their other charges. I felt more comfortable about the idea after I saw how he responded.

We knew Noah’s social skills needed to be developed as all his time was spent one-on-one with a parent or grandparent, no peers, and I could always use extra time to work, so we decided to enrol him one day a week. I was very nervous as the first day approached, wondering how he would cope with a day away from me and his extended family.

As I handed my baby over with his bag of supplies I felt the tears well up. I listened bravely as the carer explained how the day would go and waited for Noah to reach out to me, which he did, and I crumbled. She told me to go and all would be fine. Of course I called several times during the day to see how he was and each time the carer was so patient and explained what he’d been doing, what he ate and when he slept. He was fine – and so was I. We both got used to it after a few weeks and after a few months he started attending two days a week, looking forward to see his friend Matthew on those days.

Noah spent a year in the couple’s care before we moved house and I found the half hour trip each way twice a day encroached on my work time too much. We discovered two new childcare centres were under construction only five minutes away from our new home and I made inquiries with both. I inspected both centres and took Harvey and Noah to an open day for my favourite. Both loved the new centre and we enrolled Noah two days a week to start in May 2008, just as he turned two.

Noah still attends this centre and we’ve watched our baby grow into a much more confident and responsible boy as a result of the social skills he has developed at childcare. He starts in the pre-school room next year and will learn a host of new skills with old and new friends. He loves the days where he can choose the sandpit, dinosaur garden, mucking about in the boat or cubby house and reading from the centre’s extensive library. Not to mention the chance to plant a vegie patch, build a rocket or be a mini Masterchef.

I love the balance we have of care at home, with grandparents and formal childcare and think Noah has benefited greatly as a result. For someone who wasn’t sure of starting childcare until my children were three, I’ve come a long way in my thinking, but I’ve been happy to be educated.

What are your childcare tales? Were you as emotional as me when your baby/ies started at care?

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Johanna Baker-Dowdell is mum to two boys – Noah and Ethan – and combines looking after them with her work as a blogger, journalist, writer and public relations consultant. She owns and manages Strawberry Communications which started small in the third bedroom, but has grown into its own office space (in the converted garage).

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