For a Two Year Old -- Part Time Day Care Vs. Babysitting????

I would suggest finding another stay at home mom to watch him, or a small home daycare. That way he will have interaction with other children, but still be in a home setting (which is what he is used to).

I am not sure about child care centers in Florida but in Oklahoma is would be near impossible for you to find a Child Care Center that will do part time care. They have to pay the teacher full time whether your child is there every day or not. It becomes a nightmare when trying to fill spots left over by someone not being there and only having certain hours they can come. That is why they charge by the week and you have to pay that weekly rate whether you take your child or not.

I think child care, if done right, is an awesome experience for kids. Being a teacher you are going to have a good idea about what a good curriculum is and be sure you look at the classroom parent center to see what they are doing.

I am adding some links to Florida regulations pertaining to child care licensing. It also shows you what each teacher had to do to be employed for both Center care and Home care. A regular babysitter will not love your child anymore than someone who has chosen a career in child care. These people have a deep sense of love for children and have a desire to work in this field.

The child care home page for Florida:
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/childcare/

This link is on the left side of the page and is the laws, it shows that every teacher must have specific training and must be qualified to work there.
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/childcare/laws.shtml

Center Teacher Qualifications:
https://training01-dcf.myflorida.com/dcf/cct/facility.html
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P.S.
With your education you can google pretty well and get information, right now I can't remember where I found the study but the statistics showed that kids all equal out in about 1st or 2nd grade. After that it doesn't matter if they went to Preschool or not. They all are pretty much equal.

Also, research shows that kids that don't go to child care or other group stuff as small children and get the childhood illnesses they end up missing a lot of school in Kindergarten and 1st grade while they play catch up with the illnesses. The kids all get those colds, stomach virus', pink eye, etc...it builds their immunity system. If they don't get sick as kids these illnesses hit much harder in the adult.

I found all my information using google and typing things like:
Childhood illnesses and immune systems
Child care causing kids to be sick
I know I have posted a lot of information previously on child care questions and I usually post a lot of links, click on my name and you can see the questions I have answered and then you can find the links I posted.

Good luck! Have fun getting back in the classroom.

It doesn't matter what we say because there is no "one size fits all" solution. Evlery child is different, and it depends on the babysitter and the day care. I was able to find an awesome church day care that was a few hours a week, very afordable, loving teacher, very low class size (6 kids--many schools take 12 or more). My neice stayed at home with a sitter when she was 2-- she did not have interaction with other kids and the sitter was expensive because she also did cleaning, but my neice is now fluent in Spanish and was able to stay in her own home (she started part time day care when she was 3--part time at home still with the Spanish sitter). Research sitters and day cares in your area and decide what's best for your family

I firmly believe that daycare would be the best option. I have a 2 year old in daycare, and she already has friends, and is well adjusted socially. I think at 2 years old they do start to develop friendships, and do need that in order to learn social skills. With the babysitter, they do not learn those skills.

Good luck :-)
R..

Hi, I totally agree with a quality day care. Unfortunately for me, all of my 3 kids were in day care since they were 3 months old because I continued to work & was only given 12wks maternity leave. I fully believe in the social interaction that they receive in being around other children vs one on one with Mommy all day. My 2 youngest are still in said day care and continue to thrive. My daughter, who turned 2 in December is all about potty training right now partly because of seeing other children/partly b/c of her brothers. There is so much more I feel they do (and are trained to do) with my kids than I could ever think of doing. Number 1 would be on a schedule every day!! They learn manners, good eating habits, etc. Another note, my oldest son is in 2nd grade. All of his teachers, from kindergarten up until now, have told me over & over again how easy it is to tell a preschool or day care child from a child that has been kept at home & didn't learn skills that they need to thrive with other children in the class. Not only in the learning aspect, but also in how to handle friendships & disagreements they may have with those friendships. Just make sure you do plenty of research, check on the qualifications & where they are ranked in the state, ask friends & go visit to see what kind of facilities there are and how comfortable you feel there (make sure they are surprise visits so no one is preparing for you to show up). Even bring your child with you to the ones you narrow it down to. This way you can see how he reacts to the different environments. Besides, he'll only be in 2-3 days/wk. You'll be with him the other 2-3 days, so there should be no guilt! ;-) By the time he get's to Pre-K full time (you'r in FL, so you know it's state funded), he'll be ready to go all 5 days/wk. Just my 2 cents.....I'm lucky because mine is such a great place (can you tell?). Oh & one other thing. Some of these places are SO GREAT, that you need to get on waiting lists. It took a year for me to get my oldest in, so he was elsewhere for the first year.

i think children this age do much better with direct or as close to one on one attention as possible

I really feel nervous when I hear about keeping the kid home with a just a babysitter. People act differently when you are not around. I would definitly try and take advantage of the fee pre school that florida offers. Not a daycare but a pre school. And you can get part time. I know I had my daughter in part time and it worked great. And difference schools have different types of part time. There is one that I know of that does only two times a week for 2 hours. Then there are ones that do the 9 to 1230. Yes he will probably get sick a bit more the first 6 months. Thats because his germs are mingling with other kids germs. But actually this is a good thing because it helps him build up immunities.

I think that if you pray about it, you'll find the answer. Don't let others pressure you into something you are not ready for. You know your child best. The social skills argument for a 2 year old is ridiculous. Have you ever seen 2 year olds together? They play around each other, but rarely with each other. Part time preschool is great for 4 year olds, because then they are ready to socialize effectively.
Let me know what you decide,
S.

You need to go with what fits you and your son the best. I'll be honest, I'm a full time working mom who has had to use daycare from 6 weeks on for both of my children. One is a social butterfly, the other is still timid and shy even with daycare exposure. I don't agree or disagree that daycare children are more social than non. You know your son the best and what will work. The best advice that I can give is to research BOTH extensively and find what environment you believe will allow your son to develop and feel comforatble in the best. At 2 yrs old, not many daycares offer a "preschool" environment - that doesn't start until age 3 around here. So if you want to give him a jump on the education side - then a babysitter may be the way to go, provided you make it clear that you want him/her to work on lessons and learning play with your son. Good luck!

I have a 3 yr old. She was at a home daycare for 6 months (6months to a year old) due to having to do to work. Then she went to a daycare center, where she got colds often. But my husband lost his job, so she stayed with him for about a year. At 2 and a half, I felt that she needed more educational stimulation and socialization. My daughter loved going to 'school' part time. She is a social butterfly, so she thrived in her school. Since then we have changed her to a more expensive center that offers a smaller ratio of 5 students to a teacher (as in florida, the ratio for 3 year olds is generally 15 to 1). She is doing well, and not sick often.

I think that it depends on your child's personality and needs, as well as your expectations of what he should get out of this experience.

My son started part-time daycare/ preschool around his 3rd birthday. This led to a *very* noticeable improvement in his social skills. However, he has spent very little time with other kids his age outside of school since we don't have many friends or neighbors with kids the same age, so going to school was a very good experience for him. So if your child doesn't have a lot of opportunity to spend time with other kids his age, I would recommend trying the day care. Every kid is different -- maybe it won't work so well, and maybe it will. But for just a few hours a week, you can ease him into it and see how it goes.

My kids have never been in daycare.
We have playdates every now and then and we regularly attend church.
My oldest started VPK this year and he's doing fine.

Wanting him to develop social skills shouldn't be a reason to pay more money for daycare. Especially if he does have interaction with other children already. Babysitters are usually less expensive and usually charge by the hour...some daycares charge whether your child is there or not.

Also my children didn't get sick as often as they do now that my oldest goes to Preschool.

I vote preschool for the morning and a sitter for the afternoon. That's my plan for when I return to school next year (my daughter will be 3 then).
You could even find another mom and swap a few hours of childcare...I hope to do so too!

I say that you should either find a preschool for a 2 year old or get him a babysitter. Personally, I think that if a child has had nothing but mom or dad for 2 years, day care is going to be a mess. Your son would go from one on one time all of the time to a situation where he may not receive any one on one time. If it were me, I would look into a babysitter. If you are worried about his social interaction, look at your community center or library for things to do with him.

My son has never been to day care and is one of the most social children I know. He talks to kids of all ages and loves hanging out with anyone. Don't let anyone pressure you into it. I say get the sitter or find a great preschool!

Good luck!

what about preschool? your schedule sounds perfect for it. my son has been in an in-home daycare 5 days per week since he was an infant, and we are now switching to preschool. i do think your son would be fine in either, and you're right, it will be good for him to be around children his own age. whatever you do just stick with a consistant routine. he might take awhile to get used to it, separation anxiety, etc, maybe for quite awhile since he's never done anything like this before. just stick with it and he'll do great.

I went back to work part time when my son was 23 months.. I found a great day care for him. The toddler teacher was young 25ish and energetic and fabulous...

I highly recommend good quality childcare. He will learn things, social skills play with different toys...

The center I found is in an elementary shcool so it has a gym for running on cold or rainy days.. and they alsos have a library...

I have never seen a babysitter that taught kids anything..

babysitters are best for infants and young toddlers but once they are able to interact with other kids get them in group care...

but be prepared.. he will get sick.. lots of germs out there..

Updated

I went back to work part time when my son was 23 months.. I found a great day care for him. The toddler teacher was young 25ish and energetic and fabulous...

I highly recommend good quality childcare. He will learn things, social skills play with different toys...

The center I found is in an elementary shcool so it has a gym for running on cold or rainy days.. and they alsos have a library...

I have never seen a babysitter that taught kids anything..

babysitters are best for infants and young toddlers but once they are able to interact with other kids get them in group care...

but be prepared.. he will get sick.. lots of germs out there..

Updated

I went back to work part time when my son was 23 months.. I found a great day care for him. The toddler teacher was young 25ish and energetic and fabulous...

I highly recommend good quality childcare. He will learn things, social skills play with different toys...

The center I found is in an elementary shcool so it has a gym for running on cold or rainy days.. and they alsos have a library...

I have never seen a babysitter that taught kids anything..

babysitters are best for infants and young toddlers but once they are able to interact with other kids get them in group care...

but be prepared.. he will get sick.. lots of germs out there..

I think daycare would be the best option for development and for your child to be able to socialize. However, I would talk with local daycares and see what time their nap schedule is. You would not want to taek your son only to have him have to take a nap or you would not want him to get there during the middle of naptime.