How To Tell If Your Toddler Likes Daycare

Daycare is an essential part for your child; it acts as a secondary place where they can be nurtured and grow.

As parents, our children’s welfare is one of the most critical parts of our lives, but sometimes we also need to trust our children with other people.

With Daycare being a place where your kiddo spends a lot of time, it’s imperative to know exactly how your child feels about their home away from home.

This article will briefly cover what daycare is and dig right into ways to determine whether your kiddo enjoys their time there.

What is a Daycare?

So what exactly is a daycare? It is a place where parents leave their young toddlers before school age to go to their daily jobs. These centers keep your children during the daytime and are sometimes called day nurseries.

These important institutes were first recognized by the French government in the year 1869 and ever since have been an essential part of society. However, these places were formed much earlier than that, as in Great Britain; there is a record of daycare in the 1860s. 

Nowadays, many different daycares are available everywhere with varying qualities of care. In fact, in some European countries, it is included in the regular public school system.

Importance of Daycare

Well, as you might have guessed, these daycares allow parents to leave their children in a trusted and supervised place while they work.

An ideal daycare will also teach your children basic skills that will be helpful in their later life. For example, some basic skills that a daycare teaches are communication skills, basic mathematics, and also it increases their awareness of people around them. 

It is a great place to teach children how to socialize in their early developmental stage. Along with meeting these necessities, the daycare also provides a fun and stimulating environment where your child can spend time happily while learning to be independent.

How to Tell if Toddler Likes Daycare – Here are 6 Ways!

Now, let’s jump on to the main topic of the article. Before reading this, remember that it is entirely normal for your toddler not to adjust to the daycare immediately; this is because the child has grown up so far with familiar people, and a sudden change in environment will cause them anxiety.

Before starting, you should always do proper research about where you are about to send these tiny humans. Make sure that the daycare has positive reviews and talk to some parents who send their children there.

After this, you should always go and check the pace out yourself and make sure it has a nurturing environment with qualified staff.

Without further due, let’s look at some signs that the daycare is fit for your toddler.

1. They Are Excited

One of the easiest and most common signs is when your child is excited to go to the daycare. However, it is normal for the child to cry for the initial two weeks to even a month or two, but the behavior shouldn’t continue after this.

They should enter the daycare without hesitation or crying their eyes out. Also, be sure to observe your child when you pick them up. If they seem happy and engaged, you have your answer. If your child gets happy when you talk about daycare, chances are they are very happy there.

2. They Are Learning

Another sure way to tell if your toddler should be kept at the daycare is to learn new things.

If your toddler comes home every day to show some new skills they have learned, it means they are happy. It doesn’t have to be something big; in fact, even learning a new word is an excellent indicator of a good learning environment.

3. They Are Positive

A child shows how they feel through their words, attitude, and body language. Especially when you know your child is not very expressive. There is no way that a toddler can fake their body language, so this is a sure sign to know how your baby feels.

A positive body language should include slowed and relaxed breathing, no stiffness in their bodies, and displaying comfort. If the daycare is good and professional, they will know how to make your child open up and feel relaxed. 

Of course, this might take a week or two. Initially, they will be more hesitant. Similarly, look for negative body language like shrugging shoulders when the daycare is mentioned or not smiling at the mention of it.

4. They are Making Friends

If a child is relaxed and comfortable, they will display more openness toward new experiences and new people. Therefore, if your child comes to you and tells you about a new friend they made, it means they are getting along well with their environment and the people.

Of course, this is one of many signs and should not be taken as the only sign that your toddler is happy. In addition to that, if they have made more than one friend, that is even better.

So make sure to have an open relationship with your toddler to see these small signs.

5. They are Active

Another sign of happiness is activeness. If a child has a lot of energy after the daycare and is running around, they are happy and had a good time at the daycare.

If a child does something that makes him happy, they get excited and want to do more of it and show everyone around them that they are happy. They may repeat what they did at the daycare at home and will talk a lot about how their day went.

6. They Are Not Reluctant to Go

Lastly, this is another sign that your toddler is enjoying their time at the daycare if they jump around and enter the institute without a worry or glance back.

If they are happy at the daycare, they will readily get up in the morning and enter your care without throwing a tantrum. This is, of course, observed after your child has gotten comfortable with the idea of going to the daycare. When you drop your baby off at daycare for the first time, they are usually a bit tentative.

After a little while, your toddler is aware that you are leaving, and yet they don’t mind seeing you leave a sign of a happy toddler.

Conclusion

A happy child will show you they are happy if you observe. Children are not complex enough to hide their feelings.

Hopefully, this article has helped you learn how to tell if a toddler likes daycare.

If your toddler doesn’t like daycare, speak with them, and speak with the daycare staff to try and identify reasons why. Build a relationship with your toddler where no topic is out of bounds, and they will open up to you more in later life.

Good luck!