I enrolled my child in infant care when she was 5 months old, as I was returning to full-time work when she turned 6 months. However, she fell sick almost every other week. She was also hospitalised twice — once at 7 months due to RSV, and again at 15 months due to HMPV. Her school attendance was poor, barely reaching 50%. Eventually, I withdrew her from school and let her stay home to recuperate. She returned only when she was close to 18 months old and had fully recovered. Despite having previously adapted well to school, she experienced separation anxiety upon her return. Things only began to improve when she started playgroup (PG), likely due to stronger immunity from vaccinations and the help of daily supplements. If u are considering to send ur child to school at a young age, probably can consider those with lesser babies, higher teacher to children ratio in school.
pros: if ifc is reliable and well managed, can leave it to them to take care of baby while we go to work with a peace of mind. then when we come back after work we only need to take care for the evening and maybe middle of the night if baby needs to drink milk. the ifc will engage the babies and have activities for them plus monitor their development Cons:baby will most likely fall sick often as there is exposure to other babies and adults, ended up baby will need to stay home to recover, once back in ifc might fall sick again then cycle repeats not being able to witness key milestones in person ie for me I only saw the video of my one yr old walking as it was sent to me by the ifc for me now I am not considering ifc for my second child as I want to try out getting my helper to assist to take care at home
i sent all my 3 kids to IFC at 3mths. even though most say the baby will just lie down there and do nth. but i see that my kids ifc do engage them by reading and sensory play. they will teach and monitor their development. it depends on what you are looking for.. some worry that the child will fall sick but this is inevitable regardless of age. if to ask me to teach them at home, i don’t think i have the mindspace and energy to do it. so i leave it to the school.
I sent my baby to ifc at 4 months, only because I was going back to work and there's no one to look after the baby. It is challenging to look after a baby for a FTM. I suggest hiring a confinement nanny to learn the basics, and going to prenatal courses to better prepare yourself (though nothing compares to the actual thing haha)
my preference for care by family members
newborn is too young.
Anonymous