Worst age to start daycare

In the US, 32% of parents who require regular child care utilize center-based daycare for their babies.

While most child care centers offering daycare for infants accept babies who are 6 weeks of age or older, many parents don't start their infants in daycare until they are a bit older.

If daycare is your child care option of choice, it's important to consider the different options for infant daycare and the pros and cons of each in addition to considering when your baby should start at daycare.

Starting daycare at 18 months

Read on to learn when most babies can start daycare, the types of daycare, when to start your daycare search, and what to look for in a daycare for infants.

When Babies Can Start Daycare

Most licensed child care centers accept babies for infant daycare as early as 6 weeks.

But when to start daycare for your baby is a personal decision that will depend on many factors beyond the daycare center's policies, including:

• Whether you and/or your partner (if you have one) are eligible for parental leave
• The length of y
  when to start looking for daycare
  when should you sign up for daycare