While there are many circumstances in which it's best to enrol two siblings in separate child care centres, here are two situations in which it would probably be better to put them in the same centre.

1. You're concerned about the younger child being picked on

If you think that when your younger child starts going to this facility, there's a chance that they could end up being picked on. If this is the case, it might be wise to enrol their older sibling in the childcare centre you've selected for them. Since childcare centre employees take any type of bullying (even seemingly mild forms of it) very seriously, they will immediately contact you if they observe your child being subjected to any type of teasing and will do everything necessary to put an end to it, sometimes the subtle teasing that takes place between children is hard for adults to spot. 

If your younger child experiences any bullying, they might not tell you or the staff or might not know how to explain it. In this situation, the presence of an older sibling in the centre could be useful, as due to being similar in age, knowing their sibling well and spending time in the same place as them, they may notice, for example, their sibling repeatedly being left out of games of hide and seek or having a mean word scribbled on their colouring book. They could then tell you or the staff and help to put a stop to this issue and help their sibling feel safe.

2. You want to encourage your two children to get along better

It's quite common for siblings to squabble and this often becomes less frequent as they age. However, if seeing your two children argue a lot bothers you and you'd love them to be closer than they currently are, then it could be sensible to enrol them both in the same child care facility.

Whilst this won't automatically strengthen their friendship, it will make the chances of this happening a bit higher. Spending time together each day and getting the chance to make mutual friends, to play together at break time and to help each other out occasionally (in situations like the one described above) could encourage the two of them to appreciate each other's company a bit more than they currently do.

To learn more about enrolment, contact local child care services. 

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