At what age should baby being around other children for development?

[Livebythesea]

My baby has a kidney issue which can cause UTIs. One of the signs is a fever. So I don't take him around other children and to playgroups etc just yet because I'm trying to avoid him getting sick and getting fevers. He is eight months old. My husband is really giving me a hard time because I take him for walks with my dog three times a day to town and when I see friends it is outside and they walk with us, so no baby groups or anything yet.

Can anyone recommend an online resource that says that it is bad that he is not around other children at this age? My husband really thinks that I am not doing the best thing for him developmentally.

Many thanks!

 

[staralfur]

I really don't think it's an issue at that point. I didn't start taking my LO to playgroups until she was 1. I found that when she was around other kids/babies before then she didn't really care and it didn't do much for her developmentally.

Now that she's older she definitely enjoys the company of other kids, but she was probably closer to 15-18 months when she actually started interacting with other children.

 

[Peppermint25]

My LO is 8 months and iv only just started going to groups. Up until now she has showed very little interest in other babies. I love taking her to the groups now as she really tries to interact with the other babies and spends so long watching them. I don't know how good it is for her development but I just feel its nice for her to be around other babies and to interact with them. She definitely gets excited being at the groups and enjoys being there with the other children.

If I didn't take her I don't think it would impact that much. Probably as the months go on and she gets more aware of others then maybe it's more important for her development.