to considering doing my dissertation on whether nursery care is harmful for young babies?

[purepurple]

I don't want to start a fight but have been mulling over ideas for my dissertation for my early childhood degree and came across this report by unicef www.unicef-irc.org/publications/507 and wonder if it would be a worthwhile subject.
I am interested in attachment theory and also the pressures that modern day families face when choosing when to have children and what to do for the best. I am also interested in brain development and can see that all 3 areas are covered in the report.
Any opinions?

I think that an interesting angle would be how parents (mums in particular) feel about putting their children into day care, especially when having to read stuff like Bidulph telling us our children will suffer hugely as a result. Looking at modern-day pressures - how women can't win whatever they do - we have to work to provide nice things for our children, yet at the same time we run the risk of permanently damaging them, according to some experts.

I find it really interesting that Oliver James's publications are being suggested as subjects for literature review on this topic. I have never read his books as anything to be taken that seriously. I would have an absolute field day reviewing his stuff. You could write 10,000 words just as a critique of some of his writings!

Also you state in your op that babies are starting nursery younger.
Wrong.
Maternity leave is longer now than at any other time previously. I took 9 months off with each of mine, but older colleagues of mine returned to work when their babies were 6 months or even 3 months. Their children, incidentally, are all well adjusted and fine!
It strikes me that you shouldn't be embarking on any sort of serious study at all if you cant get your facts straight.

As an assistant manager in a large scale nursery I would just like to say that we work very hard with parents to create an environment of love and bonding, the child has a keyworker,follows there at home routine, has a quiet area to sleep, fresh food etc.. so to all working mums please dont beat yourselves up. mums are welcome to come in and bf. There development is looked at closely and their activities planned are dependent on the individual helping them achieve development goals. They are taught to sit at the table to eat.
Just thought Id stick up for the nurseries, I have 2 of my own and I look after my keychildren the way I want them to be cared for. In no way would I deem it harmful to their development.
This is way too big a topic.

Nessa - with the possible exception of the OP I don't think anybody on this thread was buying her theory that nursery is harmful. Good care settings provide good care. I have always been very happy with dd3's nursery and she has thrived there.

Just wanted to get this side in there, I hate the way these sorts of posts have the potential to make working mothers feel even more guilt or think there is more going on than what they see, thought it might be worth giving a little reassurance from my side of the fence :-)

Thanks, it's appreciated. I'm really grateful for the care DS gets at nursery - he has amazing carers in a gorgeous setting and he loves going there in the morning.

I hate the idea of anyone doing a early years degree thinking this way and thinking this is the best use of your dissertation especially due to the fact the degree is meant to help you within the childcare field but if this is your view then i would not suggest going any further with the degree or the career choice

Being interested in attatchement theory is one thing but saying that nursery is harmfull is a sideways turn into crazyville and only makes parents more uneasy about leaving their children with other people

Instead do a dissertation about the benefits of childcare and the massive leaps and bounds forward the childcare sector has taken in improving the care and education for under 5's for example once it just used to be ofsted/social services caring about your health and saftey policies and no framework and children sitting doing endless worksheets then we went to the birth to three matters framework and then eyfs and every child matters

Also how about being in a well structured and nurturing setting is beneficial for children when they enter primary school as it gives them a idea of what is expected of them and the skills they learn in nursery are essential for school

You could also mention how being in a nursery increases the chances of your child getting the help they need if they have additional needs (speech and language, play development, occupational health ect) and these being caught early which is also beneficial to the child and helps to ensure they are not lost in the system

i would wonder whether you could do this subject justice as well. it's a hot political topic and has been the subject of a large number of studies.

it seems a bit ambitious for an undergrad without access to a lot of resource.

where has OP gone, wondering what purple has decided to do dissertation on now?

am quite interested in AP too but now have a 3yr old testing boundries so am slipping away from AP - thought if AP is the angle purple wants to stick with then maybe looking into what outside influences change the way parents set out to raise their kids. I am now doing Gina Ford with dc3!

You sound like you need to read some more research to try and decide what exactly you want to look at. Have a flick through some of the Families, Children and Child Care research, which is UK based and looks at the effects of different types of childcare on children's development.

www.familieschildrenchildcare.org/fccc_frames_home.html

There is an interesting summary of the context and purpose of the research. Roughly, the question of "Does separation from mothers into child care do children harm?" is an over-simplification as it depends on which child and mother, when and for how long, which care setting and caregiver, and by what definition of harm.
Biased and bossy men like Steve Biddulph or Oliver James not helpful I think.

Haven't read the whole thread but I would agree that it's way too big a topic. In my experience undergraduates most commonly choose something too broad for their dissertation and end up either with a vague piece of work or having to work hard later on to narrow it down. You are probably worried about picking something too narrow, but believe me, there will be plenty of material in a 'small topic' once you get researching. Have you thought about exploring something very specific about the way nurseries operate - for instance, diet and menus, amount of exercise time spent outdoors, frequency of day trips out, etc?

Also when i interview potential nursery workers for a job and they mention a degree i always ask what there dissertation was and if they told me it was about nursery being harmfull for young children i would ask them if they thought they were in the right job and they most definatly would not get the position

working in a nursery is a vocation it is not something to go into if you feel it is harmfull for the children you look after

magicmelons, i see what you are saying. i was thinking more about the babies who i have seen in nursery all day, every day and that to me, sorry, just doesn't seem right... a baby of three months in nursery everyday is not right to me, that baby needs their mum

How about looking at the history of childcare... how it's changed over the years. You could then look at how childcare has changed say during 2003-2010 or some other defined period for which you can get the statistics.
(the statistics are available from the regulator - In Ofsted's case stats since 2003.
You could limit it to how one particular form of childcare has changed, such as an increase in nursery places, or decline in childminder places.

Agree with EightiesChick that 'small topic' may be as beneficial if not better than broad.

blimey do your own research!

Hairfullofsnakes- you mentioned babies under 9 months earlier. And given that many parents cant afford to take longer than 6 months off, there are lots of children in childcare at 6 months or below. And indeed in the past, maternity rights were less, so babies would have been in nursery at 3 months or so. Its silly to get hung up about particular ages - a lot of these so called 'key' ages vary according to different cultures anyway. Its like mothers who say they cant possibly work and need to be at home full time until their child starts school at 4, but in some countries children wouldn't start school til 7- so there is nothing magic about age 4. Any more than there is a magic age for nursery.

Tbh I don't think it's worth doing this at that level. You won't make any discoveries or find out anything that's not already known, so what would be the objective? I'm not sure you can do a topic like this justice at degree level.

hairfull first it's 9 months, now 3 months, make up your mind. You don't know the circumstances that have led a mum to put her 3 months old baby in nursery so don't judge. Perhaps she has no choice.

Exactly yougivemumsabadname.
A child whose parents refuse point blank to use a nursery, who ends up with unemployed parents, with a repossessed home, and it's parents splitting up due to the accompanying stress, is likely to have considerably poorer life chances than a child who attends nursery so its parents can pay the bills. And equally, having a parent staying home
Does not guarantee success and happiness for the child throughout its life. There are just too many variables.

When did i say I judge? Just because i dont think it is right it doesn't mean I necessarily judge. For a little baby, the best place is with it's mother, not stuck in a nursery and considering how much nurseries cost, maybe a few more months maternity is better than going back? To me, it is not the best thing for a baby, but of course there are different factors and circumstances that come into play when babies are put in nursery.

Oh shut up! Of course you are 'judging'. Why don't you mind your own business. How exactly do you think your opinion helps anybody? Do you think anybody is reading this thinking ' oh someone on the interweb says I should stay at home so that's what I'll do'
Personally I was able to take a year and enjoyed that. That was right for me - doesn't mean it would be right for you or anyone else.

hairfullofsnakes - what magical powers do these mothers have then that qualified nursery staff lack? I really don't understand the position that a mother is the only person who can care for their child properly. As long as a baby is fed, changed and cuddled, they really don't care. Why should you? The more people they get love and care from, the better, IMO.

DH was in full-time, and I mean FULL-time - nights and weekends too - childcare from 3 months old, as were all his cohorts, under the old kibbutz system of communal child-raising. They went home from 4-8pm every day and that was it. At night they went back to the childrens dormitories. And they're the most lovely, well-adjusted, respectful and self-confident people I've ever met.

Of course you're judging! And as for saying a 'little baby' should be with its mother- do you really think babies who go to nursery don't get to spend time with their mothers? And what about the fathers? Or are you the sort of mother who believes she is more important than the other parent?
Honestly, this type of judging makes me sick!

Hairfull - what are these different factors and circumstances you refer to?