HaveringWavering and PolkadotZebra.
Do you need to be rude? Do you not think parents should have the right information to make informed choices?
To give an analogy, why are we telling parents to cut grapes in half or to use suncream? The answer is because evidence shows that uncut grapes and sunburn cause damage. Suncream wasn’t really used much in my childhood, but it’s now seen as incredibly important to reduce sun damage because we know later on there is an increased risk of skin cancer. Should elderly parents feel bad if their, now, older adult child got skin cancer because they didn’t know the potential risks? No, we can only make decisions based on what we know.
We can pretend putting tiny infants into a room with 3.25m of floor space per baby being cared for by someone with quite basic qualifications who is also caring for three other babies is good for them, but common sense and evidence / research would suggest otherwise.
How is factual information harmful to decision making? I don’t think it’s about me justifying my position in a smug way. My children are grown now. I rather suspect it’s then other way around, isn’t it? Many children do OK, it’s true but statistically children are not better off in day care settings at a very young age or for extensive periods of time. Three mornings a week at three is very different to 7am - 6pm five days a week, isn’t it?
The sadness is many have very little choice - and that some choose not to be their child’s main carer (that last bit is my opinion).
Parents, of course have to make difficult decisions all the time. It’s better if they are informed by fact, no? Parents who choose daycare from a young age are doing what they believe is right for their families. I just think they are sold a myth that institutional care is easier or better for children. It’s not unless the family circumstances are poor and the child is living with significant disadvantage.
As examples, Among 5 to 9-year-olds, negative social-emotional outcomes not only persisted, but in some cases increased, as indicated by 24% increase in anxiety, a 19% increase in aggression, and a 13% in hyperactivity.
The Quebec study says, “By third grade, children who had experienced more hours of non-maternal care were rated by teachers as having fewer social skills and poorer work habits. More time in day care centers specifically predicted more externalizing behaviors and teacher conflict, too. Hours spent in day care centers specifically continued to predict problem behaviors into sixth grade. But by age 15, extensive hours before age four-an-a-half in any type of “nonrelative” care predicted problem behaviors, including risk-taking behaviors such as alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, stealing or harming property, as well as impulsivity in participating in unsafe activities, even after controlling for day care quality, socioeconomic background, and parenting quality.”
"The Long-Run Impacts of a Universal Child Care Program," 11/8/18 M. Baker, J. Gruber, & K. Milligan
www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=29ec4602-eee4-4f0a-b0dc-05e99971021a
The long-term consequences of infant day-care and mother-infant attachment
B Egeland 1 , M Hiester