Care to join the debate on the pros and cons of day care?

26th March 2007

Care to join the debate on the pros and cons of day care?

posted in Child Care, Working Moms, Mom Rants |

I don’t really have the energy to right now, (I’m on another business trip, I know lame excuse) but I find the discussion on today’s Wall Street Journal “The Juggle” blog about a recent NIH study fascinating.

It’s also easy for me to abstain from the discussion because you all know I employ a nanny and love ~~how neat my house is~~ her. Having a nanny was the option I felt most comfortable with and it suited our random-work-hours-hectic-travel schedule the best. Of course it doesn’t hurt that she cleans a pantry and fridge to perfection. I dare you to show me a day care that’ll do that! So what if my son doesn’t have 10 words by age 5? He’ll figure it out and I’ll be able to find my ketchup. (Relax. I’m just kidding. All I really care about finding is the peanut butter.)

No, but seriously, I’d love to hear where you stand on the issue. Maybe I’ll feel up to debating it tomorrow when my presentation is over.

Tags: day care, child care, nanny, NIH study, The Juggle

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1 On March 26th, 2007, Busy Mom said:

Another instance of manufactured media hysteria.

2 On March 27th, 2007, utlawgirl said:

The main thing I focused on was that this report said that the number 1 indicator of childhood behavior was quality parenting. I’m working on making sure that happens, despite that my child spends almost 50 hours per week in day care. Ugh. That makes me sad just typing it.

BTW, you can’t abstain so easily. The study was based on a specific definition of child care:

“Child care was defined as care by anyone other than the child’s mother that was regularly scheduled for at least 10 hours per week. This included care by fathers, grandparents and other relatives.” That includes your nanny!

3 On March 27th, 2007, AmyBow said:

Is there any other option other than day care? I mean, really, once your child is old enough for pre-school how many people choose to (or can afford to) stay home with them full-time? And what about the benefits of socialization and the like? 7.1M children in the study are considered to be in “day care” compared to the 3.3M that are home with their parents - perhaps they are more disruptive because there are MORE OF THEM? Or perhaps it has something to do with their location? Or a host of other factors that the study authors readily admit they could not control.

The study is ridiculous.

4 On March 27th, 2007, mod*mom said:

love your blog!
lucky you with the nanny.
my house is a constant battle to clean.
i never could figure out how to hire someone to help.
but, i never wanted to leave my daughter in daycare.
luckily, i got to breastfeed her for 2 1/2 yrs + take care of her myself, then i was diagnosed with cancer + my husband took off work to take care of us, but it was always a struggle + we wanted help, but couldn’t figure out or afford it + we don’t have family that’s healthy for our daughter to be around or willing to help. daycare is notorious for germ proliferation too + we had to stay as healthy as possible during my chemo. now she’s 3 1/2 + started nursery school + loves it, but i have to stay there the whole time (3 1/2 hours on 2 days/week), but she’ll grow to trust the teachers soon. i feel so fortunate that we know our daughter so well.

5 On March 30th, 2007, Beth said:

Just found your blog and LOVE it! It’s hard to find blogs by working women. I think the issue with kids acting out has much more to do with parenting than whether or not the child is in daycare or has a full-time nanny. And I agree with the PP who said maybe it has something to do with the fact that more kids are in daycare. Parenting is soooo hard and disciplining is even harder. Maybe it has more to do with our society’s increasing penchant to not accept personal responsibility for anything. We’re passing it on to our children. Still, articles like this get under my skin and leave me with nagging doubts about whether or not I’m causing undue harm to my child by putting him in daycare. Sometimes I wish I had thicker skin or more conviction!

6 On March 30th, 2007, Shannan said:

This was way blown out of porportion. It is almost as if they are looking to pin us moms against each other. Very disappointing.

7 On April 1st, 2007, mommy mumbles said:

My DH forwarded a NY Times article on this study and maybe it didn’t reveal all the finer details, but I really thought - how valid/meaningful are the findings. I mean there are so many other factors that could affect whether a child has problems in the classroom in the future. The fact that he/she was in daycare or not could possibly just be a coincidence…I agree..just a lot of hype to create more controversy. Like us working moms (parents) don’t have enough to deal with..

8 On July 9th, 2007, A girl can dream? Baby-sitting co-ops » Self-Made Mom said:

[…] you have to go to work, right? Of all the child care options that I’ve read about, blogged about and talked about, this one seems the least realistic for a working parent. Could you really call […]