Infants in Center-Based Daycare

During the last few decades, there has been a vast shift in the way young children have been cared for during their first several years of life. Along with the increase in the number of working mothers, there has been a change in the form of day care utilized by these mothers. Dawson (1990) noted that during the period just from 1970-1988, the percentage of young children cared for in licensed day care centers in the United States increased from 3.5% to 22%.

As a result, it has become increasingly important both to look at the conditions in these day care centers and to look at the consequences of day care center attendance for young children. The intent in the following pages is to examine a brief sampling of the literature in order to understand the impact of center-based day care on children under the age of 2 years.

The question under consideration is whether or not center-based day care in particular is harmful to young children under the age of 2 years. It is the position of this paper that there are distinct physical risks for infants and toddlers, but that the degree of risk depends upon comparison to the alternative. If the child's home or other form of day care is safe and nurturing, then center-based day care is harmful. If, however, the child's home is unsafe or abusive, then center-based day care may actually be less harmful overall.

In looking at some of the physical problems associated with center-based

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was suggested by Collet (1993) as a preventive measure. Collet indicated that a potential way to prevent recurring infections in children, or at least reduce the risk, is by stimulating nonspecific immunity response. In that way, children would begin to build up their tolerance to outside infectious agents by exercising their immune system response to a non-specific, but stimulating agent. This potentially means fewer infections, and the initial risk to the child seems small. In turning to the case of injuries, however, which is always a problem for small children, it appears as though the day care center setting may potentially be less harmful than even the home environment. Again, Thacker et al (1992) provide a review of the findings, noting that injury rates are frequently lower in day care centers than in homes. They indicated that one study in particular found an injury rate approximately half that in the home environment. The authors explained this result by noting that injuries frequently happen during play, which is not always as closely supervised in the home as it is in the day care center. They also indicated that day care staff are frequently trained to eliminate risky behaviors, and that day care center standa

Category: Psychology - I