hulahooper
New member
EDIT: below, I incorrectly cited the California minimum staffing ratio as 4:1 for infants (0 to 18 months). In fact, it is 3:1, the research-recommended ratio, as is correctly noted by a couple of commenters. 4:1 begins at 18 months until 36 months; 8:1 from 3 years to kindergarten.
Hello all,
I see that discussions of daycare occur on this sub almost daily. Things often get very heated very quickly, with a theme of parents feeling intensely judged or defensive for their decisions around daycare, particularly to enroll their children full time daycare as infants. There are also frequent posts of parents feeling very sad or guilty for enrolling their kids in daycare.
My son is about to start daycare for the first time - he's a year and a half. I have a background in psych and work in child mental health, so I've been doing a lot of research as part of my process for preparing for this big transition, to feel like I'm armed with the information I need to feel good about my choices. I thought it might be helpful to share some of that information with you all, since this is such a frequent topic of discussion. Research indicates that parents are not always accurate in gauging the quality of the care their children are in, so it's a topic well worth exploring.
From what I've found, research indicates that daycare quality is the most important factor in the daycare's impact on child development. This means it is more important than the number of hours in care, or the type of care (center based or in home, for example). As a rule of thumb, for children in early, extensive hours in daycare (more than twenty hours per week, younger than a year of age), quality of the care becomes extremely important in mediating whether the daycare will be a positive or negative impact on the children. For those of us who have safe homes and are able to be warm, response parents, high quality daycare can have modest positive impacts for our children. For those of us who experience violence, significant substance use, or are not able to provide warm, responsive parenting to our children, high quality daycare can provide particularly important benefits.
Interestingly, studies show that children of families who are highest income and lowest income are more likely to be in high quality care, where as middle income families are less likely to be in high quality care.
So let's think about what quality daycare entails. Primarily, it means that caregivers are providing warm, responsive and sensitive care - very similar to what is involved in high quality parenting. This is far more important than the kind of facilities offered (outdoor play etc), or the curriculum, or the philosophy of care (montessori vs reggio-emilia etc; although generally, child-centered & emergent curriculums are most aligned with child development research). Basically, what that means is that the people who provide care to your child are more important in determining the quality of the care given than what food they offer, the schedules, the toys they have, the activities they do, etc. There are a few factors outlined by research to be particularly important to the quality of care:
- group size and ratio of adults to children
- caregiver characteristics (education, attitude towards children, feelings about their job)
- caregiver stability (turnover)
The first, group size and ratio of adults to children, seems to be the most important factor of all. For infants, a ratio of no more than 3 children to 1 adult is one of the best predictors of high quality care for the children. Similarly, a smaller overall group of children seems to positively impact the quality of care.
For those of you evaluating daycares for your infants, make the infant to adult ratio a number one question. State standards vary, but often state standards are slightly higher than what research recommends. For California, for instance, the state requires one adult to every three babies under age eighteen months, which aligns with the research I have done, but these standards vary widely by state.
Secondly, research indicates that the caregivers/teachers feelings and background matter a lot. For instance, caregivers who are more child-centric and less authoritative in their attitudes provide warmer and better care. Secondly, education and training in child development clearly benefits their quality of care. Finally, caregivers who choose this as a career rather than a default or backup option of employment provide better care. Interesting, years of experience is not very meaningful in predicting quality of care provided.
Finally, turnover is a major factor impacting quality of care. Turnover tends to be very high in childcare centers, and it decreases the quality of care and disrupts the relationships among the children and their caregivers. Turnover tends to be closely linked to pay. Childcare workers are amongst the worst paid professions in the US. So, when evaluating daycares, ask about turnover and fair wages. Higher wages are linked to happier, more stable caregivers. In terms of child development, it is far better to have well paid workers than nice facilities.
So, to summarize: quality childcare is very important for babies and young children. To find quality care, look for:
- programs with low child to adult ratio (3:1 or better for babies)
- small group sizes
- long term, well paid, educated workers
Hope this may be helpful to some of you! My hope is that some research and information can help clarify and de-escalate some of the conversations that go on here in this sub around daycare.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225555/
https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/hdfs/fii/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/s_mifis01c03.pdf
https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01021.x
Hello all,
I see that discussions of daycare occur on this sub almost daily. Things often get very heated very quickly, with a theme of parents feeling intensely judged or defensive for their decisions around daycare, particularly to enroll their children full time daycare as infants. There are also frequent posts of parents feeling very sad or guilty for enrolling their kids in daycare.
My son is about to start daycare for the first time - he's a year and a half. I have a background in psych and work in child mental health, so I've been doing a lot of research as part of my process for preparing for this big transition, to feel like I'm armed with the information I need to feel good about my choices. I thought it might be helpful to share some of that information with you all, since this is such a frequent topic of discussion. Research indicates that parents are not always accurate in gauging the quality of the care their children are in, so it's a topic well worth exploring.
From what I've found, research indicates that daycare quality is the most important factor in the daycare's impact on child development. This means it is more important than the number of hours in care, or the type of care (center based or in home, for example). As a rule of thumb, for children in early, extensive hours in daycare (more than twenty hours per week, younger than a year of age), quality of the care becomes extremely important in mediating whether the daycare will be a positive or negative impact on the children. For those of us who have safe homes and are able to be warm, response parents, high quality daycare can have modest positive impacts for our children. For those of us who experience violence, significant substance use, or are not able to provide warm, responsive parenting to our children, high quality daycare can provide particularly important benefits.
Interestingly, studies show that children of families who are highest income and lowest income are more likely to be in high quality care, where as middle income families are less likely to be in high quality care.
So let's think about what quality daycare entails. Primarily, it means that caregivers are providing warm, responsive and sensitive care - very similar to what is involved in high quality parenting. This is far more important than the kind of facilities offered (outdoor play etc), or the curriculum, or the philosophy of care (montessori vs reggio-emilia etc; although generally, child-centered & emergent curriculums are most aligned with child development research). Basically, what that means is that the people who provide care to your child are more important in determining the quality of the care given than what food they offer, the schedules, the toys they have, the activities they do, etc. There are a few factors outlined by research to be particularly important to the quality of care:
- group size and ratio of adults to children
- caregiver characteristics (education, attitude towards children, feelings about their job)
- caregiver stability (turnover)
The first, group size and ratio of adults to children, seems to be the most important factor of all. For infants, a ratio of no more than 3 children to 1 adult is one of the best predictors of high quality care for the children. Similarly, a smaller overall group of children seems to positively impact the quality of care.
For those of you evaluating daycares for your infants, make the infant to adult ratio a number one question. State standards vary, but often state standards are slightly higher than what research recommends. For California, for instance, the state requires one adult to every three babies under age eighteen months, which aligns with the research I have done, but these standards vary widely by state.
Secondly, research indicates that the caregivers/teachers feelings and background matter a lot. For instance, caregivers who are more child-centric and less authoritative in their attitudes provide warmer and better care. Secondly, education and training in child development clearly benefits their quality of care. Finally, caregivers who choose this as a career rather than a default or backup option of employment provide better care. Interesting, years of experience is not very meaningful in predicting quality of care provided.
Finally, turnover is a major factor impacting quality of care. Turnover tends to be very high in childcare centers, and it decreases the quality of care and disrupts the relationships among the children and their caregivers. Turnover tends to be closely linked to pay. Childcare workers are amongst the worst paid professions in the US. So, when evaluating daycares, ask about turnover and fair wages. Higher wages are linked to happier, more stable caregivers. In terms of child development, it is far better to have well paid workers than nice facilities.
So, to summarize: quality childcare is very important for babies and young children. To find quality care, look for:
- programs with low child to adult ratio (3:1 or better for babies)
- small group sizes
- long term, well paid, educated workers
Hope this may be helpful to some of you! My hope is that some research and information can help clarify and de-escalate some of the conversations that go on here in this sub around daycare.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225555/
https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/hdfs/fii/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/s_mifis01c03.pdf
https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01021.x
