What Is the Impact of Having Shared Care During Infancy and Toddler Years - Essay Example

In the era of gender equality, where both parents work towards earning money for family maintenance, day care or baby sitter facilities are becoming more and more necessities as they are available at specific hours like working hours of parents. Although non-parental child care facilities are becoming more of an indispensable option, it is however necessary to keep in view the positive and negative impacts of such facilities on the children. Galinsky (2010) in her article provided the results of a research based on several teenagers who were all born in the year 1991. The study was conducted in an era when women were in a dilemma over whether or not to work, and whether child care facilities would harm their children during their infancy and toddler years.

The findings from this study revealed the positive impact of high quality child care. The positive impact was that infants who were under moderately high to high quality child care will more probably have “higher cognitive academic achievement at age 15.” (Galinsky, 2010) This result indicated that it is important for parents to consider the quality of child care. A similar aspect has been covered by Stein (2010) in his article where he says, according to research results, that low quality care can have a “long-lasting impact on a child’s learning and behavior.

” (Stein, 2010) Research has proved that toddlers receiving high quality care show less behavior problems in later years and vice versa. Lewin (2005) in his article mentioned the dilemma faced by parents on choice of child care. With results from various studies, he has captured the pros and cons of various facilities. Two of the studies have found that “long hours in group child care are linked to better reading and math skills but worse social skills and more behavioral problems.” (Lewin, 2005) A third study indicates that child care centers are safer option than a neighbor’s home or a nanny in the child’s own home.

Another study conducted from 1989 to 2003 has revealed that infants are most vulnerable as many of them die from shaking by the caregivers due to their constant crying. In another research article, Brown, et. al (2011) have provided the results of behaviors of infants who spend majority time at home and their changing behavior patterns when they are under child care. The change has been positive not only for the children but also for their families. Parents noticed that children after joining child care centers are more contented, happy and with an increased sense of independence.

Comparisons Although majority studies conducted reveal that high quality day care of infants and toddlers is important in the long run for proper development of children’s behavior and social skills, studies used in the article of Lewin (2005) reveal that children spending more time in day care centers can develop poor social skills and behavior problems. It has been suggested that children of 4?-year-olds who spend more than 30 hours a week under child care exhibit symptoms of aggressiveness and non-compliance in their behaviors.

This is regardless of the child care quality, socioeconomic status of the children’s families and attachment between the mother and child. This article also suggests that good or bad parenting have more impacts on children than child care. Social development among children is slower in children who enter child care at infancy than those who enter at later age. The former have weak social skills like reduced cooperative attitudes, reduced sharing with classmates and greater aggression. There is also a high risk of infant deaths that occur from shaking by caregivers, and this is more common in private homes than child care centers.

There are however positive affects of child care facilities as suggested in the article by Brown, et. al (2011). The open space and quietness of child care centers combined with interaction with other children develop an increased sense of independence and better communication skills among children. This has a significant effect on betterment of their quality of life and their ability to express their wants and needs. Conclusion In my opinion, since both parents are working today and it is a more a necessity for mothers also to work given the rising inflation, infants and toddlers need to be entered in child care centers.

Although I feel the negative consequences can have a long running impact like diminished social competence, behavior problems, negative moods and aggression, yet the choice of moderately high to high quality child care centers can reduce these impacts to a large extent. A professional can suggest parents to monitor their children’s behavior patterns and cognitive skills after they are entered in child care centers. Also, he should be suggesting parents to look for quality child care centers that are monitored by properly trained and educated child care providers who have sufficient knowledge about physical and emotional requirements of infants and toddlers.