Missing the point

I was concerned by the research into the stress levels as measured by cortisol in young children attending nurseries (0-19.co.uk, November 22, 2005). The implication was that spending longer in nurseries is beneficial .

Was this a response to the recent report showing that children cared for by family and childminders show greater levels of “development” than children in nurseries?

What are new parents supposed to conclude? Surely the key issues are that parents and their children need to be able to form strong interpersonal bonds before any alternative forms of “childcare” are taken up?

Parents who can’t afford to buy longer hours of childcare may experience more stress as they juggle their workloads – might this be a factor in the latest findings?

I am worried that society is minimising the importance of a parent spending significant time at home with young infants. Perhaps this is due to the continuing need for relatively cheap labour in the form of working mothers. After all, who is employed at relatively low wages to look after these children in the nurseries?

SALLY ATTWOOD