I have been meaning to do some Lit. search on effects of daycare on toddlers. Sending a child to daycare/school at an early age (before 5) can have benefits for their cognitive development. HOWEVER, reports from studies done at one of the labs at the Institute of Child Development (UMN), 7 out of 10 toddlers (age 16 to 38 months) attending daycare full-time have higher levels of cortisol release at daycare than at home. For infants, there is no difference in stress levels at home or at daycare. Cortisol is a hormone that the body releases when it undergoes stressful situations. This explains why kids at daycare centers get sick more easily. It is NOT only because they are exposed to other “germs” from other babies. It is because their immunity system is simply weakened from the stress they go through, day in day out.
Such stress can have an impact on the social-behavioral development of a child. Negatively. Unless the child is pre-wired to be able to handle stress like a pro. The implication is that quality daycare is so important, especially since placing children in a daycare is inevitable for 60% of American women, ‘cos they gotta go to work/want to go to work.
Implication for my family and Xuanie: Does he really need to go through such stress, when I am here at home blogging away???? Things would have been different if he had been sent to daycare from when he was an infant. Now, he has much to cope with. My heart breaks to see him struggle every morning, begging me in tears, saying, “Mama, no, no. Zuo (Sit), Jia (home).” Who knows what goes on inside him those hours he’s away from home. What are the costs and benefits we’re talking about here!!!
