“DAYCARE” centers should not have the word “care” anywhere in their names. They should be called daytime orphanages or simply child maintenance centers. Even though many good people work for them, and many good people send their children to them, these institutions cannot provide humane care and are major breeders of contagious childhood diseases.

Feminism’s support for the institutionalization of babies and children, support which is nothing less than an assault on individual freedom and society at large, is unforgiveable, particularly since the most vocal feminists have rarely consented to the institutionalization of their own children. Those most likely to use daycare are those who are middle class or poor. The standards of feminism contain what G.K. Chesterton called a “plutocratic assumption.”

One of the paradoxes of early childhood neglect is that it often creates narcissistic personalities. The individual denied of affirmation early in life compensates for this deprivation with exaggerated self-assertion. We  have become a society of narcissists because we are a society that deliberately deprives children of love. It’s one thing to neglect children because there is no choice. It’s another thing to do so and say it is good. Children sense the moral tone of all actions. They are more alive to moral reality in some senses than adults. They are never fooled though they may not be conscious of the deception.

 This is from an article by Dorothy Conniff in the Utne Reader of 1993, as quoted at the website Daycares Don’t Care:

Consider the amount of physical care and attention a baby needs–say 20 minutes for feeding every three hours or so, and 10 minutes for diapering every two hours or so, and time for the care giver to wash her hands thoroughly and sanitize the area after changing each baby. In an eight-and-a-half-hour day, then, a care giver working under the typical four-to-one ratio will have 16 diapers to change and 12 feedings to give. Four diaper changings and three feedings apiece is not an inordinate amount of care over a long day from the babies’ point of view.

But think about the care giver’s day: Four hours to feed the babies (4 babies X 3 feedings X 20 minutes), two hours and 40 minutes to change them (4 babies X 4 changes X 10 minutes). If you allow an extra two and a half minutes at each changing to put them down, clean up the area, and thoroughly wash your hands, you can get by with 40 minutes for sanitizing (4 babies X 4 changes X 2 1/2 minutes). (And if you think about thoroughly washing your hands 16 times a day, you may begin to understand why epidemics of diarrhea and related diseases regularly sweep through infant-care centers.)

That makes seven hours and 20 minutes of the day spent just on physical care (4 hours feeding + 2 hours 40 minutes changing + 40 minutes sanitizing)–if you’re lucky and the infants stay conveniently on schedule.

Obviously, such a schedule is not realistic. In group infant care based on even this four-to-one ratio, babies will not be changed every two hours and they will probably not be held while they’re fed.

                                                                — Comments —

Karen I. writes:

Unfortunately, the government is a big part of the push to put children into daycare. There is even a child care tax credit that parents can take if their children are in daycare. That is in addition to the child tax credit families already get. The child care tax credit is only given if the child is in a daycare, not if a parent, relative or neighbor takes care of the child and parents must be working or looking for work. [Laura writes: Yes, our federal government subsidized daycare, but does not provide the same support to the family with a mother at home.]

The government also provides subsidies to families to pay for the daycare. For example, Connecticut’s Care For Kids program helps pay for daycare for children whose parents make less than $63,000! That is a pretty high income threshold for a government subsidy. 

I almost had to enroll my children in daycare a few times and I thank God it did not come to that. One I went to check on claimed to have a very secure facility, but “forgot” to lock the front door when I stopped for an unannounced visit. Another demanded to know our income because the government provided snacks and they would get money if we were below a certain level. That same facility had members of the Department of Children and Families on the Board of Directors. Apparently, if you use daycare, you are also inviting the State into your life. 

The worst daycare providers I talked to were women with Bachelors degrees who ran a facility with a sweet-sounding name. When my daughter was three, I almost gave in to the pressure to “socialize” her by placing her in part-time care. Upon finding out my three year old had never been in care, the providers started grilling me about how much she cried when she was left with others. They were not happy when I told them she was rarely left with others, and told me she might cry a lot if she was left there. They clearly thought children who were left in care since infancy were easier to manage than a three year old who was attached to her mother. I decided that if “socialization” consisted of traumatizing my child, she was better off unsocialized.

Jill F. writes:

Karen I. writes, “Apparently when you use daycare you are inviting the state into your life” and she is exactly right. The state urges families to take advantage of many “programs” such as daycare subsidies, state health care programs, W.I.C. etc. and then can (and does) use this against you later. Enrolling in these “helpful” programs will label you as “at risk”….and “at risk” families need the state to “help” them raise their children.

Daycare for our children also brings the added risk of intervention by social services who may check on your child without your permission. Recently a single mom in Washington state noticed that her little boy woke up bruised by the bars of his crib. After taking him to the pediatrician and making sure he was all right, she dropped him off at his daycare center where the director of the center called DSHS and reported her for abuse. The little boy was immediately taken into custody by the state and placed in foster care. The mother found a recall for this particular crib later on in the week but, although she had the recall AND the Pediatricians report that the child’s injury were not from abuse, she still has not gotten her little boy back.

Daycare providers (along with teachers and others who work with children) are, by law, “mandated reporters”; which means that if a child is found to be abused and you (as an authority in that child’s life) did not report it…you are libel to be sued. In other words, tattle on everyone or risk having your life ruined. Never mind, the thousands upon thousands of children who are separated from their families because of normal childhood injuries.

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