A child's bond to their parents starts forming from the moment they are born. Children thrive in environments with close, continuous contact with their parents so they can feel safe, loved, and protected.
Unfortunately, our modern lives have created a lot of demands that prevent us from devoting unlimited time to our kids. Many of us have to return to work quickly after giving birth and this causes a lot of stress on both the child and ourselves!
Many of you have written to me about this through the years and asked for advice. Ultimately, I think you have to do what's right for everyone in your family. How do YOU think daycare affects a parent-child bond? I'd love to hear your perspective.
I was honored to be interviewed for an expert round-up on this topic and here's what I had to say...
As with all relationships, the quality of time you spend with someone is far more important than the quantity of the time you spend together. However, there is a minimum amount of quality time that needs to be invested in order to have a happy, healthy, secure relationship.
Children can have a strong bond with their parents even under the most difficult of circumstances.
If it’s necessary for a child to start daycare as toddler, that is fine…it’s just critical that the parent maximizes the time he/she spends with their child and makes sure that it’s quality time.
It’s also important for parents to make sure they spend some quality time with their child every single day.
Quality time is time spent focused on the child and one of the best things to do is play! Play teaches kids how to navigate challenges, cooperate, share, and work with others.
We all love to laugh and have fun with each other, so if you play with your child, he will associate fun and happiness with you.
Another valuable activity is reading to your child.
Reading promotes relaxation, creativity, and enhances language skills more than almost any other activity. Talking to your child is also essential.
Children are greatly affected by our tone of voice and our expressions, so talk to your child in a loving, soothing way to enhance your connection with them.
The bottom line is that you should do the best you can and focus on quality over quantity.
If you ensure that your child is surrounded by kind and nurturing caregivers, they will be just fine in daycare while you do what you need to do.
You can read more insightful advice from Minuca Elena's expert roundup for BabyJourney here: Does Daycare Affect The Parent-Child Bond? We Talked to 40 Experts to Find Out
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