Many families live on two incomes. For some of these families, sending a child to day care is the most practical option. However, some parents may be concerned that their child will suffer developmentally if the mother or father isn't consistently around to nurture him. Fortunately, research findings suggest that time spent at a quality day care -- in conjunction with sound parenting -- can actually be beneficial for some children.
Social Development
The Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that children in day care settings displayed various levels of social development. Children in quality day care settings were more successful in developing relationships with peers and adults than children who received lower quality care. Children who felt close to their day care providers were ranked as more sociable through kindergarten than children who were not close with their day care providers. While the NICHD study found a correlation between the quality of day care and a child's social development, it mentioned that family characteristics, such as a mother's sensitivity levels, had a bigger impact overall on a child's social development.
Maternal Bonding
According to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, children who spend longer hours in day care tend to have less sensitive interactions with their mothers until about age three, than children who spend fewer hours in day care. However, the same researchers mentioned that the small negative effects on children spending long hours in day care were not enough to disrupt any secure attachments between babies and their mothers. Researchers also mentioned that mothers who set aside time to bond with their young children could help compensate for any potential drawbacks.
Cognitive Skills
Findings published in the September-October 2009 issue of "Child Development" revealed that the quality of early day care may boost the reading and math skills in children from low-income families. In a sense, attending a high-quality day care may help give children born into poverty a head start so that they may have the chance to run at an equal pace with their more affluent peers.
Behavioral Development
According to a study in the July-August 2003 issue of "Child Development," the more time children ages birth to four-and-a-half years old spent in day care, the more likely they were to be deemed disobedient, aggressive and demanding. However, the study the NICHD tracked the same children as they got older and discovered that their aggressive dispositions had mellowed out by the third grade.
