Do you think sending your child to a daycare makes you a bad parent?

I've heard a social commentator say that 2000-3000 thousand years ago children were raised by ';communities'; since everyone had to live closer together.Do you think sending your child to a daycare makes you a bad parent?
No, sending your child to daycare does not make you a bad parent. What would make a person a bad parent is leaving the child unattended at home for 8-9 hours while the parents were at work.





As for how things 'used to be.' All cultures were different, and had different family and community structures, so it's impossible to generalize. (A baby/child being raised in urban Rome would have a very different lifestyle than a baby being raised in a native American village, or on a farm in Gaul, or by pastoral peasants in Mongolia.)Do you think sending your child to a daycare makes you a bad parent?
Not as long as the daycare is a good one! And it's true that in the past, children were raised by communities sometimes, but the parents were always involved. They were raised by families--parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc... The problem with daycares is that parents often don't know what the strangers are doing to their kids. These people who run daycares aren't family; parents need to be careful who they let take care of their kids.
Of course not. You have to make some money to make sure that your child can be raised properly. If you don't have that chance, then it's going to be a lot harder when your child asks ';Can I have that?'; and you have to be the bad person and say ';No.'; Then they keep pestering you, and you end up feeling horrible.





Besides, it gets them used to the social elements and helps them adjust to different types of personalities and people.





Just make sure that you spend time with your child outside of daycare, too.
I would be a worse parent if I didn't work and stayed home. As I am the sole financial support for my child and myself, it would be far more detrimental to not have a home, electricity, transportation, food, health insurance, etc.





Now if you have a suggestion as to how I can stay home with my child and still have the aforementioned necessities, I'm all ears.





*edit* Daisyhill: The word is ';fallacy';, not ';phallacy';, as in phallic symbol. Geesh. I guess I know what's on YOUR mind.
Not at all. I would be a worse parent if I sat at home collecting welfare checks and WIC handouts and passed on the legacy of laziness and self-entitlement that so many elect to do. (before everyone goes nuts, I know that there are valid reasons for using these benefits, however, many abuse them.) If a family can have a parent stay home and financially support themselves, then that is great. I cannot.





I am showing my children that a family works together, education is important, and hard work will help you accomplish your goals.
No, I'm not a bad parent.





If you are able to stay home and not have to use daycare, then that's great.





But the fact is, with the economy the way it is and it keeps heading downward, more parents are just going to have to work in order to survive.





I'm a single mom, I have to work in order to provide for my son.





I don't think that makes me a bad parent. I think that makes me a responsible parent.
I wouldn't say that sending your child to daycare is bad... but I would make another suggestion to you. Instead of sending your child to daycare ask around and find a stay at home babysitter. When I was little, my brother and I went to this woman who her kids were away at university and wanted somehting to do in her day. Of course you'd have to check the background of the person you'd be leaving your kids with- try asking at work if anyone knows someone who is already doing this.





I just know, because I used to work at a daycare, that it isn't the greatest all the time. Legally they keep the ratio good (like 5 kids to one adult) but there is always too many kids there that cause too much trouble so the adults have to be with them constantly, leaving the good (and sometimes shy) kids alone. I only worked there for a summer, because I had to go back to school in the fall, but I am so glad Ieft. I was working crazy hours and I was just pooped at the end of the day. And that is what a lot of people said where I worked. Many of the wonen working there were certified but they didn't have kids of their own.





Another thing is, and this isn't for all daycares but, they tend to ship the kids outside a LOT. The kids at my daycare were inside for eating and their naps. The rest of the time was spent outside in the blistering heat. I guess it's easier to watch them outside and easier to clean up but I wans't impressed.





Sorry to be a downer, I sorta had to rant.
The communities you speak of were really extended family....Grandparents, aunts and sisters....that is fine...but in my opinion, children are better off with their own parents...or at least family members. Nobody actually ';loves'; a child other than it's own family...so the child, while it may be safe, is not nurtured and shown physical affection in the same way. The argument about children needing socialization with other kids is a phallacy too unless they are over 4 years old...before then they just play near each other..they dont really interact properly...they ned to be with someone who loves them. I do understand that in countries like America it is VERY hard to stay at home as there is so little government help for families...but in the UK there is little excuse...so you might not have two holidays a year but your kids are better off....the early years are gone in a flash. HEre in the UK nobody looks down on people who stay at home with their children and accept government help...parenting is respected and it is understood that it is ok for people to be assisted by the country at large in order to do a good job.
I don't think that means that you're a bad parent, alot of people have to send them to daycare because they need the extra money. I am lucky enough to be able to stay home and would not change it for the world, but we do have to make sacrifices because we are on one income.
Well 2,000 years ago most of us wouldn't have lived this long.





Sending a child to daycare because you have to is one thing. Sending them to daycare because you just can't be bothered to spend time with them, or don't want to see them, that makes you a bad parent.
By all means it does not make one a bad parent. When both parents need to work and there is no other option, daycare is a very appropriate option.





A bad parent would be one who would simply just leave the child home alone or in the car while he/she is working
The social commentator is an idiot. Everybody is working trying to make a living and survive. There is no one in the community to take care of children except the criminals that can't get a job.
no, it doesn't. We as parents have a responsibility to do what we have to do to make a good life for our child. Nowadays that means working to survive. And, despite the news of the bad ones, there are good daycare providers out there.
in todays world you never know about the people in your community so i would think daycare is better than that or leaving your child alone.
no
2000-3000 years ago the ';communities'; were smaller and there were WAY fewer kids than in todays daycares...





the communities were made up of the parents..





today daycare is being used by people to dump their kids so they can go out and make more money to buy things they dont really need (but think they do)





studies have shown that kids raised in day cares have 50% higher divorce rates.. probably due to lack of ';bonding'; or lack of ';Commitment';





studies have also shown that most teenage pregnacies and drug use occur in homes where both parents work (no body is home when kids are done school)





if you cannot afford to stay home with your kid until it is 5 years, or are not willing to give up some social status symbols and cut back expenses to do so.. you simply shouldnt be having kids..


its not like the world NEEDS more people..





EDIT - I want to add.. that my husband and I have MINIMUM wage jobs, when my daughter was born, we saved money BEFORE we had a kid (yes even on min wage you can save money) so that one of us could stay home with her.. we both worked after she was born but in a way that one of us was always home...


when she was 5 my husband died.. I found a job that I worked at when she was at school.. i quit that job 2 years later when they expanded and wanted me to work nights..


put the kids first.. or dont have them