Nursery World - Not in nursery, please

Congratulations to Nursery World for instigating a debate on whether babies and children under two years old should be sent to nursery. Encouraged by the Government, there is a huge change (we can't call it experiment, because each child has only one babyhood) taking place in the way we bring up our children.

Encouraged by the Government, there is a huge change (we can't call it experiment, because each child has only one babyhood) taking place in the way we bring up our children.

Ask the young parents. Whatever their instincts are telling them, they have been pressured into thinking they will be doing the right thing by their families if they put their babies into nursery and get back to work.

How many long-term research projects are needed before the Government wakes up to the fact that nurseries are the wrong place for children under two? However good the ratios and the quality of care, it is still the wrong place, and continual tinkering with standards and requirements aren't going to change this. Government should be encouraging and supporting parents who take a career break while their children are small, instead of ploughing millions into inappropriate childcare.

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