Nursery World - partnership with parents: Shared care

Parents may be wary of handing over the care of their baby or toddler to other adults outside the home. Jennie Lindon explains how to build a relationship that benefits all parties

Establishing a good partnership with parents of babies and toddlers has a lot in common with dealing with parents of older children, but there are additional factors to bear in mind.

Sharing the care of under-threes can feel more personal than when caring for older children. Practitioners and parents can become very close over a period of time and such warmth may be a positive advantage for the child. However, you need to bear in mind that you and the parents are in a professional relationship and have not chosen each other as friends. In many cases this may not be a complication, but a few practitioners in any team will need support when the limits of a friendly working relationship with a parent have become blurred.

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