Injuries Less Frequent for Kids Cared by Grandparent
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When I saw the title of the study touting “Kids Safer When Grandparents Watch Them“, I said, well of course! Grandparents usually don’t have 3 to 10 kids to take care of, as opposed to any type of day care. They’re also generally over-protective, and I would even say, overindulgent. They may carry the kids more throughout the day rather than putting them down to play. My own parents treat my daughter like she’s a china doll who’s apt to break at the tiniest pressure rather than the tough-as-nails baby that she is. I have literally seen her take a nose-dive to the floor from a trampoline. She barely whimpered, and I think I was affected more than she was.
The study also added that kids seem to have less injuries even compared to Mom. This gave me a bit of a pause. And I admit I was a bit miffed. But then I thought to myself, I do let my daughter roam freely, and give her a lot of room to fall in ways her grandparents would never do. That trampoline fall? They’d have been inches away from her, and would have caught her in time. They may not even have let her hands go on the trampoline. There’s a good chance, my dad wouldn’t even have let her ON the trampoline.
The study admits more research needs to be done.
“Additional studies of how households choose relatives to watch their children and the actual caregiving style of grandparents are warranted, because the protective effect of grandparents may depend on choosing the right grandparent”
I know I prefer my parents watching my daughter. But I also know of other parents who wish to hire non-relatives instead, to lessen tension because of differences of opinion. What do you prefer?
Melissa H says...
Well I don’t actually need anyone to care for my child as I am a SAHM, but the answer the study came up with appears to be a no-brainer for me. Even the conclusion that the child came to less injury than with mom. I let my child have pretty much free range of two open rooms of my house. There can be an entire 5 minutes when all I do is glance to make sure that she doesn’t have something she shouldn’t or that she isn’t climbing the curtains. There have been owwies that I can only kiss all the red places because I am not sure where she hit exactly…. that is not to say that I am a negligent parent…. but I do have things around the house to do, and I waited for a long time for my child to be able to play by herself for a bit. So yeah she probably gets hurt a little more at my house… but her feet barely hit the floor at Bupa and Nana’s house. I guess it is a fair trade.
Multi-Tasking Mommy says...
I definitely prefer my parents to watch my kids over a babysitter for sure. I do feel like they are more over protective of my kids and also because they are with them for a short period of time, they can and do watch them like a hawk. When they are your own kids, you have to give them more “freedoms” in order to live life and do things to keep the household running!
Multi-Tasking Mommys last blog post..Independance