Children Safety Gates
Effects of Daycare on Children
Author: Rendra Kres, psychologist
Ever since women entered the workforce, the great daycare debate has raged on. Parents, scholars and politicians have argued the pros and cons of external childcare facilities until families are absolutely certain placing their child in day care results in either an infant prodigy or a teenage delinquent.
As with any issue, the truth has been found to be somewhere in between. Day care can be a tremendous opportunity for a young child to learn social skills, expand their vocabulary and learn to function as an individual away from their parents; constant interaction with their peers allows them to develop a respect for the opinions and emotions of others, learn the value of teamwork, and to form friendships that will often carry into their school years. They are also given an opportunity to learn basic academic skills at an earlier age, and adapt to the more rigid structure of a classroom environment prior to entering Kindergarten, easing what is often a difficult transition for children who are kept at home in their preschool years.
On the flip side of the coin, not all day care providers are able to give the high quality of attention and education necessary for growth and adjustment. This is often due to an inadequate amount of staff for the number of children a facility cares for. Many times by the time a child reaches preschool age there is only one teacher responsible for up to fifteen students, if not more (licensing guidelines state that there should be no more than fifteen students per teacher at the four and five year old level; however, a fluctuating population of drop-in students may cause this number to be nothing more than a myth). The results of a long term study done by the National Institute of Health showed that those children who spent a great amount of time in a lower quality daycare displayed more instances of aggressive behavior and demands for constant, individual attention, a trend that continued through the sixth grade. This behavior may stem from the need to compete for attention from a very young age, and is displayed in children of large families as well. Those children who are quiet and well behaved are set to the side while the teachers struggle to deal with the children who are not so self sufficient; is it any wonder, then, that this often results in these children learning to emulate the less than savory behavior of their peers, whom they see receiving the individual attention they crave?
The key to a positive day care experience is to carefully screen any day care before a child is enrolled. The school should have a low staff to child ratio, with one adult to every two or three children at the infant level, gradually rising as the child increases in age but still sufficient for individual attention. The teachers should display a genuine love for the children, with experience and training in child development and psychology, allowing them to quickly detect a problem with a student before it becomes uncontrollable. Parents should remain in contact with the child’s teacher, receiving progress reports and observing classroom behavior on a regular basis. Any instance in which a parent is deliberately left “out of the loop” in their child’s education, even at this early stage, is cause for concern, and should be considered an immediate warning sign that all is not as it should be. In this case knowledge is power, and allows a child to quickly be removed from an unsuitable situation before damage is done that is irreversible.
Frequently Asked Questions
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QUESTION:
Safety Gates for children on indoor stairs in the house are recommended untill what age?-
ANSWER:
My son is 2 in April and we are still using the baby gates.
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QUESTION:
custom child safety gates?
I have a very odd place between my living room and kitchen. Instead of it being two walls straight across, it has a corner effect. I need to have a child safety gate in this area to keep my kids away from the dangerous appliances and such. I only know of gates that meet wall to wall in a straight line. Is there a gate available for such an area?-
ANSWER:
Try this site: http://www.safe-tots.com/safety_gates.htm?OVRAW=ERROR&OVKEY=ERROR&OVMTC=content&OVADID=784208522&OVKWID=0&ysmwa=MWCS8mbRNp4GyZbayD7Ij3WO7IwzEvBZ7fBgcsB4iwaAXGvjLTNLk_gc9h4oNLJw
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QUESTION:
I am attempting to install child safety gates. Directions call for 9/64 drill bit. Can I use another?
Or, Do I have to go purchase 9/64 size bit? I have 3/32, 1/8, 5/32, and 3/16. Will one of these work without messing anything up? Please help.-
ANSWER:
It is always best to use what the directions call for. If the hole drilled is to fit bolts or such pieces, then they will not fit if you drill another size hole. You will need to purchase a 9/64 size bit.If you plan on frequenting house projects such as that, it may be wiser to purchase a set, available at most hardware stores. Best of luck to you.
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QUESTION:
tell me the pros and cons about having a child safety gates?
give reasons why is safy to have and why is not safe to have-
ANSWER:
Gates keep children safe from harm, like the kitchen or the stairs. The bad part is most gates are terribly designed so that they are impossible to get open while holding your little ones, or not holding them. I spent a little more money but found a gate I love. It looks like a normal gate, but it has a foot pedal, which takes a lot of weight to trigger, and when it does a panel of the gate swings open, either way you want it to. Completely hands free, not impossible to maneuver, and will fit in slightly larger door ways.
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QUESTION:
What age is acceptable to remove child safety gates on stairs?
My daughter is 3 years old and stays with her grandparents one night a month. They have a very tall staircase that has wood, no carpeting, and her room is upstairs, while they sleep downstairs. My mother thinks our daughter is old enough to not use the gate at the top of the stairs any longer, but my husband and I are concerned that she’s still a little wobbly (especially after just having woken up) and there is a danger there. I’ve looked online for any info but would like some feedback from others who might have a similar situation. The thought of her falling scares me to death. How do you know when a child is old enough not to need safety gates?-
ANSWER:
When she can go up and down the stairs consistently by herself without falling, she’s old enough to not use the gates. My niece is 3 and every time my sister thinks she no longer needs the gates, she ends up falling down the stairs.
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QUESTION:
Child safety gate that would fit between two railings at the top of my stairs?
I’m looking for a child safety gate that would fit between railings on either side? The ones that I found currently fit between two walls for support. What can I do?-
ANSWER:
OSB and 2’4′s … make your own
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QUESTION:
Does anyone else have a hard time working child safety gates?
or is it just me? I tried for a half hour and had to call someone to do it for me.-
ANSWER:
yes lol
try the car seat..even trickier..
=]]
thanks xoxo
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QUESTION:
What can I do? My 5 year old has learned to open the child safety gates?
I have a 5 year old and a 22 month old…both girls…I have gates at the top and bottom of the stairs to stop the toddler from wandering and maybe falling downstairs at night (she sleeps in a toddler bed) This morning woke up and it was oddly quiet…that was because the 5 year old had woken up and quietly gone into the toddlers room…they had then sneaked downstairs together as the 5 year old has suddenly learned to open he very stiff safety gate! They had gotten themselves a tin of biscuits and sat down to watch tv! I reckon they had been there an hour or more before I woke up….my 5 year old used to be too nervous to do anything like this…but now her sister is bigger she seems to have gotten braver!There was a terrible mess….and I am worried now…I sleep very heavily and I think it must have been about 5 AM that they got up….we usually get up at 6.30 am….I could set an alarm clock I suppose…but that would mean me rising before 5 am!
What do other Mothers do about early rising sneaky kids?
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ANSWER:
Hiya Daisy, as you know my two are a similar age to yours (although E turned 6 last week)I have actually given up on baby gates. E just climbed over them and when he was a year old A started to climb over them too. (email me, I’ll send you a video clip!)
Initially, I switched the gate from the top of the stairs to the bedroom door (as if he did fall he wouldn’t tumble right the way down the stairs) and now I’ve removed them altogether. There really was no point.
As you don’t have the climbing issue I suggest you set down ground rules for your older girl. If she gets up early she must either stay and play in her room or if she goes downstairs, do so alone, close the gate behind her and NO biscuits.
Obviously when the younger child is a bit bigger and you are confident she is fine with stairs they can both go down together – you may even get a decent lie-in if they are entertaining each other
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