Biddulph focuses his warnings on what he estimates is the 5% of British parents who “slam” their children into nursery for a large part of their day from the age of six months
He believes nothing can provide an equal substitute for one-to-one care for a child under two, ideally by a parent. He argues that infants’ brains need to be stimulated by loving interaction if they are to develop properly
Nannies, he says, can work well as a halfway solution but only if parents are “extraordinarily lucky” with the person they find. He says, however, that care by family or friends is “a much safer option”.
Last year Penelope Leach, an authority on childcare, issued a similar warning after finding that young children looked after by their mothers did better in development tests than those cared for in nurseries, by childminders or relatives.
“The best nurseries struggled to meet the needs of very young children in a group setting. The worst were negligent, frightening and bleak — a nightmare of bewildered loneliness that was heartbreaking to watch.”
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