If you could know everything that your daycare provider was doing or every thought and emotion that your child was experiencing all day long, would you want to? Nanny cams have been around for what seems like forever. I’ve joked and said that I would watch a nanny like a hawk from wherever I was and the sad thing is when my girls were babies, I probably would have. With cameras popping up everywhere these days, privacy is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Why would we be surprised that the latest trend is for daycares to provide parents with constant access to their child? I’m still not sure if I completely love this idea or hands down hate it.
When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was in grad school getting my masters. I was a graduate assistant and the professor who I worked for had offices directly across the hall from the university daycare that was run by elementary education students. Perfect, right?
I had it all figured out. I would take a few weeks off for maternity leave and when I returned, I was going to place my baby in the daycare directly across the hall from my office. I would make an art of the pop in for unscheduled kisses on baby toes and I could nurse whenever needed, I was going to have it all. Then I had the baby and everything changed.
When the time came, I just couldn’t convince myself to leave her in anyone else’s care; no matter how capable and well intentioned they might have been. I stayed home with my girls because I didn’t want to leave. We never lived near family and I just didn't feel comfortable leaving my daughter with strangers. I was lucky that staying home was an option for me. I found a career that allowed me to work from home and be with my girls.
If I had worked outside of the home and my girls were in daycare, I'm not sure having the ability to check in on them would have been a great idea for me. First, I know that I would have become completely obsessed with watching what they were doing, scared I'd miss something and my productivity at work would surely have suffered. I mentioned becoming the master of the pop in if they were across the hall? If I could access them all day long, I’d always be doing a virtual hangout.
Webcams are a great idea in theory but really what I would truly prefer is to be able to have the peace of mind to leave my children in the capable hands of someone that I felt comfortable with and trusted to take care of my children. As the girls get older, I am getting there.
Watching from a webcam when my girls were newborns would not only have caused me to do my job halfheartedly, I'm sure if I was watching it could influence my child’s care giver if they knew they were being televised. It's pretty impossible for anyone to be himself or herself when they are on display. In the end, the child may suffer from sub par care. I want my daycare provider focused on my child and free to be themselves not worrying about whether or not they will look 10 pounds heavier or be caught picking their nose.
Do you think having constant access to your child at daycare would be a good tool for parents?
Image via Anantal/Flickr
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Comments 28
I think that they're fine as long as people get it out of their heads that the purpose is to check up on the daycare providers. If you don't trust your daycare find another one. I wish my son's daycare had cameras so that I could look in on *him* from time to time when I miss him throughout the day. I would love to watch him play with the other kids and see what kinds of crazy things he does.
The daycare I worked at was adding cameras just before I left. Of course this was because one afternoon in the toddler room they were outside and a worker dragged a kid by her hood and left zipper burns on her neck!! The other worker claimed not to have seen it to the investigators but fessed up to another co-worker later on. I got fired for reporting my co-worker in the baby room was leaving babies on the changing table and walking away and putting them in cribs and not putting the bars down. That co-worker was the owner's niece. Honestly as a parent I would think watching the baby room was just depress you. By law in Michigan it's one worker to 4 babies, so your baby is probably getting slightly neglected. I remember one morning I was by myself with a 3 month old and 3 toddlers that were around 15-`6 months. I was trying to give the baby a bottle but every few minutes would have to get up and stop the toddlers from doing something. I think watching the other rooms would be easier since the kids are more active and independent.
My daughter started daycare at 2. I loved that they had a webcam, not because I didn't trust the workers-if I didn't, I would never had sent my daughter there-but because I felt a little more connected to my daughter and could still enjoy seeing her interact with other kids and their activities even though I wasn't right next to her. The first few weeks I definately spent more time watching her and less time working but really, you can only watch kids eating or playing with dolls so long. A year later I check in once or twice a day, usually in the morning to make sure she settled in ok and right before I pick her up so I know I'm not disrupting her snack or outside time before I go!
One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard when I started working with children was, "Work as if the child's parents were with you the whole time. Make decisions you know they would be proud of. Work as if they were always watching." I was never videotaped or on camera but I'm pretty sure it would not have changed my behavior as a care provider for children with special needs. Now, as a mother, I think of all the stories I have heard of subpar care and think, "I want a professional who works as if I was right there and makes wise choices and can be honest and provide care with integrity." I think the cameras are a great idea.
i think the cameras are a great idea & more daycares should offer it. My son is in daycare right now & i do trust the provider, she is a very sweet lady & a friend of my co-worker. Otherwise i wouldn't take him there, the camera is for ME to be able to see him throughout the day because i miss him. period. I want to see him play with other kids & just see what he's up to. The provider texts me pictures of him throughout the day so i appreciate that. but i'd much rather be able to log in somewhere & see him, even for just a few mins.