Consistency Counts at Day Care Too

Consistency in day care is as important as consistency in the home, the experts say.

Children usually don’t thrive in a day-care setting where the caregivers change frequently, according to a 1993 study sponsored by the National Center for Early Childhood Workforce in Washington, D.C. The study found that 40% of the staff in the average child-care center changed each year because of poor training and low salaries.

“High turnover works against consistency,” said Roberta Bergman, a senior vice president of a Dallas child-care group and an expert on developing and managing child-care programs. “You can’t be important in a revolving door of caregivers. For a child to develop conscience and succeed, they have to have consistency.”

First, though, parents and caregivers have to develop a dialogue, said Debbie Bedell, co-director of Debbie’s Creative Childcare in Plainview, N.Y., a nonprofit center for children who are 18 months to 5 years. Bedell also counsels parents on choosing the right day-care situation. “The key is consistency of the relationship between the children and the teachers, a commitment that leads to actual bonding,” she said.