Infants In Day Care Research Articles

Effects of an early intervention program by the ICF model on the neuropsychomotor development and quality of life in babies in daycare

ABSTRACT This study aims at checking the effects of an early intervention program (EIP) on the neuropsychomotor development (NPMD) and quality of life (QoL) of 4–18 months old babies attending daycare, following the biopsychosocial (BPS) model of health and the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). It was a quasi-experimental cross-over study, with the evaluations (NPMD and QoL) and interventions (locomotor, stabilizer and manipulative in a circuit format) of 66 babies carried out in the daycare, following an EIP, twice a week, during 4 weeks. The EIP for favoured motor behaviours acquisition, demonstrating that the percentage of babies with risk/delay decreased just after the EIP and positive effects were identified in Physical Capacity in QoL. It is concluded that the proposed EIP program for 4–18 months old infants in daycare showed positive effects on NPMD and QoL, including domains of ICF of function, activity and participation.

Symbolic gesturing: creating opportunities for emotional connections between practitioners and infants in day care

ABSTRACT This article reports on how symbolic gesturing was applied in a nursery setting. Forms of signing systems have been well documented as contributing to communication, predominately used alongside speech when there is a different mother tongue or a physical impairment [Goodwyn, S. W., & Acredolo, L. P. (1993). Symbolic gesture versus word: Is there a modality advantage for onset of symbol use? Child Development, 6, 688–701]. Symbolic Gesturing (SG) is an emerging area to support pre-verbal infants in communicating more effectively. In this article, SG was evaluated as way of reflecting and developing practitioner’s emotional responses and initiations with the infants in their care. The narratives of three practitioners using SG were gathered over several months and revealed how SG created further opportunities for reflection regarding the emotional relationships with infants they cared for. SG was considered a valuable approach to enhancing the emotional interactional connections with infants, resulting in closer, more attuned relationships.

AGENT BASED MODELING: FINE-SCALE SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF PERTUSSIS

Abstract. In epidemiology, spatial and temporal variables are used to compute vaccination efficacy and effectiveness. The chosen resolution and scale of a spatial or spatio-temporal analysis will affect the results. When calculating vaccination efficacy, for example, a simple environment that offers various ideal outcomes is often modeled using coarse scale data aggregated on an annual basis. In contrast to the inadequacy of this aggregated method, this research uses agent based modeling of fine-scale neighborhood data centered around the interactions of infants in daycare and their families to demonstrate an accurate reflection of vaccination capabilities. Despite being able to prevent major symptoms, recent studies suggest that acellular Pertussis does not prevent the colonization and transmission of Bordetella Pertussis bacteria. After vaccination, a treated individual becomes a potential asymptomatic carrier of the Pertussis bacteria, rather than an immune individual. Agent based modeling enables the measurable depiction of asymptomatic carriers that are otherwise unaccounted for when calculating vaccination efficacy and effectiveness. Using empirical data from a Florida Pertussis outbreak case study, the results of this model demonstrate that asymptomatic carriers bias the calculated vaccination efficacy and reveal a need for reconsidering current methods that are widely used for calculating vaccination efficacy and effectiveness.

Physician consultation and antibiotic prescription in Swedish infants: population‐based comparison of group daycare and home care

Daycare infants have more infectious episodes, see a physician more often, and are prescribed antibiotics more often than home care infants. To compare physician consultations and antibiotic prescription in daycare children and home care children taking number of symptom days, sociodemographic factors, concern about infectious illness and antibiotic knowledge into account. For a cohort of Swedish 18-month-old children all infectious symptoms, physician consultation and antibiotic prescriptions were registered during 1 month. 561 infants with daycare outside the home and 278 with daycare at home were included. Of the daycare infants, 23.2% saw a physician and 11.4% were prescribed antibiotics, as compared with 10.8% physician consultations and 5.0% antibiotic prescription for the home care infants. For daycare infants the crude odds ratio for physician consultation were 2.49 (1.63-3.82) and for antibiotic prescription 2.43 (1.34-4.41) compared with home care infants. However, these differences were no longer statistically significant when background data, concern about infectious illness and reported symptoms were taken into account. When background data, concern about infectious illness and reported infectious symptoms were taken into account daycare infants saw a physician and was prescribed antibiotics in the same way as home care infants.

Acute Otitis Media Caused by Drug-resistant Bacteria: Correlation with Antibiotic Treatment

Objective—Although acute otitis media (AOM) is the commonest infectious disease of childhood, the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria has dramatically changed its clinical outcome. Here, we report the trend of AOM due to drug-resistant Staphylococcus pneumoniae (DRSP) and β-lactamase-negative ampicillin-resistant Haemophilus influenzae (BLNAR), and the relation between antibiotics used for the management of AOM and the isolation of bacterial pathogens.Material and Methods—Bacterial isolation and susceptibility tests were performed on specimens from children with AOM. Clinical information, including antibiotic treatment within the previous 30 days, was analyzed.Results—DRSP was detected in 59.3% of Pneumococci isolates and BLNAR in 26.0% of H. influenzae isolates. As expected, the incidence of AOM caused by such drug-resistant bacteria has been increasing year on year, and 32% of cases have been treated with inappropriate antibiotics. In contrast, 32% of cases of AOM caused by DRSP and 50% caused by BLNAR were given antibiotics with high susceptibility to drug-resistant bacteria.Conclusion—In order to ensure the most appropriate use of antibiotics, clinicians should consider performing tympanocentesis or myringotomy, with subsequent submission of the middle ear fluid for susceptibility testing. Furthermore, these results suggest that, as well as the selection of antibiotics, the dosage and period of dosing should also be considered in the management of AOM. In addition, other factors, in particular horizontal transmission from other infants in day care or nursery school, may affect the rapid spread of such drug-resistant bacteria.

Dietary Intake of Nutrients in Healthy Infants in Day Care

Dietary Intake of Nutrients in Healthy Infants in Day Care

Parents, infants, and day-care teachers: Interrelations and implications for better child care

Many young children are reared today in both family and child-care settings. The relation that exists between these two settings has important implications for child care. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model is used as a way to view the interrelations among children, families, and child-care programs. Data from a study of infants in day care provide information on the time infants spend in family and day-care contexts, how parents and caregivers view children's behavior in these two settings, and rates of otitis media (ear infections) and other illnesses for these children. Results show that infants spend about twice as many hours per day awake with parents as in day care. Regarding child behaviors, parents and caregivers seem to have similar behaviors they like and dislike, but they each see particular children quite differently with respect to these behaviors. Finally, infants in this sample were diagnosed with illnesses 60% to 70% of the time. Findings are discussed in terms of the ecological model with particular attention given to relations between parents and caregivers.

Infant day-care, attachment, and the "file drawer problem".

The research literature on infant day-care and attachment may be biased by the unavailability of "file drawer" studies, unpublished data showing no statistically significant effects. Replication studies, whether showing an effect or not, are essential to clarify the relation between day-care and attachment. This study of 105 12-month-olds is an attempt to replicate four similar studies summarized and combined by Belsky to show that infants in day-care are at risk for insecure attachment. In the present study, no results were robust enough to emerge consistently, although there was a trend for more negative attachment outcomes to be associated with little or part-time day-care rather than with full-time day-care. In general, the results suggest that the specific measures, definitions of full- and part-time, and statistical techniques used in studies examining the relation between day-care and attachment are likely to affect the outcome of such studies.

Infant feeding patterns during the first year of life in Denmark: Factors associated with the discontinuation of breast-feeding

We prospectively studied 500 infants born consecutively in a university-affiliated community hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, over the first 12 months of life using a detailed monthly mailed questionnaire (overall response rate = 73%) which focused on feeding practices and illnesses. Seventy-seven percent of respondents breast-fed their infants at 1 month of life compared to 19% at 12 months of life. Analysis of breast-feeding behavior using survival analysis showed that 50% of the mothers who breast-fed since the first month of their infant's life were still breast-feeding at 7 months of life. Also, there was a greater than two-fold increase in the rate of discontinuation of breast-feeding for infants in daycare compared to infants not attending daycare (RR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.43, 3.01). Discontinuation of breast-feeding was not significantly associated with the number of children in the family or with social class. These results give insight into infant feeding patterns in a developed country and suggest that: (1) breast-feeding is the dominant method of feeding during the infant's first year of life, and (2) the rate of discontinuation of breast-feeding is increased by the entry of these infants into daycare.

MOTHERHOOD DEVALUED

The value of "motherhood" has become a platitude, but it has so little moral force that, all over the country, we are forcing mothers to put their infants in day care so they can take jobs at the minimum wage. What does it say about our priorities that we feel it's more important for these women to flip hamburgers or clean hotel rooms than to care for their babies?

Infant day care. Maligned or malignant?

Today, the mothers of half the infants in the United States work outside the home. This concerns psychologists and parents because of the possible detrimental effects on these infants of separations from mother and experience in day care. Available data suggest that infants whose mothers work full time are somewhat more likely as one-year-olds to avoid their mothers after a brief separation and later to be less compliant with their mothers and more aggressive with their peers. The argument that these behaviors indicate that infants in day care are at risk for emotional insecurity and social maladjustment is evaluated in light of current research results. It is concluded that other interpretations of the data are more plausible and that further research on the factors moderating and mediating the effects of infant day care is needed.

Infant day care: Maligned or malignant?

Today, the mothers of half the infants in the United States work outside the home. This concerns psychologists and parents because of the possible detrimental effects on these infants of separations from mother and experience in day care. Available data suggest that infants whose mothers work full time are somewhat more likely as one-year-olds to avoid their mothers after a brief separation and later to be less compliant with their mothers and more aggressive with their peers. The argument that these behaviors indicate that infants in day care are at risk for emotional insecurity and social maladjustment is evaluated in light of current research results. It is concluded that other interpretations of the data are more plausible and that further research on the factors moderating and mediating the effects of infant day care is needed.

“The ‘Effects’ of infant day care reconsidered” reconsidered: Risks for parents, children, and researchers

In his article “The ‘Effects’ of Infant Day Care Reconsidered”, Belsky (1988) concludes that maternal employment puts infants at risk for developing emotional insecurity and social maladjustment. After a review of Belsky's and other research, this article offers a different conclusion. It is agreed that infants whose mothers work full-time during their first year are consistently and statistically significantly more likely than infants of mothers who work part-time or not at all to be classifed as insecurely attached when such infants are observed with their mothers in the Strange Situation. However, the difference is not large (8% greater probability), and it does not necessarily reflect emotional maladjustment. It is based on a single assessment procedure with a single partner, a procedure in which day-care infants may feel more comfortable than do other infants. Observations of heightened aggression in children who have been in day care as infants offer limited evidence of maladjustment as a consequence of maternal employment. But, there is no clear evidence that day care places infants at risk. Belsky suggests that observed day-care effects on attachment and aggression may be moderated by day-care quality; children's age, sex, and temperament; hours of separation from mother; overstimulation by mother; and congruence between the mother's attitude and work status. However, there is no convincing evidence that these factors are involved. The most promising factors to be used in accounting for individual differences in daycare infants' emotional development are the mother's attitude toward the infant, her emotional accessibility and behavioral sensitivity, and her desire for independence (her own and the infant's). What is needed now is research to assess and investigate such mediating factors, rather than blanket generalizations about day-care effects and implicit or explicit condemnations of maternal employment.

Effects of social and family factors on viral respiratory infection and illness in the first year of life.

A total of 131 infants were monitored from birth through the first year of life for respiratory viral infection and illness and evaluated for the relationship that these had to certain social and familial factors. The results showed no general patterns of association between viral infection and the study factors, but there were several significant individual associations. Excess influenza virus infection was found for black infants, infants with at least one sibling, and especially those with school age siblings. Rhinovirus infection rates were highest among girls attending daycare. In addition, significantly higher rates of lower respiratory disease (LRD) were seen in daycare infants and low socioeconomic infants and a definite trend to increasing amounts of LRD was seen with increasing family size. Protection from LRD seen in girls was apparently lost in daycare. No convincing differences for viral infection or respiratory illness were seen with parental smoking as an isolated factor.

Length of Day-Care Attendance and Attachment Behavior in Eighteen-Month-Old Infants

Differences in the attachment behavior of 18-month-old full-time, part-time, and non-day-care infants from intact middle-class homes were compared. Mothers of the day-care infants had made arrangements to return to work before their infants' birth, and all the infants had been placed in day-care homes before 9 months of age. The study involved 2 sessions: a home observation and the strange-situation procedure in a laboratory setting. The home-observation and rating scale scores of maternal behaviors directed at the child yielded few group differences. More full-time day-care children (but not part-time children) were found to display avoidance of the mother during the final reunion episode of the strange-situation procedure than did non-day-care children. The length of the daily separation appears to be an important determinant of day-care effects on infant-mother attachment.

Avoidance of the attachment figure and social-emotional adjustment in day-care infants.

Avoidance of the attachment figure and social-emotional adjustment in day-care infants.

Avoidance of the attachment figure and social-emotional adjustment in day-care infants.

Avoidance of the attachment figure and social-emotional adjustment in day-care infants.