20 Feb 2017

With the advent of modernity, where some traditional roles are quickly being eroded, some parents swear they will stick to some of the old systems no matter how hard it can be.

One role that has been adversely affected by the arrival of employment and day care centres is early childcare.

While some mothers say they will never take their children to day-care centres for foster care even if they are out at work, others praise the facilities as the best things ever.

Those against the centres fear for the safety of their children, including mistreatment, while those for find solace in these centres because of the safety assurance they always get from the caregivers.

Gone are the days when a lactating mother would stay home for six months or more with their new born baby because today, working mothers have to go back to work at the turn of three months.

Moreover, it is increasingly hard for the parents to find good child minders with whom to leave their children while they are still at work fending for the family.

A working mother, Ms Ndiye Sebekwa, told BOPA in an interview that she prefers to hire a child minder because she will give the child undivided attention compared to a day care centre where the young ones have to scramble for attention.

Ms Sebekwa said even though baby minders were not reliable nowadays, she has faith in them because they play a role of mother to her child in her absence.

She added that with a maid, the baby has uninterrupted sleeping hours compared to a children’s centre where they have specific sleeping times.

The young mother of a nine-month-old baby boy said she however did not judge mothers who take their babies to day care centres because mothers have lost trust in maids.

“It is a dilemma because these centres have problems of dealing with disease outbreaks that can end up affecting the rest of the children in the vicinity,” she feared.

Another working mother, Ms Mmoloki Jenamiso, said it was a good decision to take her daughter to a day care centre because she was assured of security and safety.

She said to hire a maid was expensive because she would have an additional member in the house and that meant additional living expenses.

Ms Jenamiso said a day-care centre was advantageous because of their education component.

“Children develop good habits and manners while under trained child care providers and they learn to take care of themselves like going to the toilet and self-feeding through small portions,” she praised.

Ms Jenamiso further explained that the benefit of sending a child to a day care was that they would enjoy making friends and learning to socialize during a variety of outdoor and indoor activities which are otherwise lacking at home.

She said that even though the day-care centres were reliable to her as a working mother, sometimes they have to take emergency leave when the baby is not feeling well or when they get quarantined due to the flu virus they caught at school, which BOPA