Just sharing what I know about day care ratios:

In California in commercial day care:

1:4 for infants
1:8 for 1-2
1:12 for 2 and above!

In some family day care settings there can be a mixture of ages, hence a
place where one could conceivably have an infant in a 1:12 ratio.

As a working single parent without nearby family, choosing daycare vs. not
working was not an option.  This is definitely the case for many women in the
US.  Especially now that there is "welfare reform" many low income moms have
to return to work.
I'm fortunate, I'm a doctor-but I couldn't afford 1:1 daycare for my son.

I think it is great that some women have the opportunity to stay home with
their children.  I only had the opportunity to do this for the first 5 months
of my child's life, took a pay cut to work part time until he was 2 1/2.

My concern is developing better childcare.  Most child care workers are paid
around the minimum wage, those with degrees in child development many times
make only a few dollars above minimum wage. Many of these jobs lack benefits
such as sick leave and health insurance. This doesn't make for a very stable
workforce.

How about lobbying and working for improved childcare?  In my area I have
been lucky to work with the local child development department at a junior
college.  They have developed an infant/toddler training program and lab
school.  There is a full parenting component, with mental health and
parenting support services.  We have classes in infant massage, developmental
stages, dad's classes.  I get to teach the parent-infant interaction class
(mixed with parents, expectant parents and non parents)- my opportunity to
expose students to breastfeeding information and attachment parenting.  It's
my little contribution but sometimes I think I have more of an impact than
when I am in an exam room.

Pierrette Mimi Poinsett, MD, FAAP
Modesto CA

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