Children in daycare too early: psychologist warns of irreversible damage

Created: 06/18/2022Updated: 06/18/2022 09:12

By: Judith Brown

Does an early daycare visit harm the children?

For psychologist Stefanie Stahl there is no doubt about it (symbol image).

© Cavan Images/IMAGO

Can the daycare center harm children?

Psychologist Stefanie Stahl warns parents of a loss of trust that cannot be reversed. 

Trier – It used to be completely normal for mothers to stay at home at least until their children started kindergarten at the age of three.

It's very different these days.

More and more women are ending their maternity leave earlier in order to go back to their old job.

Either because they are single parents and therefore dependent on the money.

Or because they can balance child and career and don't want to lose touch with the world of work.

Children in daycare too early: star psychologist Stefanie Stahl warns of irreversible damage

Since parents in Germany have a legal right to a daycare place, the youngest children are often placed in a daycare center at the age of one.

Experts have so far disagreed on whether this is beneficial or harmful for the development of the child.

The well-known psychologist Stefanie Stahl is one of the "daycare skeptics".

She even warns of irreversible damage to children if they are placed in third-party care too early.

According to Stahl, even a later fear of commitment usually arises in the first two years of life.

Children go to daycare too early: there is a lack of basic trust from the parents

In an interview with “Focus Online”, the expert emphasizes that experiencing and learning about safety is immensely important for children in their first two years.

In order to experience security, children need basic trust, which is conveyed to them by their parents in the first few months and years.

The brain of a child is shaped by the experience of its environment.

"When I experience as a child that mum and dad are happy that I exist, they take good care of me and love me very much, then the brain connects via the hormonal and neuro-biological processes that are taking place."

A study by scientists focused on the fact that the basic trust between the child and the parents could be damaged if the babies did not react immediately to their crying and screaming.

The result showed that children would calm down as they got older if their parents reacted more calmly and hesitantly to their offspring and didn't jump as soon as they screamed and cried.

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Psychologist Stefanie Stahl predicts "hardware damage" for daycare children

In this way, the child develops basic trust and the conviction that “I’m ok and there are people out there I can trust.” But what happens in a child’s brain when it is cared for by a kindergarten teacher instead of its mother during the day?

Then, according to Stahl, there may be "hardware damage", which in turn can have serious consequences and can no longer be reversed.

"If children come to the day-care center too early and the sense of security is not strong enough, it will later be irreversible," warns the psychologist.

Children need security and safety: According to Stefanie Stahl, they only get this from their mother

In the first twelve months, babies need security and safety.

According to the expert, this can “honestly best be done by the mother as a caregiver”.

She conveys this feeling through physical contact, comforting and stroking.

“This causes the brain to release calming hormones.

The child's brain cannot regulate stress itself.

Only with mum and dad does the brain find its way and the child gets security,” Stahl continues.

However, this cycle does not arise if a child is in daycare too early or too long.

Children without a sense of security are "stressed much more quickly because they cannot regulate down."

Does daycare harm children?

Developmental psychologists claim the opposite

Developmental psychologists see it quite differently.

According to the parents' magazine "Family", they agree: if a teacher is available to the children as an additional caregiver, it does not harm the little ones.

This was shown, for example, by a 2016 study by Veit Roessner, head of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Dresden.

A study of 4,000 children found that children who were cared for by someone else in their first or second year of life suffered less frequently from mental disorders over the course of their lives.

Former daycare children are also said to have performed better in the school entry examination, as a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation from 2016 showed.

Sometimes the upbringing of their own parents harms the children more,

Whether or not you send your child to day care naturally depends on your personal circumstances.

If you decide to do this, your child should always have a permanent caregiver in the daycare center.

You should also pay attention to the quality of the day care center and give you and your child enough time to settle in.

This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication.

In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.