I think I saw Cindy Haglund say to All on 22 Dec 97  10:01:28:  
 > Hi all. I read it three times just to make sure I was getting it right.
 > This article in the paper about allowing newborns to be placed in
 > daycare and also cutting back on supervision: such as allowing children
 > under four to use bathrooms on other floors of the bldg unsupervised.
No offense, but where have you been for the last 20+ years?  Newborns have 
been going to daycare for as long as there have been daycares willing to take 
them.  Daycare centers must meet certain requirements in most states, such as 
having a person assigned to the nursery only, to be responsible for only the 
babies there;  there's also limits on how many infants may be cared for 
maximum at one time; the place I worked for had a limit of 4 infants total in 
the nursery at that time, about 10 years ago.  Many day care centers also 
have lengthy waiting lists to get a child in the door; many expectant parents 
sign their kids up on a waiting list even before they're born.
I don't get the "other floors" bit; I've never seen a day care facility with
more than one story, either here in SoCal or in Central Florida (where I 
worked in daycare.)   
FWIW, I don't know if this is on topic for this echo; I'm sure it would be 
for the PARENTS echo.  
 >  Why would any sane woman put a newborn into daycare. I WOULDN'T !!!!!!!
It's a free country.  If I had three kids to feed & support (and I do) and I 
was their sole means of support, I might have to do it.  Sure beats being 
homeless and eating at the Salvation Army.
 >  I thought most businesses gave six month maternity leave. Or allowed in
 >  some cases for insite daycare? 
That's six WEEKS in most places AFAIK.  Lucky to get that.  Very few 
companies offer on site day care.  I don't know what time frame the Family 
Leave Act passed by Congress a year or two ago (?) calls for, or if it's more 
than a suggestion.  I think the amount of time for maternal/paternal leave is 
still up to the companies at this point and is not set by the federal gov't 
yet. 
BTW as a former family day care provider working out of my home, I resent the
implication that day care is an impersonal thing.  It's certainly not.  Maybe 
the big chain daycare centers are, but family day care is a whole different 
story.
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