Are Your Children Safe with Their Grandparents?by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 07 Mar 2009 06:05 AM
This wasn't an easy decision to make, of course. Feeling would be hurt, and the matter had to be handled delicately. But, we feel that it was the best decision for our family and for the safety of our children. Depending on your situation, something like this might not be an issue for you. Many grandparents can provide a very safe environment for their grandchildren. Grandparents can often be more cautious and have more experience caring for children, giving less of a risk for accidental injury. Grandparents can also put children at risk when they are practicing outdated safety standards, such as not using a car seat, placing infants on their stomachs to sleep, lower hot water settings, etc. Many grandparents feel that since they successfully raised their children without death or serious injury, then their methods are safe. Of course, we know that this is not necessarily the case. You may want to educate the grandparents on modern safety standards and ask them to please honor your wishes when their grandchildren are in their care. So who in the family provides the safest care? Well, let's just take a look at one study done at the Department of Population Family and Reproductive Health at John Bloomberg School of Public health. It found that the safest environment, that is where toddlers suffered the least accidental injury occurred in homes where children were cared for by a stay-at-home mom older than 40 or by grandparents. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right. Related Articles: Reducing Your Child's Blood Lead Risk Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantbaby tags User Comments  oweirdo (33643) 07 Mar 2009 07:13 AMI had to make this same decision, and was glad we choose not to leave that baby with her Grandma. It is hard and feelings were hurt but, grandma ended up in the hospital while we were gone.  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 08 Mar 2009 04:15 AMIt is tough to deal with those issues, but I try to remind myself that the first priority is the children. gmcof05 (116) 09 Mar 2009 02:45 PMI think that it is good that a child is safe with staying with their grandparents for a day or two. I think it depends on the age of the child and the age of the grandparents. Like if a child was like 5 months and the grandparents are like in their 70's, then I dont think that it would be safe for that baby to stay with the grandparent. But if a child is 7 years of age and the grandparents is like 50 then I think the child would be safe because the child can talk, the grandparents would still have their strength to play activities with the child and they would be able to communicate with each other. do you remember the first time when your grandparents baby sitted you? Mary Ann Romans (26876) 09 Mar 2009 02:55 PMYou make some good points. Unfortunately, my grandparents weren't in my life, so I don't have any reference there.  ruthann8 (6378) 10 Mar 2009 11:18 AMMy mom is only 46 and she would care for Ellamae the way I want her too. She is always interested in all the new ways to raise a baby. And even though she successfully raised her children she understands that in some instances she is lucky nothing happened to us. She has even baby proofed her living areas and guest bedroom for us. My MIL is another story. I don't think I would leave Ellamae alone with her, she sees no reason to baby proof, which in a split level home with open staircases & makes visits very tiresome b/c I can't take my eye off her for a second! Ellamae has even broken some of her collectables. And my MIL has some issues that kind make her seem spacey at times. And I wouldn't leave Ellamae with either of the grandpas. My step dad has never raised kids or babysat and I don't want him practicing on Ellamae, maybe he can when she gets a little older. My dh's step dad has a brain injury , his short term memory is not very good and at first he wasn't even allowed to stay home alone himself (I think the FIL issues is causing the MIL to burn out, making her kind of spacey). It all depends on the situation and the grandparents. Community Tags baby safety, extended family, grandparents, toddler Discuss this article
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