Responding to defences against anxiety in daycare for young children

Abstract

This paper considers the defences against anxiety of both parents and daycare workers which impede thought about how to provide a high quality of daycare for young children. It shows how attachment theory can provide a structure for thinking about children's experiences in daycare and uses infant and child observations to illustrate this. It makes proposals for developing practice to provide both ‘good enough’ and therapeutic daycare.

Key words:

• Daycare
• attachment
• child observation
• anxiety