Reply to Does SAHM make a difference during infant years?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think people really overstate the importance of any specific person on a baby's brain development.  Barring abuse or neglect, your baby's brain is going to develop the way it's supposed to -- babies are very good at getting what they need from their environment, and a lot of it is hard-wired.  They've been successfully developing for centuries before the word "neuroscience" was coined.  And he's not a high-performance automobile you can fine tune.

[b]If you want to stay home because that's what works for your family, not because it's going to make your baby smarter.  Your baby will thrive so long as he's fed, and cared for, and loved, as long as people smile at him and talk to him and sing him songs.  [/quote][/b]

This. With one caveat...I stayed home when my kids were babies-5yrs and I think the biggest impact was that my kids certainly got more sleep than they would have if I had to work a full day, pick them up, get home, make dinner, spend a little time with them, baths, etc.  My DS, in particular, turned into a raging mess if I tried to keep him up past 7pm.  When DH started having to work late he asked me to try to keep DS up a bit longer so he could see him and it was awful.  After a couple days I said, nope, you need to see him in the morning or do your work from home at night or something else but he needs to be in bed at 7 or we all pay the price.  I recall that one sleep book strongly advocated for a 7pm or even earlier bedtime for babies/toddlers and that bedtime just doesn't work for most working parents. Sleep is really important.  So, if both parents are working, be mindful of that and is there a way to adjust your schedules to be sure you build in plenty of time for sleep.

Other than that, my kids are teens now and they certainly don't remember anything about my years at home but I LOVED having that time with them.  But we could handle it financially on DH's salary and I had no trouble getting back to a similar-level job when my youngest started kindergarten so it all worked out for me. [/quote]

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