Every Child Needs a Loving Mother — Every Day

I have been clear and consistent that all human babies and children need to be in the loving, daily care of an attentive mother instead of daycare where children are not loved all day.

It has always flabbergasted me that many women buy the nonsense that it doesn’t matter who comforts, nurtures, plays, holds, reassures, cuddles, feeds, and pays magical attention to their babies.

I have stood in front of audiences of thousands of women, many of whom show extreme displeasure at that concept. Each time I pose the question, "If you were to die right now and come back tomorrow, please stand up if you would rather be raised every day by a nanny, daycare, or babysitter instead of a loving mother."

No one has ever stood up. Funny.

They know what they would prefer, but the thought of being that giving engenders a hostile (defensive) response. I thought that was a brilliant way of making my point about the absolute need of a loving mother to raise children — and then I received something more brilliant:

"Hello, Dr. Laura, My name is Theodore, and I am 7.5 months old. I’ve been listening to your show since I was still an egg! Last week, my mommy had you on in the car and I heard you talk about daycare. I don’t know what daycare is, so I said 'ghee-ah.'

"I have a very smart mommy and luckily, she understood that I was asking what daycare is.

"I couldn’t believe when she explained it to me! I asked her if we could do some research to figure out how much daycare really costs.

"So, last week, mommy and I determined that full-time daycare would have cost us:

• 1 Parent and Me swim class with both mommy and daddy

• 1 elephant musical light show

• 1 morning snuggle in bed with mommy and daddy

• 3 FaceTime calls with Gigi (grandma)

• 4 walks

• 4 trips to the swings

• 4 times being comforted by mommy when I had a crying fit that could only be solved with a snuggle in the rocking chair

• 6 book readings

• 6 times zooming around the kitchen in my baby walker

• 7 trips to the store

• 10 nursing sessions

• 10 snuggles

• 12 playtimes with my own toys

• 13 diaper changes (not by a stranger)

• 14 naps in my own crib

• 20 hugs

• 29 giggles

• 58 kisses from mommy

• 167 smiles (including 23 strangers that I smiled at when out with mommy)

• 3,000 missed minutes.

"As you can see, daycare is too expensive for me and my parents.

"Thank you for all the work you do to keep babies like me out of daycare. It’s priceless.

"Love, Theodore."

Yeah. Argue with this kid! Hahahaha.

Dr. Laura (Laura Schlessinger) is a well-known radio personality and best-selling author. She appears regularly on many television shows and in many publications. Read Dr. Laura's Reports — More Here.

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