'Baby' child minders in Nigeria: Search for institutional framework

The arrival of new born babies brings joy to every family in Nigeria. Very often, the joy shifts from the arrival of the baby to the pain of finding child menders. While the parents look for daily bread, elder siblings,... [ view full abstract ]

The arrival of new born babies brings joy to every family in Nigeria. Very often, the joy shifts from the arrival of the baby to the pain of finding child menders. While the parents look for daily bread, elder siblings, relatives or members of the extended family, who are below the age of six years are left to the care of the younger baby. A 'baby' child mender could be a relative or another child from the community hired to take care of smaller babies. The situation can best be described as a baby taking care of another baby. The study investigates the risk factors for Nigerian children brought up by ‘baby’ child minders. Despite Child's Right Act and the family law in Nigeria in respect of those who should be child minders, a gap still exists between the policies and practices. The goals of this study were first, to investigate risk factors associated with these ‘baby’ child minders on the children they care for; two, why there are ‘baby’ child minders; three, what effect it has on the children; four, what can/should be done to stop the practice; fifth, effect of policies on ‘baby’ child minder. Method of investigation involves in-depth interviews and observations. Findings would be of interest to policy makers as it affects the child. This paper should be of interest to parents and to a border audience than just child minders in Nigeria.
key words:
‘Baby’ child minders.
Institutional Framework.