January 18, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1423

SINGAPORE, Jan 17: Parents who leave their babies at a 24-hour Singapore childcare centre to get some freedom or escape the crying were heaped with a torrent of criticism on Friday from experts who said such arrangements can lead to trauma for the infants.

“I can empathize with busy parents, but sleepless nights and babies crying are a part of parenting,” said Dr. Khoo Kim Choo. “Learning to cope with it is part of being a responsible parent.”

The barrage of censure followed a Thursday article in The Straits Times about 24-Hour Care, a facility which takes in babies for days, weeks and months since it was launched in July last year.

A couple who left their nine-month-old daughter there because her father “can’t stand hearing children cry” and a couple who placed their infant son with the centre for three months so their daughter could come to terms with having a younger sibling were mentioned.

Centre manager Golfin Chong, 39, said he started the service on realizing there was a market for stay-in baby care. Eecutive mothers don’t work from nine to five,” he said. “They work from nine to 11.”

The newspaper’s interactive chat board was ablaze with reaction, with experts maintaining round-the-clock baby care should be used only as a last resort.—dpa