Grandparents are best at caring for babies

Times:

The grandparent who plays babysitter is not only the cheapest and most easily exploited form of childcare but also the safest, research suggests.

An American study has confounded fears that grandparents are likely to be out of touch with the best modern childcare techniques by showing that they cut the risk of a child getting injured by up to half.

The research at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, indicated that infants were less likely to be taken to hospital or see a doctor as an urgent case while being watched over by their grandmother as opposed to other childminders or even their own mother or father.

...

... of the 227 infants who were treated in hospital for an injury in the past year, 32 per cent were being looked after by a nonrelative or were in daycare, compared with 11.9 per cent who were being looked after by grandparents.

It makes sense to me. I am probably more relaxed with my grand kids than I was with their parents, and I enjoy having them around so much it would be hard to be inattentive. I suspect most grandparents feel that way. I know my Mom delighted in taking care of my son and they always had a big time together.