Author: Dr. Brenna Ellison, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics

I think most parents will agree – finding childcare is STRESSFUL! (I mean parents are our example of stressed out consumers on Consumer Corner, after all.) Millions of parents in the U.S. require care for their young children. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates 59% of children who are 5 years and under receive non-parental childcare at least once per week. Not only do parents have to find childcare — they have to find affordable childcare from a provider they feel like they can trust…not always an easy combo!

For parents who use childcare centers, mobile apps (such as Brightwheel, Kangarootime and HiMama) are becoming an increasingly common tool to manage communication between parents and childcare providers. These apps provide an incredibly in-depth look at your child’s day, with a wealth of information on when they eat, nap (if you’re lucky!), go to the bathroom, are involved in an incident, and so on. They also send updates or announcements about class parties, school closures, etc. And, of course, the childcare provider can share pictures — mostly cute, though parents may also get the occasional picture of a rash or bite mark too…

While the apps are marketed on their ability to increase efficiency and improve accountability for the childcare provider, it’s also clear they are designed to improve transparency for parents who want to know their child is safe and appropriately cared for. I, too, very much want a good environment for my children when I cannot be with them, but…is it possible these apps create data and information overload for parents? It isn’t even just numerical data we’re being bombarded with; we’re talking words, pictures, and videos!

For example, a few weeks ago I received several messages about my 1-year-old from his classroom (in addition to the standard info related to eating/napping):

9:16 am: Diaper, wet & bm; Massive blowout, please bring more clothes for cubby!

4:01 pm: Incident: [Child’s name] was in a friend’s personal space, and the friend happened to bite. We separated them immediately and iced [child’s] arm. He was feeling better in a couple minutes.

Reminder: This is ONE day. As the mom, I’m thinking a few things:

    1. I have gross clothes to clean at home tonight…ugh;
    2. Did they really need to tell me it was a blowout? And did I need that information now? I mean this is a ‘need to know’ comingled with a timing question here. An end-of-day surprise may have been better than a day full of dread; and
    3. He got bit AGAIN (and, terribly, in the back of my mind — will he ever bite back? Should he?).

<As a sidenote, I fully appreciate the reasons why we call all of our classmates “friends”, but when they keep biting you, a small part of me says (to myself, of course), “I don’t think ‘friend’ is the right term. I mean, friends don’t chew on their friends…do they?”>

On these kinds of days, I’m also feeling a bit (okay, a lot) guilty — after all, what kind of mom knows their child is having a rough day yet doesn’t come pick them up early?

I suspect I’m not the only parent who has experienced this wide range of emotions stemming from the real-time data from their childcare provider. Anecdotally, I know several parents who, like me, are quite terrified of the phone notifications from their childcare app. Please don’t let it be a school closure or high fever!

So, what are parents to do? While the information stream is unlikely to stop, it is possible to slow it down. Parents can adjust their notification settings so their phones aren’t buzzing all day. And while the process of turning off notifications may cause some guilt on its own, information overload is a real thing, as is the anxiety that comes along with it. There doesn’t seem to be a right answer or single solution. Which leads to the next question … is it possible that the cutesy-designed, easy to use, adorable and advertised as such childcare provider app — the portal from parent to child during each and every day — is actually presenting the parenting equivalent of the commonly recognized wicked problem?

Will more frequent notifications cause you to change your behavior relative to your childcare situation? Likely no, I mean you waitlisted for that childcare spot before you knew you were pregnant, after all. But you may be less attentive to the responsibilities you have during the day while carrying the guilt aforementioned, which may have its own set of consequences.

ConsumerCorner.2023.Letter.11