life - Grannies no longer good enough for children

The Shanghai Daily notes a remarkable new trend among the wealthy urbanites. They no longer entrust their parents with the care of their children, but hire specially trained care-takers. Traditionally grandmothers and grandfathers would take care of the children when their only child would go out to work. Since each Shanghainese baby would have four grandparents to take care of it, that already meant a lot of competition. Now, the parents think they need better care for their only child.

"The elder generation's knowledge of how to raise a baby is outdated now. A professionally trained child minder can provide both physical and mental care for baby and mother," Zhao said.