1.8 Consultation with Parents

Two focus groups were held with parents of children aged 3 or 4 years old.11 The

focus groups were conducted by an independent social and market research

company on behalf of DCEDIY. Both took place in mid-November 2024. There were

eight parents in each group, with a mix of mothers and fathers. There was also a mix

of family size, ethnicities, occupations, and geographical locations around Ireland.

Each consultation lasted 90 minutes and took place online.

The primary aim of the focus groups with parents was to identify any issues that were

emerging in the lived experience of families with young children that may not have

featured in previous reviews and consultations. The instructions to the facilitators

11 The age criterion was set as ‘3 to 4’ rather than just ‘3’ to include parents with recent experience of a 3-year-old even if they had since turned 4.

were to encourage spontaneous discussion of issues as much as possible, but a

discussion guide was agreed in advance should some prompting be required. This

included general prompts like what concerns they had as well as what they enjoyed

about being a parent of a child aged 3 years. There was also a specific prompt to both

groups about the environmental and sustainability challenges of raising a young child,

on the basis that sustainability is a key overall policy objective.

The table below gives a summary overview of the topics raised by parents, as

summarised by the facilitator who conducted the focus groups.

Table 1.8. Summary of topics raised by parents of children aged 3-4 years

Topic	Subtopic	Notes
Childcare and work-
	Difficulty securing childcare	Staff turnover in centres also mentioned
life balance
		Some employed mothers considering giving
	Cost of childcare
		up work
		Some feelings of guilt about too little time
	Balancing work and family life
		spent with child
		Using emergency services as cannot get
Healthcare access
	Difficulty accessing healthcare	timely GP appointments; long waiting times
and concerns
		for specialists
		Some specific concerns about COVID
	Vaccinations
		vaccines for children
	Impact of COVID-19	Likely won’t apply to parents of Cohort 24
Financial concerns		Cost of organised activities as well as food
	Rising expenses
and cost of living		and clothes
		Included specific concern about cost of
	Economic pressure
		healthy food over processed food
Child behaviour and
	Managing emotions and behaviours	Tantrums and stubbornness
development
	Encouraging independence	Children’s individual skills emerging
		Jealousy and fighting, fewer positive aspects
	Sibling dynamics
		of sibling relationships
Nutrition and feeding
	Picky eating habits	This was one of the most frequent themes
challenges
		‘Fooling’ children into eating healthier or
	Creative solutions
		more diverse foods
		Tempting to revert to processed or junk
	Food costs and accessibility
		food
	Food waste	Side effect of picky eating
		Young children want to eat what older
	Sibling influence
		siblings are having
Technology and		Ipads and ‘youtube kids’ mentioned multiple
	Managing screen exposure
screen-time		times
	Using digital devices to create ‘quiet	Devices used to distract children while
	time’	parent does something else

Topic	Subtopic	Notes
		Social media did not seem to be used with
	Digital influence
		children of this age
		Outdoor play mentioned as a good way of
	Balancing screen-time
		keeping children away from screens
Sleep patterns and		A number of parents felt their child slept less
	Disrupted sleep
routines		well now that they were older
		Sleep deprivation affects mood of whole
	Impact on parental well-being
		family
Playtime and		A number of parents said their child really
	Outdoor play
activities		enjoyed outdoor play
	Structured activities	Cost can be prohibitive
		Several parents made an effort to set aside
	Family time
		‘family time’
Safety and		Growing independence of the child brought
	Teaching safety
independence		safety concerns such as ‘stranger danger’
Environmental and
		Easier to walk to places when child was in a
sustainability	Driving rather than walking
		buggy
concerns
(prompted topic to	Recycling and reusing/Challenges	Schemes like ‘re-turn’ meant extra tasks for
both groups)	with sustainability	already busy families
Parental well-being		Also difficult to find time to do things just as
	Finding time for self-care
and self-care		a couple
		Some reports of elevated anxiety,
	Impact of parenting challenges
		compounded by sleep deprivation
		‘Cup of tea and quiet time’; support from
	Strategies for dealing with stress
		family
Family support and		Some families heavily reliant on family
	Role of extended family
dynamics		members for childcare
		Some tension between parents and
	Parenting approaches	grandparents about child-rearing (such as
		giving the child sweets)
	Sibling relationships	Mostly negative at this stage
		Some parents perceived a lack of community
	Support from communities	support in contrast to when they were
		children
Information sources		Preference for peers over older family
	Reliance on personal networks
and parenting advice		members
		Some parents particularly valued their own
	Use of instinct
		instincts for their child
Spending on family		Many families had Christmas outings
	Experiences as a family
experiences		planned
		Noted that activities and holidays were
	Cost considerations	expensive but potentially valuable for the
		child

Source: Report prepared for DCEDIY by Amárach Research, December 2024

Recommendations for new and/or expanded topics arising from consultations with parents