Shared care: negotiations between families and professionals in a child day care center

Based on a case study of a qualitative nature, this text analyzes the relationship between families and professionals in a child day care center in the process of sharing care during early childhood, using the techniques of observation, interviews and document analysis. The research studied the families and the professionals of a government-run day care center in the city of São Paulo. The conflicts between these social actors became evident, mainly, with regard to care related to feeding and hygiene. The task of sharing care demands from these professionals not only technical preparation, but training in listening to children and their families while taking their uniqueness into account, a requirement that can lead to reflections on the type of care that is most appropriate for the specificity of the group in question, considering the characteristics of locality in its historical and social context.