[ ECDI ] [ Prevention Center ] [ PAKEYS ] [ CAHHDI ]

Capital Area Early Childhood Training Institute

Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development

FOR   PARENTS

Links

Resource Library

Developmental Milestones

Infant Childcare

Parent Mentoring Manual

Infant Child Care

By Richard Fiene, Ph.D., Abbey Griffin, Ph.D

Finding the child care that is right for your child and family? The following are some of the things you will want to think about, talk over with family and friends, and use to interview, observe and select infant/toddler child care.

Some questions about your infant or toddler that help you and family members think about the kind of child care that will be best for your baby:

• Consider your baby's temperament and age. Some children are happier in smaller groups (family day care, for example) and others thrive in settings with larger numbers of children (child care centers). Some children are happier being home with a caregiver and seeing other children on an occasional basis through small play groups.
• What is your unique child like? How does s/he respond to changes in daily routines, to new places and people, new foods, new toys, textures and smells, noise level?

Some questions about your family that help you know what kind of child care you need:

• How many hours of child care do you absolutely need? If you need more than 8 hours of child care, consider that many infants and toddlers can be over-stimulated and overwhelmed by being in a group for long periods of time. You might consider a center that offers small, intimate groups. A family child care home where a provider cares for 4 to 6 children with only 2 under 2 years of age may be perfect.
• Do you need care during non-traditional work hours (evenings, nights, weekends)? Family child care is more likely to offer non-traditional hours, but increasingly there are centers that serve employers or communities where many families work late shifts, early morning or night hours.
• Irregular schedules can be hard on infants and toddlers. Although, they don't read a clock, they use the routines of the day as well as their internal "body clock" to sense when to look for you. You will want a family child care provider, center caregiver and director you can talk to and who will help your baby to feel secure that you are coming back.
• How important is it to you that the caregiver shares your culture and speaks your home language? Right from the start, babies are busy learning about those who are most important to them (you). In the first days of life they recognize the particular sounds of your language. In the first months, they learn about you through the smells of the foods you cook, the texture and smell of your cloths and the music you listen to. If you can not find a family child care home or center that share your culture and language, ask what you might bring to the child care that come from your culture and language, for example music and pictures.

What do we know about quality infant and toddler care? What follows is what the child development experts say.

• Small groups and good staff to child ratios mean individual attention for your baby. Ideally, no more than 6 young babies (younger than 9 months) in a group with 1 adult for every 3 babies; for mobile infants (about 8 to 18 months) a group size of 8 with 1 adult for every 4 babies; and for toddlers (about 18 months to 36 months), a group size of 12 with 1 adult for every 4. But, state or local child care regulation and rules are often weak (a bad thing) or because the child care home or center may have mixed age groups (a good thing), you will have to juggle the numbers. For example, in a mixed age group of 6 children there may be 2 children under 2 years of age. This ratio is quite manageable for a skilled provider/caregiver who knows that babies learn a great deal watching and playing with older children; and knows how to organize the space so that the activities are individually tailored for each child.
• Primary caregiver assignments offer your baby and you one person who is principally responsible for your child. In family child care, this is a moot question because there is usually only one person. In centers that often operate long hours and caregivers work shifts, your primary caregiver's schedule may not match your baby's hours at the center, which means you should work out with the director and caregivers who you can meet with to talk about your baby's day.
• Health and safety is critical in group care of any kind to prevent illness and injury. Ask the family child care provider or center staff about their health and safety policies and procedures. These should be written and available to families.
• Indoor and outdoor space that is stimulating and well organized means that you should see books, toys, sensory materials (pictures at eye level for infants and toddlers; different textures and floor surfaces for younger infants; water table, sand tub, play dough, and paint for mobile infants and toddlers), dolls, climbing equipment, music, blocks, animals, people and cars. Cribs and cots should have individual sheets and covers. While young infants are held or in high chairs, mobile infants and toddlers should be able to eat family style in comfortable and safe small chairs. There should be enough for all children in a group but not so much that the area seems cluttered. Floors and playground surfaces should be shock absorbent and clean.
• Training in child development and specifically in caring for infants and toddlers in groups is essential. Why? It is both because of the "groupiness" of child care and because each baby is unique. Family child care providers, center directors and caregivers should understand that infants and toddlers are unique in how they communicate their needs, in how they approach and respond to new people, things and places, in activity level, in how much they sleep, when and how often, in eating patterns, as well as how they like to be held, touched, how long and how intently they can focus on an activity, etc.
• Responsive caregiving can be observed and heard. The responsive family child care provider or center caregiver talks to individual infants and toddlers and really listens to each often getting down to the baby's eye level to encourage communication. The responsive provider and caregiver reads to infants and toddlers individually and sometimes in small groups. The responsive provider or caregiver can tell you something special about each child and makes you feel through questions and interacting with your baby that s/he is special too.

You can have a significant influence on the quality of your infant/toddler child care. Good family child care providers, center directors and caregivers want you as a partner in ensuring the best for your child. Here are some things that you can do:

• Talk to your family child care provider or caregiver every day. Be honest about anything that disturbs you and listen carefully to what your provider/caregiver say. They can offer you invaluable insights into your baby or into child development in general. They can also share with you what they need in order to improve the quality of care.
• Understand that while we want educated, well organized and well equipped child care, this is one of the most poorly funded professions in our country today. Your provider or caregiver probably earns a salary equal to a parking lot attendant with few to no benefits and minus the tips. Child care and those dedicated to the care of young children have fewer professional requirements than your hairdresser does.
• What you share is the desire to give the best to your baby. If parents and caregivers work together, their voice will be loud enough to demand more public and private funding and make child care better for all babies.

Common misconceptions about babies and toddlers.

• Brain development is so rapid in the first 3 years that babies need structured activities to teach them what they will need for school. NO! Your baby was born ready to learn. Your baby communicates and knows about language before s/he says words. Your baby wants to learn and, as s/he develops, s/he has the necessary capacities and motivation to acquire new mental, physical, emotional and social skills. What parents and other adults can do is provide the talking, reading, singing, things to touch, smell, see, hear and taste that expand the baby's experiences. The most important gift you can give your baby is emotional support - your love.
• Babies can not be over-stimulated. The more they have to see and do the better. NO! Babies are born individuals who differ in how much and how long they can focus. When tired, waking, hungry, wet or, otherwise distressed your baby will tell you and a new toy or activity will not do the trick. Infants and toddlers are learning to focus or concentrate as well as make choices. When their play space is cluttered, too noisy, or full of moving bodies, it is more difficult to accomplish these skills.
• The more people my baby gets to know the more social or adaptable s/he will be. NO! Parents may also believe that changes in who cares for their baby do not matter because their baby is attached with them. Parents are the primary caregivers and your baby will always be most attached to you. However, the relationships they form in child care are very important. Your baby needs to form a strong, trusting relationship with a few caregivers or your provider in order to know they are secure while you are away. These relationships help them feel safe to explore and learn. The provider and caregiver are your partners for those few but important years of their early childhood. The quality of those relationships can have a lasting effect - for good or bad.