Infants

The beginning of wonderful soothing pre-school memories starts in our infant classroom. Your infant is cared for by a enthusiastic and responsive staff in a calm, soothing, happy environment. Their daily needs are addressed with smiles and frequent eye contact. Loving interaction between infant and teacher is given during diaper changes, feedings, nap time, tummy time and playtime.

Teachers are constantly are talking to your infant about what they are seeing and experiencing thus encouraging their vocabulary development. Songs are frequently sung and soothing music is played during naps. There is plenty of cuddle time and infants are given plenty of individualized attention.
Parents are kept up to date with a daily report that explains feeding times, diaper changes, nap times, and activities that occurred through out each day. The staff is responsive to each parent’s concerns and suggestions and infant’s achievements are joyfully shared.

Our room resembles a relaxing home atmosphere with cribs, age appropriate toys, bouncers, high chairs and a comfy rocking chair. Each infant has their own cubby for personal items. There is adequate space for the staff to sit on the floor with infant during play. Your infant’s happiness and comfort is our first priority as we provide you with a safe and secure program.

Your Infant’s teacher plays a very important part in the young child’s environment! As a teacher, they help your infant learn and grow in every developmental area just by being attentive and affectionate, during routine activities such as changing diapers, going to sleep, and eating. They do this by talking with your infant, reading with them and supporting positive behavior.

For older infants who are on table food, we provide a breakfast, lunch and snack each day. It is our policy to provide children with nutritious, balanced meals. As children are beginning to master their self-help skills, we encourage them to use not only sippy cups, but also eating utensils. As the child begins to approach his/her toddler stage of life, we try to wean those children who will be entering the toddler room off their bottles.
Infants’ diapers are changed every 1 to 2 hours (depending on their eating/sleeping schedules) and after every bowel movements. Disposable gloves are used and our changing pad is washed down with a bleach and water solution.

Items You Will Need
The following are items that your child will need during the day:

• At least two extra outfits – Including pants or shorts, shirts, onesies and socks
• At least one blanket – To be taken home on Fridays to be washed
• At least two crib sheets – To be taken home on Fridays to be washed
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Diapering needs (powder, ointment, etc.)
• Bibs, burp cloths
• Formula and water prepared in bottles, juice, cereal, jar food, etc.
• Lotion
• Diaper bag
• Tissues

Infant Environment
It is a priority to keep the infant areas as clean as possible. We ask that everyone remove their shoes before entering. At the end of the day, and during the day, we use a bleach and water solution to clean cabinet tops, mats, tables, play equipment, etc. We use a variety of toys for each day.
To help keep our infant environment as germ-free as possible we ask parents to keep their child home when he/she is sick. Please refer to the center’s health policy in the Parent’s Handbook for proper guidelines.

Transitioning to the Toddlers
As our older infants are getting ready to join the toddler group, we would like the children to feel as comfortable as possible as they enter their new group, so we begin the “visiting” process. One or two children will go over to the toddler area. These visits will initially last about thirty minutes, and will extend to an entire day right before they turn one. Each child will experience eating and napping in their new group before the transition takes place. The decision to move a child up is based on your child’s age, their developmental level and the availability of a spot in the next group.

Developmental Milestones for Infants
In the first year, babies learn to focus their vision, reach out, explore, and learn about the things that are around them. Cognitive, or brain development means the learning process of memory, language, thinking, and reasoning. Learning language is more than making sounds (“babble”), or saying “ma-ma” and “da-da”. Listening, understanding, and knowing the names of people and things are all a part of language development. During this stage, babies also are developing bonds of love and trust with their parents and others as part of social and emotional development. The way parents cuddle, hold, and play with their baby will set the basis for how they will interact with them and others.