Infant Program

Our infant room has been thoughtfully designed to create a safe, comfortable, and stimulating environment for babies at different developmental stages. The room is divided into several separate areas for mobile and non-mobile infants, ensuring each child receives the appropriate space and activities based on their abilities. We provide soft, cushioned surfaces with age-appropriate play items that encourage crawling, standing, and the exploration of their surroundings as toys that promote sensory development and motor skills while ensuring babies are secure and supervised at all times.

Removing shoes or wearing protective booties over shoes is required by staff and parents in order to keep the floor clean and germ free.

RATIO & aGES

There is one caregiver for every four infants, with a maximum of eight infants per day. Infants are never combined with any other age group, ensuring their safety and security in their familiar environment. Children remain in our infant room until about 12 months of age, however depending on a child's development, they can stay longer or move into the next classroom earlier, if needed.

SAFE SLEEP

Kids Choice has strict safe-sleep policies in place that are followed to ensure infant safety. Babies are always placed on their backs on a firm mattress with a fitted sheet - no blankets, stuffies or pillows. Babies can only sleep in a crib and are closely monitored by staff within sight and sound at all times. Safe sleep practices contribute to the baby’s overall development. When babies sleep safely and restfully, their bodies and brains have the opportunity to grow, repair, and process the experiences of the day, which is crucial for their cognitive and physical development.

Our infant room has it's own crib room with 8 assigned cribs, providing babies with a peaceful, quiet area to rest or nap.

DAILY REPORTS

Along with in-person communication during drop off and pick up times, parents are provided with a written daily report that keeps you informed about your child's day. The report includes diaper change information like when a diaper was wet or soiled as well as feeding information like times and amounts. By providing these daily reports, we aim to foster a sense of transparency and open communication between our caregivers and parents. We know how much you value knowing about your baby’s daily routine, and this information helps create a collaborative approach to your child’s care and development.

INFANT ROOM DAILY SCHEDULE

6:30am-10:00am - Breakfast, Story Time, Morning Snack, Morning Nap, Free Exploration

10:00am-1:00pm - Guided Sensory Activity, Guided Art Activity, Singing Nursery Rhymes, Lunch, Prepare for Afternoon Nap Weather permitting: Outside Play/Buggy Rides

1:00pm-3:00pm - Naptime/Quiet Time

3:00-5:30pm - Snack, Musical Instruments, Music, Story Time, Free Exploration

THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Diapering – Infants’ diapers are changed every 2 hours and as needed in between

Bottles – Bottle feedings are given according to each individual child’s needs

ASL – American Sign Language is taught throughout the day to help develop infants’ language and communication skills

Tummy Time – Monitored tummy time is practiced throughout the day

Tummy time helps babies strengthen their neck, shoulders, arms, and trunk muscles, which are needed for sitting up, crawling, and walking. It also helps babies develop head control and the ability to move around in new ways.

HOW INFANTS DEVELOP AND LEARN AT KIDS CHOICE

Through relationships with caring adults

It's important for your child to have nurturing relationships with the adults who care for them. A primary (main) caregiver works with the same few babies. She gets to know them well and forms close relationships with them, so the babies feel confident and secure.

Through active, hands-on play

Grabbing plastic rings, rolling on a soft blanket, making a toy squeak – what fun! Babies look, smell, hear, taste, and touch their way to understanding the world around them. Moving around freely in a safe space, babies can reach and explore objects - a key to learning. Caregivers offer infants safe, interesting materials that spark their curiosity and invite babies to discover what they can do with their own bodies and with the things around them.

By connecting new ideas to what babies already know and can do

By connecting new ideas to what babies already know and can do. All of us learn best when we can link new information to what we already know. The caregivers at Kids Choice help babies do this so that they build knowledge. Caregivers also connect learning to whatever your child is interested in, whether that's wheels or music or faces.

By exploring and making sense of their world

Our high-quality infant program gives infants plenty of time to play and explore. Babies need lots of experiences with objects and people to begin figuring them out. Caregivers help by telling babies the names of objects and describing what your child is doing. Over time, your infant begins to understand what things are and how they work.

Working with infants involves so much more than caring for their physical needs. Caregivers interact with children and offer them enjoyable experiences that lay the foundation for learning. Some of the ways they support babies are by:

Noticing your child's signals to learn what he's saying through his sounds and actions.
Building trust by responding quickly to babies' needs.
Setting up schedules and following familiar routines. Babies learn better when they feel secure and know what to expect.
Talking to your child during care giving times, like feeding and diaper changing. This makes your child feel valued and helps her build a strong bond with her caregiver.
Describing to your infant what's happening throughout the day. Regular communication helps him build lifelong language skills.
Creating safe spaces for your baby to move comfortably and freely, with interesting materials for her to explore.
Asking about routines you do at home with your child so the caregivers can do some of the same things in our environment.
Keeping you up to date on what your child knows and is learning so you don't miss a thing.
Offering lots of active playtime. Caregivers give babies plenty of space to play and build their muscles and coordination.
Giving infants the chance to explore outdoors when possible. Spending time outside helps children's health and brain development. Caregivers take babies on walks and also let them move freely in a secure outdoor space.

INFANT PROGRAM