The Rooms: Baby Room
Ssssshhhhhhh - This is the quiet room!
Staffing Ratio: 1:3
Age Range: 3 Months - 18 months
In the Baby Room we try and make the feeling home from home. We promote a friendly and loving environment for the babies to thrive in. We have ample cuddles to go round for all!
The youngest baby we have had in the room was only 11 weeks old but generally children start with us at around 6 months old. Prior to starting the nursery we organise settling sessions for both mother and baby and the amount of settling we need to do will depend on what the placement is. We do not charge for these settling sessions.
Induction will involve learning all about a child's routine as well as making parents familiar with all our policies - including our weaning policy, which is especially important in today's society where more and more children are developing food allergies. All information that we gather is then placed on our records and kept in the room for all staff to make themselves familiar with. Each child is given a keyworker and the keyworker then becomes the main contact for parents.
We have a daily report sheet which staff will go through with parents at the end of the day. It has information about sleeps, play activities, feeding and nappy changes etc.
Because the children have such different routines we have no set structure to the day but in general there is a floor stimulation period in the morning, some craft activities such as hand and foot prints and a different toy rota morning and afternoon. There is also a large toy rota with toys like the kitchen, crawl tunnel and ball pool.
Because of our idyllic village setting we like to take the children out for walks around the village and a trip to the local park to play on the new equipment is always a treat. During the summer we have a large 20' x 10' shade which allows us to keep the children outside for longer in the shade.
Children's development is recorded in our charts which link the Stepping Stones, Early Learning Goals and Birth to Three Matters into one record system. This record follows the child through the nursery and key information about a child's development is recorded so that when parents come to our Open Evening in the Summer they can look at all stages of their child's development.
Once the children have mastered skills such as walking and feeding themselves they are ready for more adventure in the Toddler Room. The transition is managed carefully and parents are always kept informed of the transition process to the toddler room. As children develop at different rates we cannot set an age when they will move, usually staff will know, but it will usually be around 18 months.
