What to Look for in an Infant Room

by Dawn Johnson, former Child Care Answers QUALITY Coach

Every parent’s worst fear is leaving their child with an unsafe child care provider. Just looking around the care provider’s room can give you insight into how safe your infant is and the quality of care they will be receiving. A few things to observe and evaluate are your child’s caregivers, the quality of the room, toys and supplies in it, and the importance your child’s center places on parent communication and family engagement.

CAREGIVERS: WHERE ARE THEY AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

Excellent infant caregivers will be constantly engaged with the infants both physically and verbally. Infant caregivers should spend the majority of their day sitting or lying on the floor with the infants, talking about the infant’s actions “You have the measuring cup in your mouth. It is metal. How does it feel/taste?” and talking about what is happening around them “Aiden is reaching for your hand.”

You should hear the caregivers announce what is coming next, “I’m going to wash my hands and get your bottle warmed up” or “You’re bottle is ready, and I’m going to pick you up so we can wash your hands”. You might also hear a caregiver respond to an infant’s cry with reassurance when involved in a caregiving moment with another infant, “I can hear you crying, you are safe. I am feeding Sam right now and will feed you next.” The caregivers should be aware of each infant and available to meet each infant’s needs by placing themselves near the infants and engaging with the infants.

SUPPLIES: ARE THEY GOOD QUALITY AND AGE APPROPRIATE?

Here’s a short list of items that compliment an infants’ explorations:

• Shatterproof mirrors
• Balls
• Items to grasp such as rattles
• Items to chew on such as teethers
• Blocks
• Measuring cups
• Buckets
• Items to fill buckets that cannot fit in baby’s mouth
• Sturdy furniture to pull up on and cruise around
• Books that represent the routines in their world
• A variety of colors

These items are open ended and allow for infants to begin problem solving. None of the items should be broken or hazardous to infants.

FAMILY: IS IT WELL-REPRESENTED?

Each infant’s family should be represented in the room through photos, favorite books, songs, and culture. Photos might be found on cribs, in photo books, on the floor, on walls or shelves-anywhere that the infant might be able to see the photo. We also hope that when possible, family members will stop by the room or stay for a few minutes at drop off or pick up to show the infant that the infant room is a safe place for exploration.

Although there is an endless list of things a parent should look for, this is a good start to feeling comfortable with your infant’s care provider. If any of these things are missing in your infant’s room, talk to a teacher in the room to express your concerns. If you need help finding high-quality infant care need you, Child Care Answers can help. Their Child Care Referral Specialists can be reached at 1-800-272-2937.

Cover image by Flickr user Anthony Doudt, Creative Commons license.