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Our staff is well-versed in responding to each infant’s individual style of signaling. Each infant is fed, changed, and put down for sleep on the basis of expressed needs: “Supply and Demand – they demand; we supply.” We work with the infants to develop a daily rhythm that is best-suited for their individual needs. Special attention is focused on feeding and diapering, which provide a unique opportunity for one-on-one interaction. Although our older infants enjoy the experience of eating together at lunch in a group, bottle-feeding remains a time for cuddling and soothing. The chances of your child maintaining the same routine at home and here are about one in a thousand. F rom personal experience (all three of my children having been in my program), I can tell you that they become “company bottle keepers.” Their friends are having a bottle so they will join them, even if they had 5 oz. or more 20 minutes ago. Sleeping can be a real challenge. They are so excited with their surroundings that they are afraid they are going to miss out on something to sleep. So we try to encourage them to take naps as often as we can. Mealtime is a time for contradictions, from a parent’s point of view. Whatever they ate the night before may not be their same favorites here. Or better yet, they always seem to like what is on their neighbor’s plate. Therefore, we are happy to write down for you what they seem interested in. In addition to the personal time spent with a baby in daily routines, the children’s individual schedules of activity and naptime provide the opportunity to learn individual play as well as stimulation in groups. Games, songs, reading, and an introduction to manipulative toys are elements of our group activities. The staff is also very aware of each child’s developmental progress. We work with each child at their own pace to encourage the reaching of developmental milestones such as sitting up, crawling, walking, the use of a cup, and the beginning use of language. We keep charts for all infants. It is crucial that you fill out your child’s chart daily. The information you provide about your child will help us understand their mood and sleeping condition from the night before. You are welcome to take the chart home and continue the pattern we started so that you may remember your child’s day. Infants stay in the Infant Room until they are capable of walking confidently and until their daily rhythm of eating and sleeping is regulated enough to participate in the Caterpillar/Pre-Toddler Program. When an infant seems several weeks away from the transition to the next group, we begin to introduce then to the next room. This allows them to get acquainted with the existing pre-toddlers on a more one-to-one basis and lessens the apprehension to change. Some of us may adapt to change faster than others; there fore if a child is shows readiness, we encourage early graduation. Our goal is to provide an atmosphere and learning environment for children that will ease the minds of parent’s while they are at work.
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