When you are faced with choosing a child care centre for your child: A guide for choosing a quality and safe learning environment

          My blog is not only for discussing sleep issues but also for development, education, community resources for infants and toddlers. I received a request from an amazing mom who I had recently helped with her baby’s sleep. She is thinking about putting her little one on the wait list for a child care program (I know it is a big problem in Metro Vancouver, some places have a wait list of over 12 months).  She told me she was looking for a high quality and safe setting but she doesn’t know what to look at. So I thought this may be a great opportunity to share my insight about a quality and safe learning environment.

Why environment?

The environment has a great impact on improving children’s abilities, how well they can learn, when they use particular skills and how competent they are perceived to be.

Safe environment

Did you know many children are injured or worse because of preventable accidents? It is very important to check if there are any conditions, events or situations that may cause unintentional child injury and death at a centre.

Quality environment

Along with the home environment, the child care environment where your child will spend a tremendous amount of time largely influences their outcomes. A good quality environment can provide positive learning experiences and pathways to reach their optimal outcomes. 

What do you actually need to look at?

A centre based learning environment has multiple layers, and these factors influence the quality of children’s experiences and their learning. These are possible questions you can ask or check for each layer.

Diagram from McLean, Wolery, & Bailey, 2004, p.220

Ⅰ. Interactions: Interactions with teachers and peers.
- Do the teachers speak in a warm fashion to children?

- Are children encouraged to interact with peers?

Ⅱ. Classroom Features: Classroom curriculum, practices, schedules and nature of activities, materials.

- Does the centre have structured, but flexible schedules based on the child’s needs?

- Does the centre provide safe and developmentally appropriate activities and materials?

- Do the activities and materials promote different skills that children need to develop? (e.g. language skills, big muscle skills, small muscle skills, social skills, cognitive skills, self help skills)    

Ⅲ. Classroom Staff Characteristics & Classroom Structure: Education and training, experience, beliefs and goals of the teachers, child-teacher ratio, group size, arrangement of physical space, equipment, furnishings and hours of operation.

- Is the centre licensed, unlicensed, or licensing not required?
(If specific outcomes are the goal such as tutoring, the child care does not require a license, however, licensed centers must meet and comply with the Community Care and the Assisted Living Act as well as comply with Child Care Licensing Regulations. You can view the Child Care Licensing Regulation at www.health.gov.bc.ca/ccf/)

- What are the qualifications of teachers?
(e.g. responsible adults, assistance license, early childhood educator license, infant and toddler license, special needs license - all of them must have had a criminal record check)

- How many teachers and children are in each class?
(Group care: under 36 months -12 children with 3 teachers min, over 36 months- 25 children with 3 teachers, Preschool : 20 children of the ages of 3 to 5 years old with 2 teachers max, Family child care: 7 children with 1 adult, Multi aged care: 8 children with 1 teachers in B.C.)

- Is the classroom big enough and well-arranged? Can children move around freely?

- What are the hours of operation?
(Group centres offer year-round, full-day care, typically opening between 7:00/8:00 a.m. and closing between 5:00/6:00 p.m)

- What other spaces are provided that add to the learning experience? 
(i.e. playgrounds)

- Are there any potential hazards?
(e.g. cutting boards, cleaning supplies)

- How can the teachers and classrooms accommodate children with special needs? Do the teachers have the proper abilities in order to support the child? Is there limited access to certain spaces and materials for the child?

Ⅳ. Administrative Characteristics: Philosophy, administrative structure and support of staff.

- Does the philosophy of the centre meet your child’s needs and interests?

- How is the inclusive program operated? (e.g. fully or partially)

- Do the policies meet your child’s needs and interests? If not, is it flexible to meet them?

- Is there funding support as well as specialist support for children with special needs?

 ★It is important to assess the environment as well as communicating with the teachers and administrators to let them know your priorities, beliefs, needs of your child before and after entry into the program in order to be able to set common goals for your child. There is a very useful website with a check list. http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/ : Parents’ Guide to Selecting and Monitoring Child Care in B.C.

Getting the rest you deserve!

           If you are reading this, you are probably exhausted and worried about not only your child’s sleep but also your own. I know you probably can’t remember the last time you had more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep. You probably find yourself being short with others and irritated. Even the smallest of problems can make you upset. This can affect your relationship with others, including your husband. Moreover, a lack of sleep can also cause postpartum depression. 

          I always ask parents to take time out of their hectic schedules to rest before and during sleep training. Now, I know what you are thinking… “Is that even possible? If it was possible, why did I come to you?” Though sleep training requires a lot of energy, time, and most importantly, a commitment from parents, you still must consider your own rest in order for this plan of action to succeed. It may seem obvious but parents can be more productive, patient and make better choices for their babies with more rest. So how can we make this all happen?

           My first suggestion is whenever your baby sleeps, so should you! Even though you cannot fall asleep with your baby, you can still lie down, close your eyes and empty your mind. Forget about those house chores!  It is ok to order food, postpone the laundry even though that means your husband might have to wear that same pair of underwear for an extra day! It doesn’t make you a bad mother or wife, it just means that you are addressing your needs which will also benefit your child. Remember, you can always take care of these things after you take care of yourself. 
 

          Secondly, get as help as much as you can. Once you start sleep training, having a guest is not a good idea since it can over-stimulate your baby. However, if you want to accumulate energy for sleep training, consider help from those that you trust such as your partner, family members or friends. For example, ask your partner to take charge of night time waking so you can sleep at night. Your mother can come over and help you out over the weekends. You can set up a play day with your friends who can take care of your older one. If you can afford it, hire a housekeeper. Now is the time to use whatever support you can get. 

           Lastly, sleep train your baby. Teaching your baby how to fall asleep by himself/herself, stay asleep and enjoy sleep is the greatest gift you can give your baby. You may have already realized your baby’s sleep helps the well-being of the entire family. Once your baby sleeps well, you are not going to worry about your baby’s growth and development due to a lack of sleep. Moreover, you will have your sleep and even that date night back!

           Being a well rested parent is one of the best ways to be a great parent!

Please contact us if you’d like to take the next step in sleep training your baby - cdababysolutions@gmail.com

What to expect

          Now, you feel that it is time for change. You worry that your baby doesn’t sleep because you know her lack of sleep will effect her development and growth. Also, you and your partner haven’t had a good sleep last few months or so. You find yourself being exhausted,impatient, and not productive as much as you used to. In some cases, this causes the relationship issues with your partner. Yes! It is time to change.

          You have chosen us and we guarantee you that will experience the best individualized service from us. Before starting this journey together, we would love to let you know what you will go through. It may sound scary, but you know we will do our best to make this journey smoother and shorter. So, believe in us and yourself and follow us. You will see the dramatic change within few weeks and you can have your date night back!

          1. Your baby will cry.

          We will find a way to reduce your baby’s crying since you, a loving and caring parent will feel pain on every part of your body when you listen your precious baby’s crying. Bad news is sleep training involves crying. I know it is sad. The good news is it is a different crying! It doesn’t mean he/she is crying because she is sad or in pain. It doesn’t mean he/she feels betrayed you since you let him/her cry. They are crying because he/she is frustrated during the process of learning how to fall asleep (they don’t know what to do). He/she is crying to protest you because he/she want his/her old sleep props (nursing, rocking, walking, pacifier, etc). The better news is this crying is temporary. He/she will stop crying when he/she masters how to put himself/herself to sleep. He/she will enjoy resting his/her body and mind and become more energetic! We can promise you!

          2. Your life will revolve around his/her sleep. 

          Sleep training requires parents’ time, energy and commitment. Your priority will be your baby’s sleep. We know you are busy at work, need to go to grocery shopping, take the older one to school, want to meet your friends, have a dinner party to go to, and prepare a family gathering. However, next few weeks, you need to come back home on time for his/her sleep. Yes, we mean both naps and night sleep. You can be flexible once your baby complete the sleep training, but not during it. Your schedule is determined based on his/her sleep schedule. If you are planning to have special events such as moving, travel, going back to work, having an another child, etc, it is not a good time to start the sleep training. We can wait until when you are ready. Let us know when the best for your family is.

           3. You will be tested.

           When your baby is crying, you want to be rush to him/her and pick him/her up. When your baby cannot sleep, you feel that you need to help him/her by rocking and walking. When he/she looks very tired and cranky, it is tempting to go for a stroller ride or a car ride. When your baby wakes up at night, you know that he/she will fall back to sleep after you nurse after you bring him/her to your bed. We all understand. You will find yourself to be challenged because you are a caring parent. Your instinct as a good parent keeps saying, ‘go to your baby and help him/her!’ However, what is your baby’s best interest? You can still love him/her endlessly during the sleep training. Are you worried about attachment? We can tell you one thing. You don’t need to worry! If someone tells you your baby will have a attachment issue because you have sleep trained your baby, this person misunderstand Bowlby’s attachment theory!. Bowlby didn’t say you need to let your child do whatever he/she wants without guidance. Bowlby didn’t say you cannot teach something to your baby since it may be tough to your baby at first. Trust me! If you are a responsive parent during the whole day and be firm about undesired behaviours such as sleep issues, you are not going to have any problems to develop secure based attachment with your baby.

           4. Feeding too??

           You are here to address your baby’s sleep issues, not the feeding issues. We know. You may have fed him/her on demand. You see he/she seems hungry and you feed him/her right away to make your baby happy again with his/her full belly. However, feeding and sleeping go together. Without proper feeding schedule, it is impossible to address his/her sleep issues. Moreover, if your baby has established solids, the types of foods affects his/her sleep. Of course, if you are a breastfeeding mother, your diet impacts on his/her sleep tremendously. In terms of night time nursing, we are not going to ask you to stop nursing if you want to continue. We will find the best way of night time nursing which is accommodates his/her quality sleep. However, we advise you to wean night time nursing if your baby is over 6 month and healthy.

           Sleep is a learned skill. We cannot sleep for him/her. We can only help him/her to find his/her own way to sleep. Mastering sleep will be a gift for your baby. 

If you are ready for change, please contact us via cdababysolutions@gmail.com