Handout #4
Child Development Ages and Stages, Session 1
CCPDI, OCC, CCR&R Career Ladder Core Training – page 1
Making the Most of Infant Care Giving Routines
All-important attachment relationships are best developed through the care giving routines
that take place naturally throughout the child care day. While performing care giving
routines, do your best to focus fully on the individual child you are working with and
consider these pointers that will enable you to make the most of your infant care giving
routines.
Arrivals and Departures:
“How we handle separations is developed early in life, literally from our Peek-A-Boo days when
we first deal with the disappearance and reappearance of someone we love. How we help
children handle separation, then, is of the first importance and is truly life-shaping.”
-- Rita M. Warren, Caring: Supporting Children’s Growth
Arrival and departure times may not seem like a big deal for the very
young infant, but at about nine months of age, infants begin developing separation anxiety,
at which point they may become very upset at a parent’s departure. This can be an
especially difficult time for infants, parents and caregivers alike. You can support infants
and their parents in this routine as you:
 Do all you can to create a peaceful transition time for parents and their infants.
 Acknowledge that separation can be difficult, while reassuring parents that their
child will be well-cared for and will not stay upset for too long.
 Help parents create a goodbye routine or ritual and explaining that this consistency
is comforting to infants.
 Help parents leave immediately following the goodbye ritual.
 Ensure there that an exchange of information takes place.
 Allow the infant to express the sorrow s/he feels and avoid minimizing or distracting
an infant from his or her feelings.
 Create an interesting environment that will entice infants to get involved in
something when they are ready.
Feeding:
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we
are doing and devote our attention to eating.” -- Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright,
Pavarotti, My Own Story
Food always has, and continues to play a central role in bringing people
together. This should be true in regards to feeding times with infants, as well.
You can make the most of the feeding routine by implementing the tips below:
 Feed infants when they are hungry;
 Make every provision to support nursing mothers.
Handout #4
Child Development Ages and Stages, Session 1
CCPDI, OCC, CCR&R Career Ladder Core Training – page 2
Making the Most of Infant Care Giving Routines
Ensure that bottle fed infants get the same kind of one-on-one
attention and physical closeness that breast-fed infants
receive, by holding them during feedings.
 Have the same caregiver feed the baby each day, if possible.
 Recognize parents as the guide about when to start solid foods
(the recommendation now is to start solids no sooner than four to six months).
Introduce new foods one at a time.
Allow feeding to be a social experience. Talk with infants while you are feeding
them. When they are able to climb into small chairs, allow them to sit together at a
low table to eat.
Give only small amounts of food. It is better to let children ask for more than to
discourage them with too large a portion.
Foster older infants’ independence and self-help skills by letting them feed
themselves as appropriate.
Allow babies to explore and experiment with their food (unless a family strongly
disapproves) and be accepting of some mess in eating areas as older infants learn to
feed themselves.
Provide child-size utensils.
Avoid infant foods that could cause choking, including hot dogs, peanuts, raw
carrots, whole grapes or berries and hard candies.
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Diapering:
“Changing a diaper is a lot like getting a present from your grandmother -- you're not
sure what you've got but you're pretty sure you're not going to like it.” – Jeff Foxworthy
Previous to being potty-trained, the average child has his or her diaper
changed nearly 6,000 times! Anything that happens that many times, is
significant and ought to be done right! Diapering times provide one of the best
opportunities in the care giving day to connect, uninterrupted, with an infant, one-on-one.
You can make the most out of the diapering routine by implementing the tips below:
 Treat the diapering experience as a personal, one-on-one interaction in which you
seek the baby’s attention and cooperation and build a sense of teamwork. Do not
rush.
 Keep diapering supplies and extra clothes for each child within reach of the changing
table. This helps ensure that the diapering time is an efficient and pleasant one for
both caregiver and child.
Handout #4
Child Development Ages and Stages, Session 1
CCPDI, OCC, CCR&R Career Ladder Core Training – page 3
Making the Most of Infant Care Giving Routines
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Try to engage the baby and get him to cooperate by involving him or
her in the task by verbalizing (adding words to) the experience. Tell
the infant what you are doing and what you will do next.
Acknowledge the baby’s feelings.
Talk with and sing songs to the infant throughout the experience.
Distracting infants with toys can be unsanitary and result in babies who learn they
must be entertained during diapering times – a difficult habit to break.
Remember that babies go through stages of being uncooperative. Be patient with
this behavior, recognizing that this resistance is a sign of the child’s growing
individuality and independence.
Follow recommended sanitation procedures.
Sleeping:
“Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, Smiles await you when you rise.
Sleep pretty baby, do not cry, And I will sing you a lullaby.” --Traditional lullaby
Sleeping and naptime assure that infants get the rest their
growing minds and bodies need. When you give individual babies
the support and time they need to fall asleep and wake up, they
learn to trust themselves as they navigate the path from being awake to sleep and back
again.
 Allow infants to sleep and wake on their own schedule and according to their
individual needs, rather than your care giving schedule.
 Familiarize yourself with the signals each infant gives to signal fatigue.
 Have infants sleep in the same place everyday so they feel comfortable and secure.
 Use the time right before napping to hold, rock and sing to infants.
 Remember: parents are the best source of information about babies’ sleep patterns.
Communicate with parents to discover how they put the baby down for naps so that
you can follow the same procedure.
 Do your best to help infants feel “at home” during the sleep time routine.
 Never put babies to sleep with a bottle. This can contribute to ear infections and
dental problems.
 Always place babies on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome.
 Keep the sleeping area quiet and dim the lighting.
 Allow infants the time and space to awake at their own pace.