FAQs About My Former Job as a Lead Infant Teacher
My infant class was for six-week-olds to twelve-month-olds, and most childcare centers take babies as young as 6 weeks old. However, the youngest babies ever enrolled in my class were 2 months old. Some babies even stayed in my class a little longer after their first birthdays due to developmental delays.
2. What is the student-to-teacher ratio for infant classrooms?
Student-to-teacher ratios for all age groups vary in different states and countries. I live in Pennsylvania where the student-to-teacher ratio for infants is 4:1.
In case you do not know what student-to-teacher ratios are, this is how many students that a teacher can be left alone with in a classroom by law. Student-to-teacher ratios MUST be followed by law for the purpose of child supervision and child health and safety. Following student-to-teacher ratios also protects educators in the event that any incidents occur. There are student-to-teacher ratios for ALL age groups even in elementary school, middle school, and high school. Student-to-teacher ratios are even different in Special Education classrooms as compared to general education classrooms. If there is a mixed age group classroom, the teachers must follow the ratio according to the youngest age group. So, for example, if there is a room of infants, twelve to twenty-four month olds, and two year olds, the youngest age group in that room would be infants and the ratio for infants is 4:1. As a result, one teacher can be left alone with only a total of four children from these age groups. When an additional child arrives in the classroom, another qualified teacher must come into the room or else a teacher who is left alone like this will be left out of ratio.
The largest roster that I ever had in my infant class was THIRTEEN BABIES! However, most of the babies attended on a part-time status; so, all thirteen babies were never there all at once lol
3. What types of lessons and activities can be taught to infants?
There are actually more lessons that teachers can teach infants than most people think. As part of any childcare center's curriculum, there is usually a lesson theme of the week. Typically, teachers are required to keep the topic of the lesson activities related to the theme and according to the students' abilities also known as being developmentally-appropriate (DAP). At Schoolhouse Learning Center (SHLC) and Alphabet Garden Childcare, lead teachers got to choose the lesson themes of the week in their classrooms. So, I would choose lesson themes according to the babies' interests. For example, they appeared to love vehicles, animals, music, nursery rhymes, Disney, and festive things. So, some of the lesson themes that I picked were transportation, farms, and seasonal themes. I also picked a diversity and inclusion lesson theme since I am very passionate about teaching about diversity and inclusion in classrooms as part of my teacher philosophy.
I never realized that infants could participate in circle time until my director at Alphabet Garden Childcare told me. Believe it or not, when I tried it after she told me, it was a huge success! Since infants have a very short attention span, I only encouraged them to participate in circle time and tried to keep them engaged the best that I could with 1-2 brief and different circle time activities to attempt to maintain their attention span. Circle time is a great way to build the cognitive development and all other developmental skills of children of all abilities. Circle time for infants can be as easy as practicing clapping and high-fiving (builds fine motor skills), singing and dancing to songs, Sign Language, and playing This Little Piggy and peek-a-boo. Every day I opened our circle time with the Circle Time Song by The Kiboomers and the songs that we sang were nursery rhymes that went with the lesson theme of the week and the babies' favorite songs (If You're Happy and You Know It, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Ba, Ba, Black Sheep, Mary Had A Little Lamb, and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song seemed to be their favorite songs towards the end of my time with them). Singing, dancing, and listening to songs are a great way to build the gross and fine motor skills, language skills, and sensory skills of infants of all abilities.
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All of the books that I read with my infant students were board books, soft books, bath books, and touch-and-feel books because those are infant friendly. This is because infants tend to put any items in their mouths to explore their sensory skills and since they do not know any better about the harms of putting substances that are not safe foods and drinks in their mouths, the materials in these types of books are safe in the event that they stick them in their mouths. Soft books and bath books can also be washed after being in babies' mouths. Infants also do not have the muscle control and dexterity fine motor skills to damage board books by tearing and throwing unlike curious toddlers and preschoolers. Anyone who takes care of infants should avoid exposing mover infants to any paper books because these can be damaged easily if they stick them in their mouths. When reading books to infants, I would let the babies explore the books independently and we would engage in picture walks together instead of them listening to me read all of the words to them. This helped to maintain their attention span as well. Books are a great way to build the language and visual sensory skills of infants of all abilities. Other opportunities for building infants' language and communication skills include encouraging them to say new words verbally and/or through using Sign Language. For example, when infants say "mama" and "dada" and babble, their teachers can repeat these words and noises back to them. They can also prompt the babies to say certain small words. The words that infants can typically communicate through Sign Language are "more" (tapping folded fingers together) and "all done" (waving/flapping hands together).
[Image Description: Two children's books are pictured. The children's book on the left is a bath book made of smooth plastic and titled "Good Night Bath Time" in center-aligned white text with "Adam Gamble" and "Mark Jasper" in center-aligned white text below the illustration on the cover. The cover of "Good Night Bath Time" has two children taking a bath together with bath toys and being washed by a female. The children's book on the right is a board book titled "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" with a baby wiggling its fingers and toes while on a wooden swing hanging by rope on the cover.]
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I also made many crafts with the babies. The types of crafts that infants can make are footprint and handprint crafts and I made one craft per day with each infant. I have observed that typically, by six months old or older, infants have a preference for making either footprints or handprints due to sensory differences while some infants have no preference. I have noticed that not all but most infants ages six months or older have a preference for making handprints instead of footprints. To make handprints and footprints, I would paint one of their feet or hands and stamp it onto paper following wiping their foot or hand with a baby wipe and writing their name on their paper. Then, after the paint was dry, I would draw the rest of the pieces of the thing that we were making on and around their footprint. For example, when our lesson theme of our last week together was Diversity and Inclusion, one of the footprint/handprint crafts that I made with the infants was footprint tacos. So, I painted their feet and one of the babies' hands yellow to represent the taco shell and stamped it onto paper. Once the paint was dry, I drew details to the footprint/handprint taco shells, and the ground meat, lettuce, and tomatoes using colorful markers.
Another footprint craft that I made with my infant students for our Diversity and Inclusion lesson theme was footprint Mickey Mouses while listening to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse music. This matched the lesson theme of the week because I incorporated one of the interests of the class culture. I painted the sole of their foot black (represents Mickey's body), their forefoot red (represents Mickey's pants), and their toes yellow (represents Mickey's shoes). When the paint was dry, I drew the ears with a black Sharpie marker and fingerprinted two white dots on the red to represent the two white dots on Mickey Mouse's pants. Besides teaching art education, handprint and footprint crafts are a great way to build the sensory skills of infants of all abilities. These lessons can also enhance their social skills since this one-on-one time can build teacher-to-student relationships.
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Besides circle time and making crafts, I would take the infants on walks in the stroller outside along the path in the parking lot of the center depending on the weather. If the weather was inclement, I would take them on stroller rides through the hallway as a change of scenery. Since the babies seemed to enjoy looking at and watching older children, I would pass by each of the other classrooms to let them see the students before taking them outside. When we would take our stroller rides up and down the hallway, we would pass each of the classrooms throughout the entire time.
You are probably wondering what infants also participate in for building their motor skills at school. Great question! Typically, infants as young as three months old can start practicing tummy time for at least five minutes per day. It is important for infants to participate in tummy time for them to learn to pull oneself up. Opportunities to build this skill can be provided by laying the infant under a baby activity gym and play mat. When infants are capable of pulling themselves up, they should start learning to sit up. Sitting babies in boppy chairs, exersaucers, and sitting in someone's lap along with holding onto their hands while they are standing up and letting go whenever they are physically developmentally ready are great ways to build their back control and balance to sit up independently.
When infants are capable of sitting up independently, they should start learning to crawl. Opportunities to build this skill can be provided by encouraging infants to crawl through tunnels, crawl in infant obstacle courses (pictured above at the front of the classroom in the cover photo of this blog post), crawl to you, playfully chasing them by you crawling towards them, and encouraging them to chase you by crawling. Start teaching them to stand and walk after they are able to crawl by encouraging them to hold onto furniture and "big people" along with holding their hands and walking with them from behind. Use any opportunities in their routine that require you to walk to incorporate encouraging them to learn to walk, such as walking to the diaper changing table, highchair, refrigerator and certain parts of the room for bottle time, play areas, their cribs for nap time (except when they are super sleepy or fell asleep before you got a chance to put them in their crib), to put them in a stroller, and to the classroom door for pick-up time. Make sure to be standing behind them as you are holding onto their hands when practicing walking instead of walking backwards while holding their hands. The point of doing this is to model the correct direction to walk. Make sure to teach them to walk flat footed instead of on their tippy toes (as cute as this is) as well. About 1-2 months after you have started practicing walking with them, encourage them to walk independently using a baby walker. About one month after they have mastered using a baby walker, encourage them to let go of you, other people, and furniture with when practicing walking with balance. Incorporate their practice of walking into any play time as well. The game of playfully (and carefully) chasing them by you crawling, fast walking, or encouraging them to chase you by fast walking can help to build crawling and walking skills. My former infant students always LOVED this game.
In regards to the toys that the infants played with, I kept the toys as organized as possible in buckets and on shelves bolted into the floor. Typically, toys in infant classrooms include but are not always limited to manipulative toys, soft blocks, rattles, toy cars, plush toys, play food, balls, sensory bottles, and mirrors. Manipulative toys can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, logic, language, and visual, auditory/sound, and tactile/touch sensory skills. Soft blocks can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, logic, language, and tactile and visual sensory skills. Rattles and toy cars can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, language, and auditory, visual, and tactile sensory skills. Plush toys can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, language, and tactile and visual sensory skills. Play food can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, language, logic, creativity, and tactile and visual sensory skills. Balls can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, hand-eye coordination, language, and visual and tactile sensory skills. Sensory bottles can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially fine motor, logic, language, and visual (and sometimes auditory depending on what is in the bottle) sensory skills. Mirrors can build most of infants' developmental skills, especially visual sensory skills. It is also important to acknowledge that any play activities can build infants' social skills, especially peekaboo, which also builds fine motor, language, and visual and auditory sensory skills. Bubbles are another great activity for building infants' fine motor, hand-eye coordination, tactile and visual sensory, language, and social skills.
4. What were the curriculum guidelines for an infant classroom at your center?
[Image Description: There is a sample of a lesson plan for infants that I taught. The template has columns for different daily activities like large group time, songs/music and movement, book literacy/language, physical development, math, science/nature, social studies, art, and a weekly theme. The lesson theme is transportation and the activities related to this theme include cars, buses, boats, and airplanes. The mentioned songs include "The Wheels on the Bus", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "London Bridge is Falling Down", "A Sailor Went to Sea", and "Down By the Station." The mentioned books include "Vehicles book", "B is for Bulldozer", "My First Words", "Love Makes a Family", and "The Little Engine That Could." The physical development activities include signing "car", practicing walking and running, playing with toy vehicles and shaker toys, and throwing balls. The math activities include stacking and knocking over blocks. The science/nature and social studies activities include stroller rides outside to look at nature or in the hallway to see the "big kids." The art activities include footprint/handprint submarines, boats, airplanes, rocket ships, and trains.]
Every childcare center uses different curriculum programs with different curriculum policies. In January 2023, Schoolhouse Learning Center (SHLC) Southampton was bought by the childcare center chain called Alphabet Garden Childcare to grow their business. Coincidentally, SHLC Southampton and Alphabet Garden Childcare used the same curriculum program called The Creative Curriculum. The Creative Curriculum promotes Project-Based Learning (PBL) and inquiry-based learning with focuses on literacy, math, and social-emotional skills in birth through preschool. The center that I was teaching at also allowed teachers to choose the lesson themes of the week; however, by law (at least in my state), there are certain materials that children between the ages of birth to 3 years old are prohibited from using in classrooms, such as but not limited to:
- Glitter
- Sequins
- Beads (unless sealed extremely tight with strong glue in a sensory bottle)
- Shaving cream
- Cotton balls
- Scissors (Scissors can be present in infant classrooms as long as it is teachers who are cutting stuff out ahead of time and storing scissors out of reach when not in use.)
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5. What are the developmental skills that infants have?
While infants do have very limited developmental skills, they are also capable of developing many of them! The developmental skills that infants typically develop include gross motor, fine motor, oral motor, sensory, language, independence, and social-emotional skills.
In regards to infants' gross motor skills, they can typically learn to hold their heads up at 2 months old. It is extremely important to pick up and hold infants from behind their skulls and under their legs before and after they are able to hold their heads up because their heads and necks are so vulnerable. Typically, infants master independently sitting up by 5-6 months old, and then, they start independently crawling and standing by 5-9 months old or earlier. Next, typically, they can learn to stand and/or walk with and/or without holding onto anything by 6 months or older.
Some of them can even climb at 10 months old or once they get closer to turning one years old (unfortunately LOL😂). At least the climbing is nothing extreme in the infant years though - I have observed that typically it is as small as climbing medium level, soft obstacle course blocks created for infants (which I had in my infant class pictured in the cover photo). If your infant is over 6 months old and is still not walking, I can reassure you that that this should not be an immediate developmental concern! Believe it or not, it is typical and common for not all but some babies to not walk until they are 18 months old! I did not walk until I was 16 months old and my brother who has a Bachelor's Degree and 2 Master's Degrees all in biomedical engineering did not walk until he was 18 months old! If you are concerned about this developmental skill before or after this age range, contact your state's Department of Education to speak to an Early Intervention (EI) coordinator and/or speak to a Physical Therapist (PT) for support.
In regards to infants' language development, language acquisition starts in the womb. Since all infants do not have the verbal language skills to communicate their needs and wants, they typically communicate these needs by whimpering, crying, babbling, and through gestures. I have observed that infants typically start babbling at 2-4 months old. When infant teachers and families talk to babies about anything, this is how they gain their language development. It is really important for infant teachers and families to constantly talk to babies about anything even if they do not understand what the person is saying to them. This is because the more that it is said to them, the closer they get to understanding the words and these interactions also impact their social-emotional development. Typically, infants' first verbal words are "mama" and/or "dada" at 6 months old and their teachers and families should repeat back to them any words that they say and encourage further repetition of these words and additional words. Baby Sign Language, infant books, peekaboo, all parts of their routine, interactions, and anything else incorporated into their lives will impact their overall development, especially when it comes to language skills.
In regards to their sensory skills, infants typically react to the dynamics of music through movement at birth to 1 month old to build their auditory sensory skills. They will typically start turning their head when their name is called at 6 months old. They will typically start being interested in touch-and-feel books and other books at 4-6 months old to build their touch/tactile and visual sensory skills. The footprint and handprint crafts also built their tactile sensory skills.
Infants may not have full independence yet or as much independence as older children, teenagers, and adults, but typically, they definitely have some of it! For example, usually, they can hold their bottles on their own and self-feed finger food starting at 6 months or older (More details about feeding infants explained in #6).
As part of the SHLC and Alphabet Garden Childcare center's curriculum, infant teachers were required to keep all of the toys accessible to infants at all times and never limit their play area options. Since infants are too young to know how to clean up toys on their own yet when it is time to clean up, any floaters and I would pick up the toys for them before the time that most of them had nap time. During nap time, most of the babies needed help falling asleep while some could asleep independently (The youngest infant student who could fall asleep independently that I ever had was 2 MONTHS OLD!) (More about nap time for infant classrooms in #8).
When it comes to the development of any child or person, it is important to keep in mind that every individual develops at a different pace and has different abilities, strengths, and challenges/areas of improvement. Some children may gain any of these skills at the typically expected age, earlier, or even a little bit later. Some children are just late bloomers or may have developmental concerns (More details about helping infants in the disability and developmental delays communities in #14). Also, while teaching infants that sometimes they have to do things that they do not want to do just like everyone else, always make sure to encourage them in a positive, motivating way instead of forcing them to use any techniques or participate in activities for building their development since everyone has different methods that help them.
6. Which types of food do infants eat? How did meal and bottle time work at your center?
All infants have different meal and bottle schedules and drink different ounces and different types of formula. Infants drink either formula or breastmilk and whole milk and water usually starts after their first birthday. Some infants need their bottles heated in a bottle warmer before drinking while other infants can drink their bottles cold. Most infants drink their bottles every three hours while there are some infants who drink their bottles every 2-2.5 hours. Some infants prefer to drink their bottles before or after meals and the number of ounces of formula fed to infants usually increases as they grow older. Bottles of formula with started consumption expire after one hour. Usually, babies less than 6 months old need to be burped after or in between drinking their bottles. Hold them over your shoulder to burp them or sit them up in your lap while holding them.
There are some infants who will hold their bottles independently while laying down while some other infants will be dependent on someone to assist them with drinking their bottle throughout all of their infant years. It is important for teachers to encourage infants to hold their bottles independently while drinking them to build their fine motor skills and independence. Typically, infants can start independently holding their bottles while drinking out of them at six months old, earlier, or later (Believe it or not, the youngest age that I ever saw a baby hold their bottle independently was THREE MONTHS OLD! That baby was very motorically advanced!). I suggest only encouraging and not forcing infants to learn to hold their own bottles since only some infants will do this and if they never do it in their infant years, it is usually not a developmental concern (My mother says that my brother and I never held our bottles as infants😂). Children should be required to start learning to hold their own drink while drinking out of it at 12 months old. Usually, 12 month olds can independently drink whole milk in highchairs or while laying their head on a boppy pillow. All infants' heads should lay on a boppy pillow on the floor while drinking bottles, be rocked in a rocking chair as they drink, or the person feeding them should stand as they hold them as they drink. Some infants who can independently hold their bottles may need someone to sit next to them while they drink to keep them company. If infants give you a hard time about drinking their bottles, keep gently laying them down to guide, redirect, and encourage them to drink.
It is important to NEVER let infants drink their bottles in their cribs to prevent smothering and teeth from rotting. In fact, by law at least in the state of Pennsylvania, childcare centers are prohibited from letting infants drink bottles or eat in their cribs for this matter. Typically, infant classrooms have refrigerators to store all of the infants' food and bottles. Families will send bottles already made from home or packs of formula to make the bottles at school. For infants whose families send packs of formula for you to make the bottles, I recommend making all of their bottles during nap time and storing them in the classroom refrigerator until it is these individual infants' feeding times. In my experience as an infant teacher, this was a very effective time management hack.
In regards to infants' oral motor skills and consumer sensory skills, they should learn to eat food from a spoon and learn to eat finger food. Typically, at 4-6 months old, infants can start eating puree food three times a day in a highchair. Infants should be encouraged to start eating puree food before solid foods. Pouches are puree foods and since it is an important life skill for infants to learn how to eat off a spoon, squeeze the pouch into a bowl or plastic cup to scoop to spoon feed. Usually, 1-2 months later after starting to eat puree food, infants can start being encouraged to eat finger foods. It is important for infants to learn to eat finger foods to build their oral motor, fine motor, independence, and sensory skills. Require infants to wear bibs when eating any messy foods and drinking bottles to prevent drool from getting on their clothes. Some babies are slow eaters; so, let them take their time eating until they are finished or when they want to be done. Some babies may also have sensory differences when it comes to food since their sensorimotor skills and confidence are still developing. So, encourage them to eat without forcing them. I also observed that some babies with sensory differences prefer their food mixed or prepared a certain way. For example, one day I was feeding pasta with ground meat and sauce for lunch to one of my former infant students when I noticed that she kept spitting out the pasta. Eventually, I discovered that this was because she did not like the taste of the noodles unless they were mixed together with the ground meat and sauce on the spoon. So, I started feeding her the pasta, meat, and sauce mixed together every spoonful for the rest of her meal and it was a success. There was another time that I observed that one of my students who was a late bloomer in working on their transition from puree foods to solid foods. I noticed that they would pull away when being spoon fed puree foods and only enjoyed a limited number of whole foods; however, I noticed that they could eat and enjoyed eating puffs independently. One day I decided to experiment to see if they would eat their puffs dipped in the puree food and it worked! Typically, infants will show the following signs to express hunger since they do not have the ability to self-advocate yet:
- Crying
- Whimpering
- Signing "eat", "drink", or "milk"
- Try to take food from other infants
- Crawl or walk over to highchairs looking for food
- May also sign "all done" to communicate being finished eating
7. Did you need to change diapers?
Yes, I did. Believe it or not, there are actually many diaper changing laws for childcare centers at least in my state. I cannot speak for all childcare centers worldwide, but I know that at least in the state of Pennsylvania, all teachers in childcare centers legally must change children's diapers every two hours on a diaper changing mat and always wear a fresh pair of gloves per diaper. If children's diapers are soiled (pee or poop) between these two hours, teachers in childcare centers are also legally required to still change the child even if they are just wet. The purpose of this is to continuously prevent yeast infections. I checked each baby's diaper in between activities and as soon as they arrived in our classroom to see if they were soiled just in case they had not been changed yet or they could have been changed already, but soiled their diaper again on their way to school or as they entered the classroom. It is typical for babies to soil their diapers in between every two hours because they are not potty-trained yet and anyone no matter how old they are uses the rest room whenever they have to go! As the saying goes, "If you got to go, you might as well go!"💩😂
After changing children's diapers, teachers are legally required to record it with the time that they were changed and the contents of what was in the diaper. If the child is wet, "wet" is recorded. If the child 💩ed, "BM" is recorded, which stands for "Bowl Movement." If the child is dry, "dry" is recorded. If the child has a rash, diaper cream needs to be applied on the rash. To apply diaper cream on a rash, it can literally just be squirted out of the tube onto gloved fingers and lathered all over the rash. In the event that diaper cream needs to be applied on a child's rash, this is legally required to be recorded as "diaper cream." Typically, when changing a child whose diaper was wet, only 1-2 wipes are needed unless the child's bottom is soaked. When changing a child whose diaper had a BM in it, at least 6 or more wipes are typically needed depending on how much poop there is. It is also common for babies to get pee or 💩 on their clothes if it comes through the diaper, which is commonly referred to as a "blowout" in the childcare center world. Their clothes may also get messy after eating even if they use a bib because some cute little stinkers love to put their sticky, slimy hands under their bibs or rub them on their sides while eating because they do not know any better. All families need to be required to provide 2-3 extra changes of clothes for infant teachers to be prepared in case either of these scenarios happen. Put the messy clothes in a plastic bag, tie it up, and put the bag in the infants' cubbies to be taken home to be washed by their families (If your center has a washing machine, you can also wash the clothes or get a co-teacher or administrator to do it for you if the interest of time allows during your shift). After needing to change infants' clothes, it is important to record this information to families.
Fresh changing paper should be placed on the mat before laying the child down. Disinfecting the changing mat is required after each change as well. This occurs by first wiping it with a fully wet paper towel, squirting soap and water and wiping that down, and then, squirting bleach and wiping that down due to germs (More details about sanitization, disinfecting, and cleaning protocol explained in #12).
At the center that I taught at, the families were required to provide their babies' diapers and diaper cream to us while the center provided the wipes and extra diapers just in case of emergencies. Due to allergic reactions to certain baby wipe brands, some families preferred to provide their own purchased wipes for us to use on their child. Since there were multiple infants in the class, their diaper packs and diaper creams were labeled with their names on them and some of their diapers along with their creams were stored in name labeled slots to stay organized. Since diapers come in big packs, the rest of their diapers were stored in their packs labeled with their name on them in a lower-level child proof locked space below the changing table. When a baby's diapers were running low or they completely ran out of diapers, wipes, or cream, I recorded a note to their family on TadPoles that they were in need of more along with also verbally communicating this to their family as a friendly reminder. (More details about TadPoles and family-teacher communication explained in #9). The note would say something like "Needs diapers/wipes/diaper cream" or "Running low on diapers/wipes/diaper cream." Typically, the diapers of infants and young toddlers are changed at least five times a day while at school and each child's pack of diapers lasts about two weeks at childcare centers depending on how many packs their families bring and how big the packs are.
In addition, by Department of Human Services (DHS) law, childcare center teachers are required to prepare the gloves, diaper, and wipes BEFORE placing the child on the changing table. Another DHS law for diaper changing is to gently hold the child down on their stomach when throwing away their diaper, grabbing diaper cream, and/or grabbing more wipes than originally expected. This protocol is in place to prevent infants and other children from experiencing fall injuries in case they roll over (Even if you have not seen infants master the skill of rolling over yet, this law STILL needs to be followed because infants could master this skill ANY day, especially if they are an early bloomer😊). It is also important to take them off of the changing table before pulling their pants up to prevent them from laying in an exposed area. Standing them on the germ exposed area on the changing table instead of on the floor could spread germs.
8. How does nap time work for infants?
Just like meal and bottle schedules, all infants have different nap schedules. Some babies take a morning nap and afternoon nap while other babies take only an afternoon nap. Most babies' afternoon naps are around noon or after their lunch time.
Some babies can fall asleep independently while other babies will need assistance. The youngest infant that I ever saw fall asleep independently was a 1 month old! Sometimes independent sleepers wake up and go back to sleep. There are several different effective ways to help babies fall asleep including the following:
- •Play calming music or white noise. I played Alexa Echo's Disney Piano or ocean wave sounds (imitates white noise, which is the sound that infants hear in the womb) for my previous infant class.
- To rock babies in rocking chairs hold them from under their skulls and legs in your arms and sit down while repetitively rocking the chair back and forth until they doze off.
- To rock babies in cribs on wheels, lay them down in the crib and gently move their cribs back and forth with the lights turned off while standing behind their heads.
- They can be rocked in a rocking chair or rocked in their cribs. Stand behind their crib and avoid eye contact while rocking them and provide supervision through peripheral vision. Believe it or not some babies and children will not fall asleep if they can see their teacher and/or parent/guardian!
- Babies' families can provide a crib sheet for them to sleep on and/or sleep sack to wear while sleeping. SHLC and Alphabet Garden Childcare also provided extra sheets and sleep sacks that would be washed at the end of every week. Letting babies sleep with their binkies (if they have them) is also an exception.
Blankets, pillows, crib bumpers, toys, bottles, bibs and any other items are LEGALLY NOT ALLOWED in cribs at childcare centers at least in the state of Pennsylvania for health and safety purposes. Another childcare center law at least in the state of Pennsylvania is that infants are NEVER allowed to sleep on their stomachs. These items and letting items sleep on their stomachs can smother babies and increase the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (More about health and safety protocols in infant classrooms is in #13). To reiterate, they can sleep with their binkies in their mouths and/or wear a sleep sack instead of a blanket as safe alternatives. If infants roll onto their stomachs (which is very common), gently lay them on their back again.
9. How did you communicate the infants' daily information to their families?
To record the infants' daily information when I was still working at SHLC and Alphabet Garden Childcare Southampton, we used an electronic communication system that is commonly used by many childcare centers called TadPoles (So common that I was required to use it at COA Southampton where I was a toddler teacher! So, on my first day at SHLC, I knew just what to do!). We recorded the infants' diaper changes, meals, what time they fell asleep and woke up during nap time, needs, reminders, lesson activities of the day, and lesson themes of the week. The families and even us teachers along with the administrators were supposed to constantly check it to stay updated throughout the day. Families could also add notes.
In addition to TadPoles, we also used formal and informal verbal communication with the babies' families during drop off and pick up time to tell them about their baby's day. We greeted them during drop off and pick up time. At pick up time, we would tell them at least one positive thing about their child's day and if there are any questions, concerns, or updates. If the families shared any concerns or questions with me, I listened, tried to assist, and answered any questions/concerns to the best of my ability.
10. Which types of classroom management techniques did you use for infants?
Besides teaching and reinforcing behavior expectations and handling behavior concerns, classroom management is also about how educators manage their classrooms overall. In regards to classroom management in infant classrooms, infants do not have challenging behaviors since they do not have the ability to understand behavior expectations yet due to the prefrontal cortex of their brains being so small; however, since they are very dependent on teachers due to their limited independence skills, classroom management is still very important.
To create classroom management plans and determine which strategies work for each individual infant, it is important to be observant to assess and supervise all infants at all times. When infants are trying to get into things, such as low-level cabinets when you need to open them (and cannot keep moving them away if multiple infants are doing it at once or in case another or more infants would get into it while you are moving one infant away) or take bottles from other infants, there are many safe restraints that can be used, such as exersaucers, cribs, highchairs, and holding (More about safety protocol in #13).
To follow each infants' routine and meet their needs while following a class routine, lots of incorporating their schedules into class activities can be very effective. For example, sometimes infants' nap times, bottle times, and water breaks happened during stroller rides. If they fell asleep in the stroller at their expected nap time or earlier if they were tired, that could count as a nap time. If their bottle times and water breaks were the same time as our stroller ride times and they were capable of self-feeding, I would let them drink while riding in the stroller. I also usually made their footprint and handprint crafts with them while they were eating in the highchairs or before or after meals. I would paint their feet and stamp their footprints while they ate. I would also make their footprint and handprint crafts with them while they were playing in the exersaucers, boppy chairs, or laying on boppy pillows.
I would also move the baby bouncers with nonmover infants laying inside of them over to the highchairs during mover infants' mealtimes. This was effective as an inclusion practice and for the purpose of child supervision.
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11. How did you calm crying infants?
First and foremost, it is essential for anyone who takes care of and teaches infants that their cries communicate wants and needs since they cannot verbally communicate these things yet. They may be crying because they are tired, hungry, thirsty, need their diaper changed, want to be held, want someone to play with, or are sick. Their cries may also be a sign of some type of developmental or medical concern depending on how frequent their cries are along with co-occurring signs.
There are many ways to calm crying infants and support their mental health. Start out by checking their schedules to see if they need anything. When was the last time that they ate, drank, or slept according to their typical schedule? If it's been a while or getting closer to their next time for one of these things, try seeing if they will be receptive to food, another bottle, or nap time. If infants continue to cry while you are preparing their food or bottle, you can reassure them in a positive tone of voice by saying, "The food/bottle is cooking. It's coming soon." Even though their little minds will not be able to understand the meanings your words yet, the positive sound of your tone of voice can be comforting. Eventually, they may also catch on to your words when they see the food or bottle appear after you say this every time they cry for it while you are in the process of preparing it.
Check their diapers to see if they are wet or have 💩. A soiled diaper can be very uncomfortable no matter how much is in it. 💩s can especially be very uncomfortable when they are big or blowouts. In the event that you discover that babies are crying because their diapers are soiled, reassure them again by saying, "I am changing your diaper." Talk them through the process as well for further reassurance by saying, "I am wiping you", "I am putting on your diaper/cream", "I am putting on your pants/buttoning your onesie", "We are almost done," etc.
Another reason that infants cry is that they may want to be held. Infants find comfort in the skin-to-skin contact that comes with being held because it imitates the skin-to-skin contact that they feel in the womb that they are familiar with. Infant teachers' jobs are very busy with multiple infants in their classrooms, and we are not octopuses🐙 or do not have cloning machines (even though that would be really awesome in Early Childhood Education). So, only hold the babies when your hands are free. All infants have egocentric minds since they are still in the sensorimotor stage of development; however, infants still need to be gently taught to wait and be independent because no one can always get what they want right away. You can give infants their binkies if they have them to use as a comfort item and for self-soothing. There are also times that infants do not want to be held and want space. In the event that this is true, show value and respect for their space by giving them the space that they need.
A third reason that infants sometimes cry is because they want someone to play with. Entertaining infants with their interests can benefit all areas of development. In my teaching experiences, I have found singing songs to be one of the most common ways to calm and entertain infants. My previous infant students' favorite songs included Mickey Mouse Clubhouse songs, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, Ba, Ba, Ba, Black Sheep, Mary Had A Little Lamb, and On Top of Spaghetti. Something about the entertaining sensory experience of playing with bubbles also seems to quickly soothe infants.
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12. How did you keep your classroom clean to reduce the spread of germs?
Young children, especially babies, are one of the most common causes of the spread of germs due to their limited understanding of health and safety (again due to their underdeveloped prefrontal cortex of their brains) and weakened immune systems (Cute little germ buckets👶🏿👶🏼🦠🧫). To keep ECE classrooms as clean as possible, there are actually many childcare laws (at least in the state of PA) for sanitizing and disinfecting classrooms in childcare centers.
Legally, before and after each baby's meal, infant teachers must wash the baby's hands and faces and wipe their hands before and after each bottle serving. Infant teachers must also wash their own hands before and after serving food to infants along with gloves while preparing and feeding them their food even when spoon feeding them. This is in case infant teachers need to save infants who are choking on food (More about handling this situation in #13) or need hands-on guidance when eating finger food. After the infant teacher cleans the baby and their own hands, they need to sweep any food crumbs that fell on the floor with a broom. If any slimy foods fall on the floor, they need to be wiped with a wet paper towel, and then, the exposed zone on the floor needs to be sprayed with soap and water and wiped down. Next, the exposed zone on the floor needs to be sprayed with bleach and wiped down. This disinfecting process is the same for disinfecting highchairs, counters, sinks, the diaper changing mats, chairs, tables, shelves, and toys. When disinfecting highchairs, make sure to wipe in between the straps besides just the seat and table parts. This is because food tends to easily get trapped in between the straps. Childcare center teachers (at least in the state of PA) are legally required to do all of these disinfecting procedures every day.
To fit cleaning into my time management, I would sweep the floors as the infants were eating in the interest of time. Sweeping the floor while infants are eating is also important in case any of the infants who are not scheduled yet and crawling around try to eat food off of the floor since they do not know any better to avoid this behavior at such a young age. Then, I would do all of the disinfecting after I cleaned the babies after they were finished eating. Sometimes if multiple infants were really tired for nap time early right after lunch or other meals and had not slept yet in the classroom that day, I would need to wait to finish the rest or any of the disinfecting once all of the infants who needed naps were sleeping.
13. What were the health and safety protocols and techniques that you used in your infant classroom?
Supervision is very important when working with students of all ages and abilities, especially in childcare, for health and safety purposes. When working in childcare, teachers must be watching the children closely at all times. It is very important to know the exact number of babies/children in the room to keep track of their whereabouts. So, I would count the babies as soon as I would walk into the classroom, as they would arrive and leave, before, during, and after every transition, and in the middle of all activities and parts of the daily routine throughout the day. In addition, back when I was working at SHLC and Alphabet Garden Childcare, the other staff and I were required to clock the students in as they arrived and clock them out as they left for the day on TadPoles. TadPoles shows how many students are present in our care in each classroom. I also made sure to never have my back turned and was always standing or sitting in a part of the classroom where I could see all the babies in full view. Make sure to have all parts of the classroom set up without any blind spots. The purpose of this is for teachers to be able to see all of their students no matter where they are sitting or standing.
Anyone (teachers, student teachers, prospective employees conducting working interviews, administrators, state inspectors, PD specialists, service providers, parents/guardians, other family members, etc.) are LEGALLY REQUIRED to take off their shoes before teaching and observing in infant classrooms. The purpose of this requirement is to protect outside germs exposed on the bottom of shoes from spreading on the floors that crawling and playing infants constantly stick their hands on in their classrooms.
Whenever infants are eating or drinking (even if they have mastered self-feed), all present teachers should be watching them closely. There should also be at least one teacher in arms reach at all times in case of choking. In the event that an infant is choking, ALWAYS use the Heimlich Maneuver. The version of the Heimlich Maneuver for infants is to firmly pound on their chest as many times as necessary. Also, remain calm and serious and comfort babies who cry from being scared about choking. Verbally and cheerfully praise any child who was brave when choking after performing the Heimlich Maneuver.
As for when an infant stops breathing or is struggling with breathing, perform CPR. It is extremely important by law for all infant teachers in the United States to be CPR certified since this risk is so high in infant classrooms. To find out more about becoming CPR certified, talk to your center director, assistant director, or contact the American Heart Association (AHA). Besides the high risk of choking and SIDS, the risk of allergies and medical health conditions are also so high in infant classrooms. So, all infant teachers and administrators should be aware of and document any known allergies of each individual infant. Document "No known allergies" for infants without disclosed allergies.
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As for the infrastructure of infant classrooms, the bottoms of all shelves should be bolted into the floor to prevent falling on infants. Believe it or not, some infants can be heavier handed than expected. That being said, any students who are heavy handed should be closely watched and the infrastructure of classrooms should be adapted to protect their safety. Administrators should prioritize immediately reaching out to maintenance about bolting the bottoms of shelves into the floor since the health and safety of all students is a priority. If you are an infant, toddler, or preschool teacher whose administrators have not implemented this safety protocol in your classroom already, educate them about the importance of doing so to advocate for your students' protection.
To reiterate what I mentioned in #10, infants may try to get into things, such as low-level cabinets, whether the cabinets are currently in use or not. This may even happen when you need to open them. When low-level cabinets are not in use, restrain the handles with child proof locks.
14. Which types of related services, accommodations, and adaptations can infants in the disability community benefit from?
While it can be common for signs of disabilities and their diagnoses to occur when children get older, it is highly possible for infants to be diagnosed with certain disabilities and even developmental delays. The most common disabilities diagnosed in infants include the following:
- Intellectual Disabilities (ID), such as Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), etc.
- Physical disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy (CP)
- Deafness or hard of hearing
- Blindness or vision loss
- Deaf-blindness
- Orthopedic impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Chronic illnesses [e.g. asthma, Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), cystic fibrosis (CF)]
- Terminal illnesses (e.g. cancer, muscular dystrophy)
- Feeding disorders
When infants receive related services from service providers, the sessions will be fitted for the individual needs of the babies being served. Infants with disabilities or developmental delays may benefit from the following related services depending on their developmental concerns and needs:
- Early Intervention (EI) - for any disabilities and developmental delays
- Physical Therapy (PT) - for physical disabilities and developmental delays in gross motor and fine motor skills
- Occupational Therapy (OT) - for infants who struggle with fine motor, gross motor, sensory, and social-emotional skills as part of disabilities
- Speech-Language Therapy - for infants who struggle with language development, eating, and social-emotional skills
- Feeding Therapy - for infants with feeding disorders and food aversions
- Nursing services - for infants with severe to profound medical health conditions
When it comes to the support systems of infants receiving related services, collaboration between the teachers, service providers, and families is key. Teachers, related service providers,
and infants’ families can partner with each other to understand and implement
specific supports. Teachers, service
providers, and families should be aware of the signs of typical and atypical
development in all areas for the purpose of assessments and collecting data
about this matter. Teachers, service providers, and everyone in infants’
support systems should collect data to help each other understand individual infants’
specific developmental concerns as well as their strengths. Assessments
should correspond to the dates that students are expected to achieve certain
concepts to best support their learning and development. Data about infants' development can include
observations, anecdotal notes, portfolios, and formal and informal assessments. Infant teachers should speak to service providers and
administrators about acquiring any necessary trusted resources for individual
students and their families. Infant teachers can best partner with related service providers by reinforcing the techniques being used by the service
providers. When teachers reinforce the techniques being used by service
providers, this can help individual infants receive consistent interventions
and contribute to their continuous developmental improvement.
Overall, when it comes to building all of the skills of infants of all abilities, it is important to remember that every baby develops at different speeds. If you have any concerns about your infants' developmental skills, contact your state's Department of Education to speak to an EI coordinator and/or speak to a related service provider for support.
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15. What did you wear to work?
When I was teaching at SHLC and Alphabet Garden Childcare, all of the staff could wear any clothes as long as they were dressed appropriately, covered, and safe. The only clothes that were not allowed were jeans, short shorts, and open-toed shoes. Usually, since being an infant teacher is a messy job, I would wear a plain short-sleeved shirt and khaki shorts in the summer, early fall, and when weather appropriate during the spring. During winter, late fall, and when needed in the spring, I would wear a plain long-sleeved shirt and leggings. I also wore colorful, designed socks since taking off shoes before entering infant rooms is required.
In addition, in all of my years of working in childcare, I have always worn colorful, designed headbands and my hair in a bun to prevent potential cases of catching lice (Lice incidents are very common in childcare centers and these bugs are so small and quick that they could jump in anyone's hair at any time. So, I was always very proactive about wearing my hair up in childcare classrooms at all times just in case).
16. How long did you teach infants?
I was a part-time floater for 7 months in my first job at Children of America Southampton. Then, I went back to a floater position for some time at SHLC Southampton in June 2022. In January 2022, SHLC Southampton was bought by Alphabet Garden Childcare and in my last summer of working in childcare, I was available to work full-time. So, I was the Lead Infant Teacher at Alphabet Garden Childcare while still being a floater when needed only every now and then. I worked in childcare for a total of seven years.
17. What were your qualifications when you were an infant teacher?
At the time, I had my Child Development Associate (CDA) certification, CPR certification, and Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education PreK-4 from Bucks County Community College. A CDA certification certifies individuals of the ages of 16 or older to caregive for and teach all infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in the United States of America. I still renew my CDA certification for protection. In addition, I was working towards my Bachelor of Science Degree in Early Childhood (PreK-4) Special Education (PreK-12) from Bryn Athyn College at the time and just graduated with this degree in May.
18. Why did you resign from your job an infant teacher?
First of all, my reason for quitting had nothing to do with the children at all. Becoming an infant teacher actually became one of my career path goals during my first year of working in childcare since I loved observing and working with this age group so much. My reason for resigning from my job as an infant teacher last August was because I would be doing my Field Experience in Special Education internship and student teaching towards my Bachelor's Degree that upcoming school year. As a result of these commitments, it was not possible to fit working a paid job into my schedule at the moment. It was also time to move forward to bigger and better things since I had been working in childcare for so long. I wanted to finally work on pursuing my main dream job of becoming a Special Education teacher after graduation.
And that is it! I hope that I answered all of your questions! Are you a current or former infant teacher? If so, do you do any of these things or have similar philosophies? Do you have any other questions? If so, let me know in the comments below😊
You might also like and gain a better understanding of the Early Childhood Education field and child development along with learning more about my teaching background by reading my other blog posts and my collaboration interview with The CDA Council for Professional Recognition linked below:
- Trauma-Informed Care and Education Practices in Infant Classrooms
- Observation Reflection-Value of Observation Techniques
- FAQs About My Former Job as a Toddler Teacher
- The CDA Council for Professional Recognition: Emily Hoff: Making Inclusion Matter Every Day
- Infant/Toddler Teachers Need to be Valued More as Teachers
If you are an infant teacher, parent/guardian/family member, caregiver, babysitter, au pair, etc. of infants and you are interested in learning more about infants, I highly recommend the following books below:
- The Happiest Baby on the Block written by Dr. Harvey Karp
- The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Simple Solutions for Kids From Birth to Five Years written by Dr. Harvey Karp
- Baby Sign Language Made Easy: 101 Signs to Start Communicating With Your Child Now written by Lane Rebelo
- Infancy Through Middle Childhood: Child Development: Custom Second Edition written by Laura E. Levine and Joyce Munsch
- Mastering CDA Competencies: Using Working with Young Children: Seventh Edition written by Judy Herr
To learn more about how to support the early learning and development of infants, click on the below links:
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Citations
1. American Heart Association: CPR & First Aid: Emergency Cardiovascular Care. (2024). https://cpr.heart.org/. Accessed 15 Jun. 2024.
2. "Circle Time Song." YouTube. The Kiboomers - Kids Music Channel. (12 Dec. 2014). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKjBedI_hh4
3. "Preschool Curriculum: The Most Widely Used Preschool Curriculum in the Country." Teaching Strategies, LLC. (2023). https://teachingstrategies.com/product/the-creative-curriculum-for-preschool/
4. Zero to Three. (2024). https://www.zerotothree.org/
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