Essential Elements of Infant and Toddler Environments: Health and Safety

4:02AM Jul 16, 2024

Speakers:

Narrator

Priscilla W.

Keywords:

health and safety

infant environment

toddler environment

daily checks

choking hazards

tripping hazards

temperature control

lighting importance

air quality

cleanliness

hand washing

sanitizing surfaces

illness prevention

family communication

modeling habits

Welcome to Inclusion Matters a podcast about children's development from the Center for Inclusive Child Care.

Welcome to Inclusion Matters a podcast from the Center for Inclusive Child Care. I'm Priscilla Weigel the executive director, and I'm happy to be joined with my colleague, Jacy Nylander, here today. Jacy, is one of our coach leads, and she works to support our coaching team, and our coaches are out all over the state of Minnesota, supporting all of you in child care. Welcome, Jacy.

Thank you, Priscilla, excited to be here to talk to you about this today.

I'm excited to have this conversation too. We're going to talk about the essential elements for infants and toddlers in the environment, and what really is the foundation of essential environmental elements is health and safety. And JC comes to this with lots of experience of scanning environments for health and safety. As a former coach, a former child care provider, center director, parent, we're both pretty well versed in coming in, and sometimes I think we do it without even realizing it when we walk into a center.

Yes, it's definitely one of those foundational pieces of creating a great environment for infants and toddlers. And Priscilla and I were talking before we got started here about how vulnerable look these little people are that we're working with, and their job is to explore and play, and in order for them to do that, we have to have a safe environment for them to be in. So today we're going to look at a few steps that we can take in our classrooms and in our programs or in home, wherever you are, you're working to create that type of environment.

Definetely and it's so essential. And one thing that I think is really helpful to remember that sometimes when we think of preparation, it seems like a lot of work and oh, we're spending so much time looking even before the children arrive. But we know from experience and from just spending time with young children, work and effort on the front end is really success on the back end, when the kids actually really show up, because you have to spend less time saying no and allowing them, as you said, to really explore and have fun being a kid. And that's what we want.

Yeah and I think it this can be a really simple step at the start of your day, this health and safety piece. And of course, you're doing it all throughout your day, but if you have a plan in place, it can really be a quick thing that you're doing on the regular.

Yeah, definetely. So when you think about that, checking, you know, you there's, always safety hazards that, even though you left the night before you, you know, tidied your space up, when you think of some of those standard checks that you're whipping through each time you open the door, what are some things that come to mind for you when you think of those priorities?

Yeah, I think of those, the daily checks, and just getting in your classroom, you're opening it up, or getting into your program and getting start ready to start your day, and just sitting down on the floor at the where the child's level is and looking around and checking for small pieces or parts, especially if you're an in home family care provider, you know your family's lived in that space throughout the day, evening and morning, and so there may be things that need to be put away. So checking for those small parts or any hazards, obviously, removing those broken equipment, toys break all the time that they're used. Yes, I think an important part of this too, is is, is this is part of your routine and coming up with a plan? You know, if you're in a center and the person who opens that's their job, they get down on the floor and they look for some of those basic health and safety things in the environment. Or, if you're a family child care provider, that's the first thing you do every morning is, is check for those things. I think of, you know, the big one that I mentioned, choking hazards, tripping hazards, is another one, thinking of those little, little toddlers learning to walk, and is there a rug that needs to be rolled down, or whatever it might be, yeah, those are the big things that I think of on those basic daily checks.

That's important, that is really those are key. Those are key. And as you said, having like a procedure and a plan helps a lot, because it becomes second nature to you as the provider, as that educator who's just walking through, but also when you think of the tripping hazards and you mentioned for the toddlers, and I'm also thinking of for the families who are coming in too and making sure that everything's clear on your front walk, or, you know, back out to the play space that you might be having families meet up at it at the end of the day, when they're picking up and things. So really looking at safety as a whole, and it becomes, it can be a big job. It's a really big job. And so I think if you're working in a center, you can split up that job with a few other colleagues. You might say, I'm going to take morning, I'm going to, you know, somebody's going to check a midday check, and maybe the end of the day before they close, close down. But a family child care provider, that's something that that's a lot, because you're that sole set of eyes, you know, really scanning the environment. And one thing that I'm thinking of, that sometimes we forget about, is the temperature, you know, space and where we are. And it just comes to mind because it was really hot and sticky here in Minnesota yesterday, really humid, and I was, you know, you think about those days with little bodies running around hot, sweaty kids, thinking of temperature is really important.

Yeah, that's a big one. And I know as an adult, even I get really sensitive to some of these things. So if the room is too hot or or too cold, and thinking of newborns, they don't regulate their body temperature as easily as as older kids or adults do. So that's a big one to think of. Something else too, along the lines of that, you know, we encourage providers to get the children outside. And what is the temperature outside? How are you preparing them for that environment is another thing you have to think of, and that can be as simple as, is there shade outside? Do they have appropriate clothing to go outside, whether it's cold or warm? Yeah, so those are a couple things I think of when it comes to temperature, because that greatly that greatly impacts how we learn and how we move throughout our environment. Another thing I was going to add too, is, is lighting. That's something else that I think of in an environment. And again, you know, knowing, you know sometimes, as an adult will be sitting in a room and and we'll have to turn the lights down because we're starting to get a headache, or, like, oh, these lights are so bright. That's a really big thing in the classroom environment too. So that natural light can you use lamps, are the shades open during playtime. Those types of things can help create a really warm, welcoming environment. You know, I think of young infants laying on the floor for playtime, and that's not a view that we normally have as adults, but they're looking directly up. So are your is there lights up on the ceiling? I know some programs will have like, um, pieces of fabric over the light to kind of dim them down, but the infant's still, you know, there's still light in the room, but there's something for them to look at and not be so, so bright on their eyes.

Yeah, I was talking with a public health nurse who we work with very often, and we were talking about this subject and and if you have the option in your setting to do dimmer switches on the lighting, it's so nice, and I'm so glad you brought that up, that when an infant is on the floor, they're just looking straight up at those bright lights all the time, and it is so important to figure out what is the safest way to be allowing them to play and learn and also not overwhelm their little systems with too much of anything, whether it's temperature, as we mentioned earlier, or lighting, I think also too for health reasons, it's really important for kids to get some natural light and to be out in the natural sunshine, and that vitamin D, and within reason too, and that's that whole sunscreen piece. And, you know, especially as we get into the summer months, and I'm also thinking, you know, every child has a different internal temperature gage. And you know, you have those children who say I'm hot, and they'll want to take off their jackets, and you're thinking as that adult, oh, it seems really cold out, I don't know. So being aware and really being in tune with the kids in your care to note, oh, this, this little person runs a little hot, and so when I'm noticing their cheeks really flushed, or there's, you know, sweat around their brow, and that maybe means they're overheated, and I need to get them to some shade, they need to have a water break or whatever. But I think it can be so different than our internal temperatures as adutls too.

Yes, yeah, that, you know, your saying that Priscilla got me thinking too about this idea of health and safety within a program and it, you know, we talked about doing those daily checks and how important they that is, but it really is something that you're practicing all throughout the day. So every transition, if you're transitioning to the large motor room, I mean, you gotta, you have to do the same thing once you arrive there, check for any hazards. Oh my gosh, it's freezing in here. We need, yeah, we have the kids wear their jackets in here, or that that transition outside. You know, we'd love to get infants and toddlers outside. And we know that that, that's a big that can be a big task with little ones, but it's so important. And I love what you said about being mindful of their cues, and that's what we do in the field. We're mindful of their cues and and meeting their basic needs here, of monitoring their temperatures.

Yeah, truly and, and they're so dependent on us for all of that health and safety. And that's what I think that's why this podcast came to, you know, came to mind as just, how do we It seems really basic to think about it, but then how often do we really talk it through? And so that's why we're having this great conversation. And this leads me to another section that is maybe something that we don't think enough about is air quality. Yeah, your environment, my goodness,

Yeah, another thing that, as adults, I think we're very, you know, we're aware of it. If we walk in to somewhere and we're like, oh my gosh, someone has really strong perfume on in here. But from a child's perspective, we really have to be mindful of that. Are we are we wearing too much perfume? Or, you know, I think of dust or allergens, you know, for serving children with that have medical issues, or we need to be sensitive to that. It's something like you said, that we don't always think of but we need to be aware of it. I think a big piece of this is cleanliness, which we'll kind of get into as well. But are you dusting the classroom after the children leave? Are you keeping surfaces clean? That's going to help with that air quality piece?

Yeah. As you're talking about the air quality too, I think that there, there are times when you can walk into in space, to a space, and to feel, oh, the air is so stagnant and stale here. So having some form of ventilation and flow is so important, especially when there's a lot of bodies in that space. And so is there a way to put a small fan, you know, out of kids reach just to have the air moving around a little bit so it doesn't get stagnant and stuffy? Can you crack a little window if you have that tendency in your setting. You know, I, over the years, worked in spaces where or visited or coaches coached in spaces where the buildings were old, the heating systems were old and sometimes, as you said, you'd walk into space and go, oh my goodness, it's freezing in here. But other times, it'd be the middle of winter, and the heat would be so, so hot, and its so high it was really hard to regulate. So if you know that that's how you're setting you know presents itself day to day, making sure that you're aware of that as that adult who's responsible for those children to compensate somehow with a fan or cracking a window or just so that it's not miserable?

Yeah, I think the kind of the bottom line with the air quality piece, again, goes back to being mindful of your environment and just taking that, that assessment and that time to assess, because we do a lot of things in our classrooms or in our programs, right? We're we're changing diapers, we're eating, we're preparing food, maybe a child got sick. There's a lot of different things that will affect the air quality, and so being mindful and then adapting, like you said, with windows or fans, what you do have control over.

Right, and also regularly checking smells is really important for safety. I mean, if you have carpeting that might be old and there might be some milk, or if you spilled milk, and you thought you got it up really well, but then it starts to smell a little sour, because it is, I mean, as you were describing the things you do in a childcare setting, whether family child care or a center ,there's a lot of smells, there's a lot of smells. And so you know, ideally you'd want it to smell fresh and clean, and we know that that can change in the blink of an eye, from smelling fresh and clean to not, but being kind of that, that really knowledgeable nose in that space to be aware of when something might not be smelling so great, and that's that's another responsibility to add to the list of those checks. And that kind of takes us to cleanliness, as you mentioned earlier, but can go into that a little bit more about why that's so important, and it seems kind of basic, but we're going to still mention it.

Yeah, yes, it is so basic and just so important. You know, hand, I think of hand washing or sanitizing surfaces after diapering or in preparation for meals or and after meals, toileting areas. If we have accidents, possibly in the toddler age group, you might start to see that. So just being mindful of cleaning up those messes, I like how you mentioned the milk. Sometimes those things are like you think you've done a good job, but going back to the air quality, you might come in the next day and be like, ooh, I did not clean that surface well enough. Those things are so important and a simple thing, and a simple way to help create a safe environment. Really good habits and easy habits that you can get into. I also think of when it comes to illness, staying home when you feel sick, or communicating with families. You know, we have this illness coming through with pink eyes in the room, or pink eyes in the program. So families are aware of what's what's happening, because we're, we're in a group, a group of people that we got to keep each other safe.

Truly, yes, and and that is, and that's a great way to to wrap up our conversation I think Jacy , is to think about how we can keep each other safe. We as adults, as caregivers. So we want to respect and understand families that germs come and go from child care settings all the time. And you know, those of you who been doing this work for a long time, you know how, though you've seen those, those instances where one child gets a cold in the family child care, and then suddenly everybody's got it, and then all the families have it as well. And the same story happens in center based care as well. No matter what we do, it seems that those germs have a way of spreading, but we can decrease that challenge by really making sure that we're keeping things healthy, safe, clean and and looking at the full, the full setting from what our nose is taking in to what our eyes are taking in, and It's going to make for a better day for everyone.

Yeah, and I think, too, one last thing, I think of the modeling and the habits that you're helping to instill with those infants. You know, infants and toddlers, we're talking about, we after we change your diaper, or we try the potty out, we wash our hands, and so their learnings, they're learning right along with these health and basic health and safety things

Very important to set the stage for success, for long term healthy and safe living for kids. So thank you, Jacy Nylander from CICC for being a guest.

Yes, you for having me, Priscilla,.

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