In an infant/toddler classroom, most babies will be eating, napping and playing on different schedules. While this can sometimes be a blessing, it may leave you feeling like you never have time for anything other than feeding children and changing diapers. Once you begin to learn the individual schedules of the children in your care, you can begin to consolidate some of the feeding and napping times. For example, if one child eats a breakfast of applesauce and a waffle at 9 a.m. each morning and a smaller infant has a bottle around this same time, consider sitting at the table with the older child while holding the smaller baby in your lap for bottle feeding. Or, try changing all of the children in your care around the same times each day if possible. Getting it all done at once may free up some time for you to enjoy playing on the floor with a few babies or toddlers.
Because of the many differences in development in infants between the ages of six weeks and 12 months, it will be necessary for you to plan activities for each child individually. For example, activities for a three-month-old child will probably include tummy time as well as activities that encourage reaching and rolling. A 12-month-old child will probably be able to participate in simple art activities such as finger painting or drawing with large crayons. To help you meet the needs of the children in your care, try consolidating these activities by placing the smaller infant on the floor near you as you help the older child with his art project.
As with any career, you will need to know when you are feeling overwhelmed and be able to ask for help. When you work with very young children, there will come a time when it feels like the whole classroom is crying and you feel like you'll never be able to meet everyone's needs for the day. This may be the time to call for reinforcements. Often, teachers in other parts of the childcare center are happy to come and rock crying babies to sleep or feed a bottle to a hungry infant. Or, if you would like to plan an activity for the older children to participate in but don't feel it is appropriate for the youngest babies, ask ahead for help. Tell your director or assistant teachers that you will need help for 30 minutes on a specific date and tell them why. You may be surprised at how many offers of help you receive.
As infants grow, their schedules begin to closely resemble an adult schedule. Meals, playtime and nap times may begin to resemble a typical preschool schedule. Encourage these changes by beginning to structure your day to mimic a typical preschool day. For example, feed the babies breakfast together in the morning, followed by diapers and playtime. Feed all the children of a similar age a snack and lunch at the same time and attempt to have older children all napping shortly after lunch. While it is not advisable to force a child to adhere to your schedule, keep the schedules as close to similar as you can. If several babies require more than one nap, attempt to have the children nap at similar times. While younger children are napping, plan special activities with older children.