Babies and toddlers need a lot of attention because there are many things that they cannot do for themselves. A child care center should have a low teacher-to-student ratio to ensure that no child is neglected while other children are being taken care of. This ratio can vary depending on the competence of your employees, but should not go higher than five or six students to one teacher.
A child care center should take the utmost care to ensure that there are no obvious dangers in its classrooms. This means that all outlets should be installed high in the walls or plugged with outlet covers; floors should be carpeted; tables and chairs should be made of soft, plastic material; and no dangerous or sharp objects should ever be left lying around.
Teachers should place their personal belongings, such as pocketbooks, out of reach of the children because of the chance that babies will swallow small items.
One common danger in a child care center, especially in the winter, is germs from other children. Parents should be informed when they sign their contract that they are not allowed to bring a child with a fever, bad cough, pink eye or other highly contagious disease.
Children should be looked over when they arrive in the morning to make sure that none of them display symptoms of sickness that can infect the other kids.
Employees must keep their hands clean at all times when dealing with little children. There should be a convenient sink near the diaper-changing station for employees to use after they change each diaper, as well as after they wipe a runny nose. It is a good idea for employees to wash their hands before feeding any child or handling a newborn baby, as well.
While it is not a necessity to declare your child care center a peanut-free establishment or to ban any other types of food, parents should be aware of whatever you decide. If you would like to make your center peanut-free, all parents must know this when they sign their contract and should be regularly reminded so that no accidents occur, such as packing a Reese's peanut butter cup for dessert.
If you decide not to ban any high-allergen foods, parents should be notified of this as well, in case their child does have one of these allergies.
Toys should be regularly wiped down or washed since children will put them in their mouths or cough on them. Toys should also be inspected regularly for rips and tears because these can cause sharp, rough edges that can scratch a child.
The quality of the staff in a child care center is very important for the well-being and safety of the children. Essential qualities to look for are warmth, happiness and a love of children. These characteristics will provide babies and toddlers with a safe environment that they need to develop properly. For head teachers, a license in early childhood education should also be a requirement.
For extra safety, perform a background check on each employee before hiring her, and call past employees and references. A simple background check can be done by performing an online search of the person's name and seeing if any records or government information comes up.