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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Childcare Infant Room Ratio
DeniseW 02:49 PM 02-11-2019
Hi! I am new to this forum. I would like to start a discussion on how/why is the ratio of an infant room 1 adult to 4"!" infants in the state of WA. Oregon is 1 adult to 2 infants. Does anyone have an explanation of why WA has this ridiculous ratio? Who has happily, and successfully taken care of 4 infants by themselves? I find that I am basically caring for them ie. diapering/feeding/moving them around all day, and do not get the opportunity to interact with them for the educational goals that I have set individually for them. Anyone else have opinions on this? I'd also like to know who set this ratio, and have they been in an infant room by them self with 4 babies?
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Lovisa 03:05 PM 02-11-2019
Ca is the same as long as the 4 infants are the ONLY children in care.
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jenboo 03:32 PM 02-11-2019
Idaho has a 1:5 infant ratio. I had no problems having 5 infants myself. It was busy but I still had time to interact with everyone.
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springv 04:01 PM 02-11-2019
Alabama has a 1 to 5 infant ratio, we have our ratio lower than the state required
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Ariana 05:09 PM 02-11-2019
What educational goals do you have for an infant?
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Lux 09:04 PM 02-11-2019
I did it a long time ago in a center, it was fine, and fun, for me personally. (Wash. state.)
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Cat Herder 05:24 AM 02-12-2019
I happily and successfully take care of 4 infants. Have for over 24 years. It comes very easily to me. I have time to read, study and do preschool with the oldest during morning nap. I currently have 5 kids 1 year and under and a preschooler. Just another day at the office.

I think 6 total is a silly low ratio.

Lowering ratios will only make childcare even more expensive and elusive.
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gumdrops 06:02 AM 02-12-2019
I have been tossing around the idea of opening a center for a year now. Ohio's ratio for infants is 1:5 or 2:12. I have wondered if that's realistic.

I guess 2-4 month olds still sleep a lot and 9-12 months can usually hold their own bottle and can play independently. I think if you have them in a good routine, or as close to one as possible for that age, it would be doable.
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Pestle 06:13 AM 02-12-2019
TN has one adult to four infants PLUS three kids over 24 months in licensed family daycare. In centers, it's 1:4 for infants; 12 mos. to 30 mos. is 1:6.

I agree that you'll spend most of your time with basic care, and that's too bad, but I can't imagine how a center could pay their employees and keep their facility running with a 1:2 ratio. You simply couldn't charge enough to do that, unless you had a ton of older kids with a higher ratio and only a few infants enrolled. Constant one-on-one care is available to the wealthy who can hire a nanny. That's the sad truth. But a program with several kids per teacher can still be excellent if the resources and training and parental support are there.
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Bluemoon5 06:29 AM 02-12-2019
It's 1 to 4 in my state as well. I find it's not that bad. I'm currently in the older infant room (12-18ish mo.) of my center, but I've helped out in the younger infant room. Sometimes a baby has to wait for a bottle for a minute if someone else has a poopsplosion, but generally it's pretty doable.
Lower ratios mean higher rates and I can't imagine parents paying more for infant care than they currently do. Here it's already equivalent to a mortgage payment (not that I see any of that but that's a whole different topic).
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mommyneedsadayoff 06:43 AM 02-12-2019
1:4 here as well...I wish it was 1:5, because 5 is my sweet spot in terms of ability to provide care and financial motivation for me. The way I interact with infants is mostly during basic care opportunities. For example, I'm singing to them while I change their diaper. I'm making eye contact and speaking with them as I feed them their bottle. I will do tummy time and lay in front of all of them so I'm their focus and they're looking up at me and we talk and manipulate toys. Educational goals for a baby need to be realistic. My biggest goals for them are full bellies, clean bottoms, and really good sleep.
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Blackcat31 06:52 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by mommyneedsadayoff:
1:4 here as well...I wish it was 1:5, because 5 is my sweet spot in terms of ability to provide care and financial motivation for me. The way I interact with infants is mostly during basic care opportunities. For example, I'm singing to them while I change their diaper. I'm making eye contact and speaking with them as I feed them their bottle. I will do tummy time and lay in front of all of them so I'm their focus and they're looking up at me and we talk and manipulate toys. Educational goals for a baby need to be realistic. My biggest goals for them are full bellies, clean bottoms, and really good sleep.
The QRIS program in my state requires written lesson plans and individual goals in all developmental domains/areas of development to be completed.

This is above and beyond tracking developmental milestones.

It can be time consuming and cumbersome but is part of the QRIS program for ALL ages. Goals and how we meet them are also required to be discussed with parents twice yearly.
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Cat Herder 07:07 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The QRIS program in my state requires written lesson plans and individual goals in all developmental domains/areas of development to be completed.

This is above and beyond tracking developmental milestones.

It can be time consuming and cumbersome but is part of the QRIS program for ALL ages. Goals and how we meet them are also required to be discussed with parents twice yearly.
Mine consists of a box of colored flashcards. Pick one for each domain per day, do the activity and we are done. 15 minutes per child per day, tops, to complete.

Example: "When parents or friends arrive in the classroom, encourage infants to wave to them. Wave your hand and repeat, "Bye Bye" several times. You could also gently hold the infants hand and make waving motions." One daily goal met in 10 seconds, 7 to go.
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Blackcat31 07:14 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
Mine consists of a box of colored flashcards. Pick one for each domain per day, do the activity and we are done. 15 minutes per child per day, tops, to complete.

Example: "When parents or friends arrive in the classroom, encourage infants to wave to them. Wave your hand and repeat, "Bye Bye" several times. You could also gently hold the infants hand and make waving motions." One daily goal met in 10 seconds, 7 to go.
Its definitely not the hardest thing I've had to do but it can be the most time consuming but for me that might just be because I have 12 kids in care and I have to do this for everyone of them.

Otherwise, having to write down exactly what an infant is gaining by looking in the mirror is easy. Silly but pretty easy overall.

Sometimes I think the hardest part is dealing with the headache from rolling my eyes at the whole "idea"
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Cat Herder 07:17 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Its definitely not the hardest thing I've had to do but it can be the most time consuming but for me that might just be because I have 12 kids in care and I have to do this for everyone of them.

Otherwise, having to write down exactly what an infant is gaining by looking in the mirror is easy. Silly but pretty easy overall.

Sometimes I think the hardest part is dealing with the headache from rolling my eyes at the whole "idea"
I could not agree more. I narrate my day to the kids for language development so having to also document it for people I don't work for is super annoying. It can be done effectively with planning though.

I guess the post irritated me in the "I can't do it so you should not be allowed to either" way. To limit my income because someone else finds it difficult rubs me the wrong way. This field is hard enough to earn a living in with the "daycare is too expensive" mindset. Adding this one in too makes it near impossible. I don't want socialized daycare to become the norm.
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Blackcat31 07:32 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
I could not agree more. I narrate my day to the kids for language development so having to also document it for people I don't work for is super annoying. It can be done effectively with planning though.

I guess the post irritated me in the "I can't do it so you should not be allowed to either" way. To limit my income because someone else finds it difficult rubs me the wrong way. This field is hard enough to earn a living in with the "daycare is too expensive" mindset. Adding this one in too makes it near impossible. I don't want socialized daycare to become the norm.
Yep, I read it the same way...

My immediate thought was something along the lines of "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." type thought....

For some 4, 6, 8 is easy....I find the less kids in attendance the harder. I also think routine is key.

If someone is struggling meeting their work requirements, I think talking to the director or employer is probably going to be more productive than getting the state to change ratios. Especially in a state that has pretty middle of the road ratios as it is.
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mommyneedsadayoff 07:36 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The QRIS program in my state requires written lesson plans and individual goals in all developmental domains/areas of development to be completed.

This is above and beyond tracking developmental milestones.

It can be time consuming and cumbersome but is part of the QRIS program for ALL ages. Goals and how we meet them are also required to be discussed with parents twice yearly.
I think in order to set realistic expectations for babies and children, you need to have a good amount of experience caring for them and understanding their needs, so I rarely expect realistic goals from state childcare agencies and even from a lot of parents these days.
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Blackcat31 07:42 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by mommyneedsadayoff:
I think in order to set realistic expectations for babies and children, you need to have a good amount of experience caring for them and understanding their needs, so I rarely expect realistic goals from state childcare agencies and even from a lot of parents these days.
these words ring awfully true in my program as of late.....

I've been asked a boat load of developmental questions lately by two DCM's.
One is a a nurse practitioner and the other a child protective services worker.
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Blackcat31 07:44 AM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
these words ring awfully true in my program as of late.....

I've been asked a boat load of developmental questions lately by two DCM's.
One is a a nurse practitioner and the other a child protective services worker.
....and for the record I do understand that just because a parent works in a certain field that it doesn't automatically equate to knowledge in parenting but the questions they've both asked would literally make you laugh out loud. Neither are "new" parents either.

It's more of a lack of time with their child therefore they don't really "know" their child type thing but your comment made me think of them right away.
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ColorfulSunburst 10:05 AM 02-12-2019
In NY we allowed having no more than 2 infants (here it is kids under 2!!! yo) for an adult. I can handle more than 2 but I may not.
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Ariana 12:13 PM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
Mine consists of a box of colored flashcards. Pick one for each domain per day, do the activity and we are done. 15 minutes per child per day, tops, to complete.

Example: "When parents or friends arrive in the classroom, encourage infants to wave to them. Wave your hand and repeat, "Bye Bye" several times. You could also gently hold the infants hand and make waving motions." One daily goal met in 10 seconds, 7 to go.
Thanks for the exaplanation! This sounds like a reasonable and quite normal educational objective for an infant.
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Cat Herder 12:27 PM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Ariana:
Thanks for the exaplanation! This sounds like a reasonable and quite normal educational objective for an infant.
My state sells the kits to make it easy. I'll send it to you in PM. There is also an interactive website, but my internet is not fast enough for it to be effective. I can finish my documentation before the second page finishes loading. They are talking about making it mandatory. I dread that. I already pay the highest rate but the monopoly internet company oversells and throttles.
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hwichlaz 12:37 PM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
Mine consists of a box of colored flashcards. Pick one for each domain per day, do the activity and we are done. 15 minutes per child per day, tops, to complete.

Example: "When parents or friends arrive in the classroom, encourage infants to wave to them. Wave your hand and repeat, "Bye Bye" several times. You could also gently hold the infants hand and make waving motions." One daily goal met in 10 seconds, 7 to go.
I just bumped 3 trouble makers and enrolled 3 infants. Do you have a link or a name for those flashcards????
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Cat Herder 12:48 PM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by hwichlaz:
I just bumped 3 trouble makers and enrolled 3 infants. Do you have a link or a name for those flashcards????
Standby.
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hwichlaz 01:02 PM 02-12-2019
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
Standby.

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ColorfulSunburst 03:17 PM 02-12-2019
I do with infants:

-light tissue massage
-introduce different parts of a human body during every diaper changing by touching and name it (nose, mouth, ears, chicks... )
-By using puppets I introduce different kinds of animals and the sounds they make.
-introduce some bright colors (red, yellow, orange)
-singing to them action songs and show all movements.
-teach them to be gentle
-teach them ASL. As a result, they can communicate before they can speak.

I do not do any circle time or organizing activities for infants under 1yo. Just a few seconds here and a minute there with each kid during the day. After 1yo they join our morning circle time for 5-10 minutes

my infants for now: 8mo, 1yo, 1.1yo, 1.4yo, 1.6yo, 1.6yo. All of them started when they were 3mo
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