Extra safety tips

[Dreamtree]

Hey Everyone!

I have recently finished my degree in ECE, and so have worked in a number of daycare settings. I opened my daycare in June for enrolment and have set it up so I have 3 11 month olds at a time. There are 4 enrolled but 3 are part time, I was very adamant that I have no more than 3 children of this age group in my care at a time, some days it is only 2. Anyway, being someone who understands how important our job is I am always looking for tips on keeping the children in my care safe and happy!
Does anyone have any tips on adjustments to their centre or routines that helped them in caring for this young age group?

Thank you!

[playfelt]

The biggest thing for me is I made a decision on the ages I would care for. I don't do the school runs to the bus so only care for children 3 and under. That means toys and supplies such as scissors, markers, small lego, etc. is not available to the children. In a daycare centre where there are separate rooms for age groups these items would be out for 3 year olds and above. What you need to do is childproof the room for the babies and have the things you need for the older kids up on high shelves or in locked cupboards that you can bring out for supervised use. Make sure you have a play yard or area of your room sectioned off for the babies that you can be sure has only baby safe items in it and is used only with the babies. Then if you want to do a craft with the older ones or need to run to the bathroom you have a place to put them.

[mom-in-alberta]

I second the idea of having an enclosable safe area for when you need to do diaper changes, nose wipes, or if you need to pee!! The only risk you run then is little ones whacking each other, which will happen no matter what, lol.
I know some providers may not be, but I am all about safety gates. A friend of mine teases me about it, but I would rather be safe than sorry. All the stairs are gated, and I keep gates up to keep the smaller kids within my sight when we are not down in the playroom. My cleaning supplies are all in one cupboard, inaccessible to the kids. I didn't want to have locks on all sorts of cupboards, so I condensed it all into one.
One of the things I figured out; have an idea in advance of how you will spend your day. Even if that day ends up being: free play, snack, free play, lunch, nap, coloring, free play, home. It doesn't have to be structured activities, but I found that when I was just flying by the seat of my pants, things got hectic. That may have been just me, though! lol

[Dreamtree]

Thanks for all the info everyone! I will only have the younger age group for now, so I am indeed going to put the toys for older children in my storage closet. I have baby-gates as well and am planning on buying an enclosure...what a great idea! When I saw those big octagon enclosures I was ecstatic! LOL!