Infants

Bouncing Bubbles Child Care follows Safe Sleep practices to reduce the risk of SIDS…

  • Babies are always placed on their back to sleep.
  • Soft objects, toys and loose bedding are kept out of the baby’s sleep area.
  • Pacifiers are encouraged for napping.
  • Babies are visually monitored every 5 minutes while napping.
  • Room temperature is kept at a comfortable level to assure babies do not overheat while sleeping.
  • Bibs and garments with ties or hoods are removed before placing an infant in the pack & play to sleep.
  • Babies are never swaddled.

Tummy Time is encouraged several times throughout the day to strengthen head, neck and shoulder muscles.  Each infant’s position is changed at least every 30 minutes when the child is awake.  The use of equipment (bouncers, swings, etc) is limited to 30 minutes at a time.

Strategies to cope with a crying, fussy or distraught child….

  • Determine if the child has any physical needs: hungry, tired, sick
  • Rock the child, hold the child close or walk with the child
  • Stand up, hold the child close, and gently bounce
  • Sing or talk to the child in a soothing voice
  • Gently rub the child’s back or tummy
  • Turn on soothing music

Breastfeeding

Giving infants a healthy start helps them develop healthy habits for life. Our program is committed to breastfeeding and other developmentally appropriate infant feeding practices.

We invite mothers to breastfeed on site and/or provide breastmilk for us to feed to their infants. Mothers may breastfeed enrolled infants at any time during the day at child care. There is always refrigerator and/or freezer space available for storage of breastmilk.  Provided breastmilk must be labeled with the child’s name and dated.

Formula

Bouncing Bubbles provides formula for infants.  Prepared formula is used within 2 hours of preparation and within 1 hour from when feeding begins.  If the prepared formula is not used within 2 hours, the bottle is stored in the refrigerator and used within 24 hours.

Infant Foods
Around 6 months of age, we work with families to begin introducing solid foods. Our program provides a variety of healthy meals and snacks for infants each day, including iron-rich cereals, pureed/mashed vegetables and/or meats without added salt, and pureed/mashed fruits without added sugar. Families will provide information about known allergies and already introduced foods.

Infant Feeding Practices
We strive to use “best practices” when feeding infants to help them build healthy eating habits right from the start. These best practices include feeding infants when they begin to show signs of hunger and ending feedings when they show that they are full. Our feeding practices are flexible to the needs of families. For example, we can avoid large feedings at the end of the day before mothers intend to breastfeed. Families should inform us of their preferences.   Bouncing Bubbles will provide bottles for childcare that are the brand/type that children use at home.  Infants who are not independently bottle-feeding are held in provider’s arms when feeding. Children who are independently bottle-feeding are in a seated position within reach of the provider.  Bottle warmers are used when bottles need to be warmed.

Education and Support
We participate in professional development on breastfeeding and other infant feeding and nutrition topics. Information about the importance of breastfeeding, and what we do to support breastfeeding, is provided to all families enrolling infants. Additional resources regarding breastfeeding, infant nutritional needs, and feeding are made available as infants age. We ask that families complete an Infant Feeding Plan upon enrollment that provides us with needed information and guidance.