Safe Environments For Mobile Infants in Child Care Centers

Spatial Layout

• Even though your mobile infant may seem like he's constantly on the go, he still derives security from seeing and having access to his caregivers, according to ZerotoThree.org. An open-concept layout means a room with few barriers, walls or obstructions, as this allows the staff and your baby to see each other. An open space also allows the staff to access your baby quickly and easily if he's moving toward danger.

Safe Challenges

• Mobile infants love to explore by crawling over, under, through and around various objects. A safe child care center will provide appropriate items to foster these exploration skills, such as low ramps with low railings for stable cruising and walking. Firm, padded shape pillows on padded surfaces help encourage climbing and rolling. Small structures that your mobile infant can crawl through, such as tunnels or tents, should be unavailable to older, more active toddlers.

Accessibility

• Once your infant starts cruising along bookshelves and furniture, accessibility to toys and materials becomes even more important. Low-set, accessible shelves let your baby safely see and select her materials. This is safer than having materials slightly out of her reach where she might grab for a basket just out of reach and accidentally cause hazardous items to come tumbling down on her head. Small chairs and tables also provide your mobile infant with a safe space, reducing the possibility of her climbing on, and possibly falling from, adult-sized furniture.

Cruising Material

• Once your mobile infant starts cruising, he'll use any item within reach to pull himself up, regardless of whether it's safe. That's why a safe child care environment should ensure that furniture accessible to mobile infants is tip-resistant and has padding or rounded corners. Accidentally tipping a narrow end table on to himself is unpleasant enough; you would not want to have the table's sharp corners fall on his stomach or face.