LISA'S INFANT TODDLER EXPERIENCE

Child Day Care Center San Fernando Valley - Tarzana

Will you help me potty train my child?
Yes we will. You will explain exactly what you are doing at home to potty train your child. Some parents ask the child if they want or have to go potty. Other parents simply sit them on the potty each half hour or so. It's very important that we are both on the same track and saying the exact same thing. If I say potty and you say bathroom, the continuity is lost, so we say and do just what you do at home.

Will you hold my baby while she drinks her bottle?
Yes we will. It is important to build a bond with the children we care for. Even if they are older babies, if we have the time, we love to hold them and look into their eyes, and talk to them as we give them their bottles.

My child is a very picky eater. What will you do?
Often times just seeing other children eating foods that your child doesn’t eat at home, helps them to try the food item when they see another child or two eating it at daycare. We have many tricks up our collective sleeves to help encourage little ones to eat. Some of us sing to distract, some ask the child to take a bite of the offending food, and the reward for that is they then get a bite of another favorite food.. Now this doesn't always work, and by all means possible we try to get them to eat well. Sometimes they just won't eat when you are offering food, and that is why we offer each child something to eat every two hours, as long as there is not a weight concern. Hungry babies are unhappy babies so we try to keep their tummies full.

How do you discipline?
Our belief is that babies need to throw things, hit things, screamn and generally do all the things that society says you can't do. It's their job at this point of life to try to figure out what they can and cannot get away with. We give them appropriate ways to do the things that society says they shouldn't do. For example: when they throw sand, we explain how to appropriately do the action they are doing in the wrong manner. We say that the sand is to play with, and show them how to scoop it up with a shovel and put it in a bucket. Next we say if you need to throw something, you can throw a ball. If they continue to throw sand we repeat what we just said and did, and add that if they can't listen to our words then we will need to take them out of the sandbox, so the other children don't get sand in their eyes, cause that hurts. If they are still not listening, then we again repeat ourselves, and take the child out of the sandbox, AND GET THEM INVOLVED IN ANOTHER ACTIVITY. Distraction is a very useful tool at this age. If we have concerns about one child’s safety due to another child, we speak to the parents immediately, and come up with a plan to quickly extinguish that behavior. We don't use the word NO because it is a very powerful word in the hands (mouth) of a toddler. If we say NO all day long then they are always saying it back to us. We find other ways to say "please don't do that.

What if my child has a" lovey " (transitional object), such as a blanket, or a special doll or stuffed animal they need to comfort themselves with?
Fine! Bring it to the center.

What if I want to provide my own foods for my child?
That's O.K.

Do they watch T.V.?
NO!!!

Do you give the babies or toddlers sugary foods?
NO. we try to provide the healthiest diet that children this age will eat. No sugar, few preservatives (we do offer turkey, and chicken hot dogs and bologna occasionally, as toddlers eat these very well, but if you don't want your child to have these they will not be offered to them) no artificial colors, or flavors, no added salt.

Do you teach them their A.B.C.'s?
Yes in a fun way we expose them to shapes, colors, numbers and letters. We DO NOT shove learning them down their throats as they have many years ahead of them to be drilled on this. We say “Look, you have a red ball, or two balls. It is far more important to learn to share toys, take turns, and and learning to use words, not hands to communicate.