Demand for baby places is currently soaring and with fertility rates at their highest for 36 years, this trend looks set to continue. According to the Office of National Statistics, the birth rate in 2008 reached 1.95 children per woman - the highest fertility level since 1973 and the seventh consecutive annual rise. There were a total of 708,708 live births last year compared with 690,013 in 2007.
Nursery owners also cite the uncertainty of the current economic climate as a spur to demand for places. Many women are choosing not to take their full maternity leave and are opting for nursery care to enable them to return to their jobs. At the same time, many parents who might initially have wanted to return to work part time are now going back full time.
- Baby logistics
In response to strong local demand for baby places, Choochoos Day Nursery in Kent has recently acquired an adjacent building and converted it into a 15-place baby unit. Kent County Council contributed £225,000 of funding.
A lack of local nursery provision in some areas is not the only factor fuelling demand. 'There is also a marked decline in the number of childminders,' says proprietor Karla Tabony. 'Childminders have traditionally been a strong choice for those who need baby care, but parents in our area are now having to consider nursery as an option. A lot of our babies are booked in for full-time care so that parents can return to work.'
In scaling up its baby care, the nursery has had to gain specialist advice and undertake training. It has also enrolled on the Kent Quality Mark scheme which will help it to develop its baby practice.
'Kent County Council has helped us by offering a lot of professional advice on looking after babies, and has helped us to address particular care issues with sensitivity,' says Ms Tabony. 'We have had to make decisions around areas such as sleep routines, whether children should have dummies and how babies should be laid down.
'We also have to think about the logistics of how the babies will get out and about. We have just invested in a six-seater buggy that is like a little train - it really helps and the babies love it.'
- One to one
At the Flagship Children's Centre in Tilbury, Essex, centre head Catherine Croft corroborates that the recession is a significant factor in forcing new mothers back to work.
The nursery can accommodate nine babies and currently has a substantial waiting list. It is hoping to use Capital Grant funding to extend its baby accommodation.
'It is expensive to offer high-quality care for babies,' says Ms Croft. 'Babies of six months need one-to-one care. We have a range of experienced practitioners working in our baby room. Our room leader is at Level 3 but we also have someone who has just qualified at Level 2, and she is one of the best practitioners in the room.'
Ms Croft stresses the importance of a solid underpinning knowledge of child development.
'We recently ran a one-day in-house training session looking at issues around attachment,' she says. 'This helped staff to reflect more deeply on their baby practice.
'We looked at the attachment between parent and child and explored the use of words such as "clingy". It helped to understand how a child needs to be dependent before it can start to branch out and become independent.
'An important area is emotional holding and we looked at how the experience of a practitioner as a child or parent themselves could be a barrier to this.
'Practitioners need to be supported to tune into a baby as an individual, and to be emotionally available and responsive. We want them to really know their children and be continually assessing the emotional behaviours they are showing.'
- Stimulating environments
Practitioners qualified to Level 3 are a priority for Pebbles Day Nursery in Thrapston, Northamptonshire. June Rawlins, senior practitioner in the baby room, says, 'We have a good mix of younger and more mature staff who enjoy working with babies.'
The nursery has seen a rise in demand for places for one- to two-year-olds. Its 12-place baby room currently has six babies a day, while its one-to-twos room can hold 21 children and currently has 18 attending each day. 'We find that after the age of one, many parents are returning to work and scaling up their children's hours,' says Ms Rawlins.
Pebbles Day Nursery gives a lot of thought to how its environment can be safe and stimulating and support babies' personal, social and emotional development.
'A lot of our equipment has been home-made by the staff using natural objects, and these provide talking points,' says nursery manager Dominique Ward.
'The floor areas are divided between carpet and lino, with sensory objects attached. We have low-level mirrors and the pipe around the room has been covered in rubber to capture interest, and encourage children to physically explore.'
A lot of thought has gone into making the nappy changing area stimulating for babies. It has been developed to incorporate photographs and hanging objects. Children point at the laminated pictures displayed and can also reach for objects in a nearby treasure basket.
Baby areas also need to be made user-friendly for parents as they are likely to want to spend a fair amount of time in them.
The Flagship Centre's Catherine Croft says, 'We realised that it wasn't particularly comfortable for parents to be standing around so we purchased a sofa for this area.
'It has made a real difference and is also great for young children to cuddle up on with practitioners.
'Accessibility was also a key factor when thinking about the environment. For example, our book area is low level so that as soon as children can crawl they can pick out books for themselves.
'We also have photographs of the babies with their parents at low level so that when a baby is crawling or even sitting, he or she can point to the pictures.'
Undoubtedly the biggest challenge to nurseries providing baby care is investing in enough staff to maintain ratios, and ideally ensure a low turnover, so that the key person system can be effectively maintained.
'Recruitment is one of our biggest hurdles,' says Ms Croft. 'If someone leaves it takes time to replace them, due to bureaucracy and also just finding the right individual.
'We need practitioners who are prepared to put in the time to build familiar and trusting relationships.'
- Key person
June Rawlins, senior practitioner in the baby room at Pebbles Day Nursery, believes that the key person role is particularly crucial for babies.
'They need to bond,' she says. 'They are more sensitive to change and staff coming and going. We find that if there are more than three adults in the room whom they don't know they can become very upset.'
At The Flagship Children's Centre in Tilbury, nursery assistant Tina Lee says getting to know a key child and their parents or carer starts before they join the nursery.
'I will phone the parent for an initial meeting and then we gradually settle the child in,' she says. 'It's important to remember that key people are key to both the parent and child.
'We also have a buddy system operating so that the key person has back-up. This person will also know both the parent and the child very well, and be in a position to take over during holidays and other periods of absence.'
Ms Rawlins says that while a baby is initially assigned a key person, the child can change this. 'Sometimes a baby is more responsive to one particular adult and prefers to go to them for their cuddles, so we accommodate this.'
Ms Lee feels there are many positives in being involved as a key person to a baby. 'To build up the sense of trust and see the child begin to branch out from a position of security is hugely rewarding.
'Occasionally a child may be a little jealous if their key person gives attention to another child, or become anxious if the person leaves the room. In these situations it is important to tell the child what is happening, for example - "I'm going out to have my lunch now".
'The same applies to advice to parents - it is better if they are upfront with the fact that they leaving, rather than just slipping out unnoticed.'
PLANNING
Planning for babies needs to be based on rigorous observations. The speed of babies' development and the changing nature of their characteristics mean that practitioners must be finely tuned and responsive to the needs of each individual child, as well as the group.
Experts such as Julia Manning-Morton emphasise how the emotional, personal and social development of this age group is fundamental to their overall learning, and that practitioners must meet babies' needs for close, consistent, key person relationships.
The ways in which babies' interests develop, change and then repeat mean that plans need to be flexible. Everything comes back to observation.
At the Flagship Children's Centre in Tilbury, nursery assistant Tina Lee supports this approach. The nursery undertakes longer observations of each child - of up to eight minutes - once a week, and makes short observations every day. It is these which form the basis of its planning.
'We closely follow the child's areas of development and interests,' says Ms Lee. 'If we see a child being kind to another, by patting them for example, we will focus on this. One of our children, Alana, loves music and so I do a lot of dancing activities with her.
'Planning is geared for my key children but the others can join in. We keep a sheet displayed on the wall which records all the activities the children have enjoyed.'
While Ms Lee emphasises the importance of the key person's observations when it comes to planning, she reports that the observations of all practitioners feed into the mix.
'All practitioners are encouraged to make observations - they may notice something when a key person is out of the room. All of these comments are put into the child's individual folder to build up a picture and inform planning.'
In the nursery there are also many opportunities for babies and toddlers to repeat activities and experiences so they can practise skills and extend their imaginations. Ms Lee and her staff are also diligent when it comes to recording the breadth of the children's experiences and preferences.
Choochoos builds on observations with what it calls wow moments. 'These are responded to on a daily basis,' says Karla Tabony. 'It can be anything from how they settle or when they take their first steps. It is all about respecting their learning journey.'
In the baby room at Pebbles Day Nursery in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, senior practitioner June Rawlins says planning is closely linked to children's physical development.
'Some children at nine months need to be encouraged to move around through "tummy time",' she says. 'This involves placing children on their tummies and rolling balls to them and doing other activities involving singing and rhymes. These encourage them to roll and push up with their hands.
'It is a mirroring approach based on our knowledge of each child, which stems from observation,' she says.
PARENTS
Dominique Ward, manager of Pebbles Day Nursery, Northamptonshire, believes that practitioners may have to be prepared to be patient when it comes to dealing with the parents of babies.
'A lot may have mixed feelings about leaving their babies in nurseries and they may be worried and nervous when they come through the door. It is important that the baby area is inviting and is conducive to the parents spending time there as well as their children. Every parent and child is different and settling-in times vary.'
Parents of babies and toddlers will want to be given as much information as possible about their child's behaviour, activities and progress in the nursery, and effective ways of sharing information need to be established.
The Flagship Centre's Tina Lee also finds that first-time mothers can be anxious and may need lots of reassurance. 'They may find it hard to leave their baby. It is vital that they know what their baby's routine is in the nursery and that they find their key person approachable,' she says.
'Parents receive a record each day of what and how much their child has eaten, when they were changed and when they were fed. If a child is unsettled even a little bit, we inform the parent.
'We find our open days, when parents can watch videos of their children in the nursery, very useful. These highlight how their children learn through play.
'In my experience I have always had a good relationship with parents, and it is important to try and see their point of view. Parents are appreciative of the bond that is formed with their child, and they are glad to see that the child has taken to their key person.
'Sometimes parents may disagree with activities - for example, they may feel that we shouldn't be taking children outside when the weather is cold. But when we explain that they are dressed appropriately and it is only for a short period, they are usually happy to go along with it.'
FURTHER READING
- Abbott, Lesley and Moylett, Helen Working with the Under Threes: Responding to Children's Needs (Early Interactions). Open University Press
- Goldschmied, E and Jackson, S People Under Three: Young Children in Day Care. Routledge
- Langston, Ann and Abbott, Lesley Developing High Quality Experiences for Babies and Toddlers. Open University Press
- Manning-Morton, Julia and Thorp, Maggie Key Times for Play: The first three years (Debating Play). Open University Press
- Manning-Morton, Julia and Thorp, Maggie Key Times: A framework for developing high quality provision for children from birth to three. Open University Press
- Nutbrown, Cathy and Page, Jools Working with Babies and Children: From Birth to Three. Sage Publications
- Nursery World's series Birth to Three - Your guide to developing quality provision by Julia Manning-Morton can be ordered, tel: 08451 557355, www.nurseryworld.co.uk/books
- 'As a whole' - a guide to planning for the under-threes by Jools Page (Nursery World, 3 August 2006)
- Anne O'Connor on Attachment and the Key Person Approach, download at www.nurseryworld.co.uk
