Nursery Manual
St. Andrews Presbyterian
Church Nursery Policies & Procedures Manual
Created by: The St. Andrews Christian Education Committee
Updated 10/01/09
By Alina Shook
St. Andrews Nursery Manual
Contents
Nursery Volunteer Duties 3-4
Nursery Policy & Procedures for Parents 5-6
Nursery Health Policy 7-8
Cleaning & Disinfecting Policy 9-11
Diaper Changing Procedure 12
Baby Learning Styles 13-14
What Babies Wish Grown-Ups Knew 15-16
Toddler Learning Styles 17
What Toddlers Wish Grown-Ups Knew 18-19
Disciplinary Policy 20
St. Andrews Pick Up Prayer Policy 21
Contact Information 22
Nursery Volunteer Duties
o Arrive at least 15 minutes prior to service or event.
o WASH HANDS before beginning Nursery Duty
o All nursery volunteers please wear a name tag
o Place disposable pads on changing table. Please use one pad per child as needed for diaper changes. Please remember to WASH HANDS after EACH diaper change.
o Ensure there is a trash bag in the diaper champ.
o Open main door and place baby gate in doorway to keep traffic out of the nursery area. Parents can hand you the children over the gate. This way, we ensure each child is greeted and welcomed to the nursery.
o Greet each parent and child with a SMILE!
o Have parent sign the child in and give the child a name tag. If you do not know the parents, give them a name tag with their child’s name on it to keep until after the service.
o Fill out name tags for all children entering the nursery.
o Ask parent for any special instructions regarding bottles, feeding, allergies etc of which we need to be made aware.
o Label all diaper bags, cups, bottles, etc.
o Close main door when service begins...however, leave gate up.
o When possible, separate children according to age and developmental level. Infants in side room; Toddlers in main nursery room.
o Keep toys in designated areas (infant or toddler) to prevent choking hazards.
o Sing songs and read stories with the children. Our interactions with the children are essential to their feeling safe and loved in God’s house.
o Check diapers at least once during Worship and once during the Sunday school hour. Check once an hour during other events.
o Take those who are potty training to the restroom prior to time for them to be picked up.
o Use germ-x wipes to wipe the children’s hands prior to serving snacks. o Wipe surface of table with Clorox wipe prior to serving snacks.
o Clean off little faces and hands before parents return!
Nursery Policies and Procedures for Parents
When you bring your child:
1. Parents are asked not to enter the Nursery when bringing children. A gate will be up prior to service and the attendant will take your child from the door.
2. Please sign your child in and ensure he/she has a name tag.
3. Place your baby’s name on ALL his/her belongings to prevent mix-up
4. Be sure to provide diapers & wipes for your child. If your child has a diaper rash, please provide the cream (labeled with his/her name) that you wish for us to use when diapering; otherwise, no cream will be used.
5. All children should have an extra change of clothing in the bags. If a child soils his/her clothing and no extra clothing is provided, the nursery attendant will be sent to get you from service. Children with soiled clothing cannot be allowed to remain in the nursery.
6. If your child is being toilet trained, please bring extra training pants and an extra change of clothing. Be sure to put his/her name on them.
7. Be sure your child has been fed. Only a snack will be provided (Sunday mornings only). Do not bring food Into the nursery unless your child cannot eat the snack provided because of allergies.
8. Please give instructions for infants that need to be bottle fed during their stay with us.
9. On Wednesday evenings, please feed your child prior to bringing him/her to the nursery.
10. If the event occurs over a meal time, please provide your child with a healthy meal and give the attendant on duty any instructions necessary for feeding your child.
While we have your child:
1. Please sit in a location where you can be located easily if necessary.
2. If your child is upset, a nursery attendant will come for you.
3. It is not necessary for you to check on him/her between worship and Sunday school. This causes a disruption in the nursery and may actually create a problem when otherwise things would have gone smoothly.
When you pick up your child:
1. Parents are asked to come for children immediately at the close of the Sunday school hour or the worship event.
2. Please do not enter the nursery while picking up a child. There will be a gate in place and your child will be brought to you with his/her belongings.
For the Protection of ALL our children, it is St. Andrews’ Policy
NOT TO ALLOW SICK CHILDREN IN THE NURSERY:
If your child has
o a fever (or has had one within the past 24 hours),
o cough
o rash (except one that is not contagious, like allergies, diaper rash, or eczema),
o diarrhea
o vomiting
o discolored nasal drainage (except allergy related and we are informed)
o ear ache
o sore throat
o any communicable disease such as strep throat, or chicken pox please keep your child at home!
Our nursery attendants are instructed to find you so that you can take your child home should your child become ill or be brought to us ill.
We would rather not be put in the position of telling you that your child should have been kept at home.
Please do your part to keep our nursery Safe and Sanitary!
Thank you for allowing us to care for your Children!
To Keep Our Nursery a Healthy Place
1. Accept only healthy children in the nursery.
o Don’t accept children with any of the following symptoms:
- fever of 100.5
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- runny nose with cloudy or green mucous
o Return children with contagious infections to their parents. As a volunteer you have the authority to turn away a sick child.
2. Wash your hands often. Contagious diseases are passed along by contaminated hands more than by any other means.
o Wash your hands when:
- When you first arrive in the nursery
- After changing a diaper (body fluids and wastes can pass many infections)
- after taking toddler to restroom
- after using restroom
- after wiping a child’s nose
- after treating bleeding injuries
- before serving snacks
- clean children’s hands with disinfectant wet wipes prior to snack.
3. Follow Diapering procedure posted next to changing station
4. After using a crib, be sure to pull back the corner of the sheet so it will not accidentally be reused.
5. Wipe noses as needed. Use a fresh tissue each time. Toss soiled tissues in a covered wastebasket. Wash your hands.
6. Disinfect toys. If a child mouths a toy, place it in the dirty toy bin. At the end of the service put used toys in the sink and spray with disinfectant.
7. Be sure children do not share sippy cups or pacifiers. After a child has finished his/her drink, return it in the diaper bag immediately to prevent another child from picking it up. If a child does grab another’s cup or pacifier be sure to disinfect it before returning it to the child to which it belongs.
8. Leave the nursery clean for the next service. At the end of the session, disinfect -. toys, furniture, and equipment. Remove dirty sheets and blankets from cribs and place in dirty linens basket.
Cleaning & Disinfecting Toys
• Whenever possible infants and toddlers will not share toys.
• Children in diapers will only have washable toys.
• Toys and equipment used by older children and not put into their mouths will be cleaned at least weekly and when obviously soiled.
• All toys which have been played with are to be retrieved and placed in “Dirty” Toy Bin an area not accessible to children.
• All toys which are used are to be washed and disinfected between uses by Individual children.
• Small Plastic toys may be placed on the top rack of the dishwasher and washed in hot cycle.
• Soft plush toys should be washed in washing Machine on Hot Water Cycle
• Electronic toys should be wiped down with disinfectant wipes and allowed to air dry before placing in clean toy bin.
• After toys have been thoroughly disinfected, and allowed to air dry, they may be placed back in the “clean” toy bins for the next use.
• Brushes and wash rags used to clean toys are to be disinfected (machine wash and dried or washed in dishwasher).
• After toys have been washed and disinfected, “dirty toy bin should be emptied and wiped out thoroughly with disinfectant wipes and allowed to air dry.
Procedure to wash and disinfect hard plastic toys:
1. Scrub the toy in warm, soapy water to remove any dirt or debris. Use brush to reach into crevices. Rinse the toy in clean water.
2. Put the toy in bleach solution (see below) and allow it to soak in the solution for 10-20 minutes.
3. Remove the toy from the bleach solution and rinse well in cool water.
4. Air dry.
Make a fresh bleach solution every day using:
* 1 Tablespoon of bleach in 1 quart of water
-OR-
* ¼ Cup of bleach in 1 gallon of water
All table and surfaces are washed and sprayed with bleach solution before meals and projects.
Personal Items:
Items brought in with a child, (blanket, pacifier, lovies, sippy cups etc) should be kept separate from other children. It should be placed with child’s other belongings except during resting / rocking etc.
General Cleaning after each Event:
All surfaces should be sprayed and wiped with disinfectant cleaner (Clorox wipes, Lysol wipes, etc).
• Large toys
• Sink & faucet
• Counter tops
• Table & Chairs
• Changing tables and pad
• Diaper Champ
• Rocking chairs
• Train table should be sprayed thoroughly with disinfectant spray
• Door knobs and light switches
• All used linens should be stripped of beds and laundered on hot cycle.
• Toddler bathroom:
o Sink & Faucet wiped down.
o Stepping stool should be wiped down
o Toilet seat and rim of toilet bowl wiped down
o Toilet brush should be kept under sink
o Flush handle should be wiped down
o Trash can emptied and wiped
• Glass door & infant room window should be sprayed with glass cleaner and wiped to remove handprints etc.
• Telephone receiver should be wiped down with disinfectant wipe
• Carpet should be vacuumed once a week
• Tile in nursery and toddler bathroom should be moped with disinfectant cleaner each week.
Infant & Toddler Diaper Changing Procedure
o Ask for any special instructions from parents
o Place a clean disposable changing pad under each child before changing.
o Wear latex gloves when changing diapers and change the gloves between each diaper change.
o Diapers and wipes should be provided by parents. If no diapers, extra diapers and/or wipes are stored in cabinets above the sink.
o Use diaper wipe on baby’s bottom if wet or soiled. If baby appears to have a rash, use warm wet paper towels and rash cream only if provided by the parent in the child’s belongings.
o Discard used diaper and changing pad in the diaper champ. If soiled, place in plastic bag and tie closed first...then discard in diaper champ.
o Use disinfectant spray on changing table after each use.
o If child’s clothing becomes soiled, check his/her belongings for extra clothing. Change child’s clothes and placed soiled clothes in a plastic bag and place it with the child’s belongings. If no extra clothing is available, send one person to retrieve parents from the service.
o Send ALL Children home clean and dry.
Baby Learning Styles
BABIES have to be physically comfortable before they can learn.
If babies are hungry, sleepy, in pain, or sick, they cannot pay attention to any learning activity. Watch for babies who seem content. Then take a safe activity to them that will match their level of ability. Offer the activity, using a duplicate toy in a way similar to what you want the baby to learn to do-eventually. Wait to see what happens.
BABIES learn through repetition.
Rather than changing the lesson every time the babies come to church, repeat lesson ideas and activities. These little ones need the repetition • to give them time to respond to the activity. For this reason, consider making lesson activities; complete with instructions that can be stored in and taught in the baby room during every service for a month, several months, or permanently.
BABIES are dependent on adults.
Generally, nursery helpers will need to be sensitive to 0 babies’ needs to move to’ new positions, to have toys within reach, to have interesting • pictures or objects to see.
BABIES learn through their senses.
Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling-all add to what babies are learning. Babies like to handle and mouth everything. Every nursery toy MUST be safe and cleanable. After one baby finishes with a toy that has been in his/ her mouth, teachers must remove the toy until it can be washed and/or disinfected.
BABIES learn from imitation.
If a teacher shakes a bell or moves a toy in a way related to a Bible story, eventually babies will probably imitate that part of the lesson.
BABIES learn to talk when they hear talk
The more often a baby enjoys eye-to-eye contact & talks with adults, the more quickly they learn to understand and communicate. At first babies will begin moving their mouths, then making coos, then jabbering, and finally repeating a word or two.
BABIES need to be protected from one another.
Crawling babies may climb over other babies in their path. Babies need help to learn to go around, not over, other babies. Teachers can help babies learn to use gentle touches. Teachers can also distract babies from exploring one another to exploring interesting books or other toys.
BABIES are learning to trust and love.
When babies receive tender, loving care during the first year of their lives, they learn to love others and to trust that their needs will be met. Learning to love and trust adults, who they can see, can be the first step in learning to love and trust God, who they can’t see.
“You have known the Holy Scriptures since you were a child. The Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” II Timothy 3:15
What Babies Wish Grown-Ups Knew
We Need Time To Feel Comfortable With You...
...especially if you don’t work with us every week. Our faces usually reflect the expression on your face and the tone we hear in your voice. If you’ll smile and speak with a soft voice, we’ll know that, we can relax in your arms.
We’ll Learn To Trust This Church As You Give Us T.L.C.
God wants us to trust Him, but we have to learn to trust God’s people first. If you give us loving care whenever we cry, we will learn to trust God’s people even before we learn to talk.
We Need Attention When We’re Happy Too.
Even though we can’t talk, we enjoy locking into your eyes and listening to songs and words and prayers. We like to watch as you move toys. By the time we are 4 months old, we’ll try to reach for toys that you hold.
We Like To Be Held.
The coziness of being held while we drink a bottle helps us feel loved. If we feel loved by God’s people now, we will feel loved by God later.
We Need Times Of Quiet And Times Of Action.
Sometimes we need to rest quietly in a crib or swing. Other times we enjoy lying on a floor quilt with colorful toys. It’s also nice when you hold us and move our arms to match the actions of a song.
We Learn Through Repetition.
Week by week, as we hear the same songs about Jesus and as we see the same Bible pictures; we will begin to love Jesus and the Bible.
We Learn By Imitation.
If you greet us with a smile, if you laugh with us and sing to us, we will come to think of church as a happy place. When we come to church we will feel happy to be here. If you ignore us except when we cry, we may wonder whether you really like us and are happy to have us come to church.
We Need More Physical Care Than Bigger Kids.
o Please check our diapers at least every hour.
o Until we can crawl, please change our position periodically and place toys or pictures where we can enjoy looking at them.
o Please ask our parents to tell how they care for us at home. We will be happier at God’s house if our care here is similar parents give us at home.
You Will Know If We Like This Church.
We won’t write a note. We won’t say. But if we like this church, we’ll smile when we come to the church nursery. We will eagerly go into your arms without crying. Our parents will notice that we are happy to be at church. Jesus will know we are happy to be at church. And God will thank you for helping us learn to love His house.
Toddler Learning Styles
Toddlers enjoy ritual.
Once toddlers master an activity they like to repeat it again and again. Their enjoyment of ritual is an expression of their joy in learning. Toddlers learn from imitation.
At times toddlers are passive participants.
From time to time, toddlers will watch the teachers without imitating. During these times, toddlers continue to learn. When they have decided how to imitate (or that it is safe to imitate) they will become active participants.
Toddlers know more than they can say.
Some educators believe that for every word a toddler can say, he can understand 100 words. Toddlers can follow simple instructions. They can enjoy simple stories. They can also repeat funny sounds and simple words. Their level of understanding lets them learn first ideas about God.
Toddlers learn through exploration.
You can plan ways to teach Bible ideas in a box, with blocks, with toy animals, with a puzzle, with any safe object that a toddler can explore.
Toddlers respond quickly to music.
Teachers can use music to gain (and regain) toddler attention, to gather children for a new activity, to help children remember Bible ideas. One way to do this is to make up new words to familiar tunes.
Toddlers need help to find good ways to play alongside others.
Teachers can guide toddlers toward good ways to take turns, to solve problems, to build a bridge with blocks, to play instruments, to cooperate, etc. If toddlers come to see grown-ups as people with good ideas, they may continue to seek grown-up help as they grow older. Generally, children who love and trust grown-ups, find it easier to love and trust God too.
Toddlers learn through their senses.
The more senses that teachers can involve in Bible lessons, the more children will enjoy church, remember Bible ideas, and transfer God’s ways into everyday living. So, watch for ways to allow toddlers to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell during every Bible lesson.
What Toddlers Wish Grown-Ups Knew
o We Need Time To Feel Comfortable With You
...especially if you don’t work with us every week If you’ll speak with a soft voice and come down to our level, you won’t look so BIG. If you watch our body language, we’ll let you know when we’re ready to be friends.
o We Learn Through Repetition.
The first few times you do an activity, we may just watch. After we see the activity a few times, we’ll try it too.
o We Understand More Than We Can Say
If you use simple words, we can do what you ask us-once we trust you.
o We Like To Do What Big People Do.
If you stack blocks, we’ll try to stack them too. (Or you stack and we’ll knock them over.) If you shake a raffle, we’ll shake one too. If you sit on the floor we’ll join you
o We Usually Want to Please Grown-ups.
So tell us when we’re being good, and we’ll try to be good again.
o We Need To Be Both Active And Quiet.
It’s great to be able to walk, crawl, and climb. We need to practice these new moves of ours. But when we get tired, we also need someone to hold us, show us a book, or sing worship songs to us.
o We Don’t Know the Rules. (What is a “rule”)
Teach us in a kind way. Show us what to do as what not to do. If we’re climbing on a table, say, “You can’t climb on the table, but you can climb on the slide.” You’ll have to remind us of the rules many times before we remember on our own. If we learn to trust your rules, soon we’ll learn to trust God’s rules too.
o We Need More Physical Care Than Bigger Kids.
o If we’ll be here more than 2 hours, we need a snack.
o Even though we may have our own word for drinks, it may not be words you’ll understand so, please, offer us a drink of water now and then.
o And, of course, there are diapers. We need to have our diapers checked every hour.
o Our parents will trust this church more if they see that you regularly change us and use the items they brought for us.
o We Will Let You Know If We Like This Church.
We won’t write a note. We won’t say thank you. But if we like this church, we’ll clap and smile when we see the church, and we’ll hurry into your class without crying. Our parents will notice that we are happy to be at church. Jesus will know we are happy to be at church. And God will thank you for helping us learn to love His house.
Disciplinary Policy
Once behavior problems such as hitting, kicking, biting, pinching, throwing toys, etc are noticed; please follow these steps:
• Call it to the child’s attention and ask the child to stop. Go over to the child and bend down to their level; don’t just shout the redirection across the room.
• Name exactly the behavior you wish for them to stop. (“Please don’t push etc; someone might get hurt”).
• Explain that God wants us to love one another.
• Explain that as the teacher, you will have to give them a time out or get mommy or daddy if the behavior continues.
• Redirect and encourage the child into other play.
Upon the second instance of the same behavior; please follow these steps:
• Go over to the child again and remind them that pushing, hitting etc. is not appropriate behavior.
• Take them by the hand gently and calmly lead them over to a time out location away from the toys where they were playing.
• Have them sit in a chair or on a mat for 1-3 minutes depending upon age.
• Explain again that God wants us to love one another.
• Explain that you will have to get mommy or daddy if the behavior continues.
• After the “time out”…redirect and encourage the child into other play.
If the child continues to demonstrate the behavior continuously and does not respond to the above strategies, the parent should be notified.
• According to the severity of the infraction, the parent may need to be notified after the first instance.
The parent is to keep the child with them until the end of the hour. The child may then re-enter the nursery during the next activity.
St. Andrews PCA
Pick-up Prayer Policy
Every time you pick up a child while in this nursery;
please pray for that child and his/her parents.
Pray for their relationship with Christ, health, safety, parenting wisdom, etc.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:22
For Questions concerning this manual or the policies herein, feel free to contact:
Alina Shook Children’s Education Committee
901-496-4031 Cell
901-382-8451 Home