Infants and Toddlers: Learning through Routines

Daily routines are a big part of your child's day--at home and at child care. Through the daily routines of hellos and good-byes, diapering and toileting, eating and mealtimes, sleeping and napping, and getting dressed, a child care program meets your child's basic needs. These routines also provide opportunities to promote learning and development.

Hellos and Good-byes

Learning to separate from and reunite with people we love is a lifelong process that can bring out deep feelings in everyone involved. Some of these feelings can be uncomfortable, and it is natural to want to avoid them. Because they arouse such strong feelings, hellos and good-byes provide valuable learning for infants and toddlers. As an infant, your child can learn about trust when you say good-bye and return as promised. Your toddler can learn what it means to be a separate person with deep attachments to others.

How you can help:

• Try to stay a few minutes to help ease your child into the day. Always say "good-bye" even when it is tempting to sneak away.
• Bring in reminders of home, such as family photos or a tape of you reading your child's favorite story. These sights and sounds from home will help your child feel safe and secure in child care.
• Remember that transitions can be hard for all of us. If your child breaks into tears or ignores you for a few minutes at the end of the day, the caregiver will be there to explain how these behaviors show your child's deep love and trust.

Diapering and Toileting

Diapering is a time to talk together, sing a song, or play "Where are your toes?" In addition, the caregiver can help your child learn the names of body parts and clothes, concepts such as wet and dry, and that body functions are a natural part of life. Sometime around the age of two-and-a half, children begin using the toilet. By waiting until your child is ready to do so and avoiding power struggles, you can make toilet learning a positive learning experience--and give your child the sense of achievement that comes with wearing "big kid" underpants and gaining self-control.

How you can help:

• Work with your program to plan a consistent approach for helping your child learn to use the toilet at home and in child care.
• Keep in touch with the program about how things are going at home. They'll let you know what is happening at child care.
• Keep reminding yourself that learning to use the toilet is a complex skill that takes time to develop. By taking a matter-of-fact approach to accidents, you can promote your child's sense of competence and reduce stress for everyone.
• Take a few minutes to celebrate together the accomplishment of this important milestone.

Eating and Mealtimes

Mealtimes and related activities--such as setting the table, washing hands before sitting down to eat, carrying on a conversation with others, and brushing teeth--give older infants and toddlers opportunities to develop self-help, communication, and social skills. Mealtimes are also times to practice fine motor skills and lay the groundwork for good nutrition and health habits. The foods you eat at home often reflect not only your personal taste, but your culture. Your child's program, therefore, should try to be sure that the meals they serve do the same. If your child is an infant, talk with the caregiver about issues such as nursing, weaning, and introducing solid foods.

How you can help:

• Join your child for a snack or meal whenever you can so you can see how the program does things. Ask questions and offer suggestions.
• If you are nursing, ask for a comfortable place where you can feed your baby without interruption.
• Share what mealtimes are like in your home so the program can provide your child with a sense of continuity.
• Give the program any information it needs to keep your child healthy, for example, that your child has allergies to certain foods, or tends to choke.

Sleeping and Naptime

Sleeping and naptime give your child needed rest during the active day in child care. Even if your child doesn't sleep, naptime can serve as a break from group life and a chance to develop trust in the child care environment.

How you can help:

• Keep the program informed. Knowing how long your child has slept and whether there have been changes in sleep patterns, will promote better planning when your child is in day care. It's equally important that your child's caregiver should give you this information to help you make plans at home.
• Share ways that you help your child fall asleep. The caregivers can do similar things, and help your child experience some of the same safe and secure feelings.
• Bring in your child's special blanket, stuffed animal, or other object. Your child will fall asleep more easily if he or she can snuggle up with a "connection" from home.

Getting Dressed

Dressing offers pleasant--and sometimes challenging--moments to enjoy being with your child. As caregivers dress your infant or encourages your toddler to push a foot into a shoe, they promote cooperation, introduce names of body parts, provide practice in self-help skills, and help your child learn to make decisions. Just as you do at home, caregivers may sometimes find themselves dealing with a protesting child. They should respond by being firm, respectful, and finishing as quickly as possible. And they should try to keep their sense of humor--even when they turn around to find a child pulling off the overalls they just struggled to get on.

How you can help:

• Leave an extra set of clothes at child care--labeled with your child's name.
• Dress your child for active, messy play so he or she can participate in everything without worrying about getting dirty.
• Choose clothes for your child that are easy to manage. Your child will feel competent when he or she can close the Velcro fasteners on shoes and manage pants with elastic waists.