Amherst Community Church Child Care Center

Infant Room

Our experienced staff in the Infant Room provides individual care to each baby. We provide a loving, consistent, and home-like environment. Our babies' daily needs are meet on an individual basis: diaper-changing, feedings, interaction, and naps. We are able to meet each baby's need with our ratio of 1+ caregivers to 3 infants, which is a higher ratio than is required by state licensing authorities.

Our caregivers spend their day on the floor interacting with the babies, encouraging each baby's cognitive, social, emotional, and muscular development and growth. We give each baby the opportunity for free movement with lots of floor time. We understand that learning is sequential and provide opportunities for each baby's learning. The infant room is equipped with an abundance of age-appropriate toys and books for the babies.

Young babies are held for all bottle feedings. During feedings, our caregivers lovingly hold each baby while talking and providing eye contact and one-on-one time. As babies grow, we will follow the meal patterns parents share with us, providing a routine for feedings. As babies begin table foods, we encourage opportunities for self-feeding to develop fine motor and hand/eye skills.

Large muscle development begins as babies move their eyes to see, to discovery of their hands, to crawling, standing, walking, and - finally - running! We do much to encourage large muscle development and also encourage fine muscle skills: pincher grasp, holding a rattle, wiggling fingers or toes, encouraging a smile, or comforting a frown.

The infant room staff is aware of and encourages language development as well, including body language, smiles, hugs, kind touches, and so on. Language development starts with simple coos and gurgles, moves to babbling and forming sounds, and moves further to simple words such as mama, dada, mine, and no. Progress is encouraged and celebrated on an individual basis.

Socialization is not always something thought of with the infant age, yet it may be the first time for socializing outside of the family. At this age, socialization may even go unrecognized. It will begin with the recognition of self, that people enter and leave a room, that people give a baby attention if he or she cries. There will be times it seems like the children are playing together, but in reality they are having "parallel play" where children are playing independently, yet next to each other. Our infant room is a wonderfully nurturing environment for our children.

Amherst Community Church Child Care Center
77 Washington Highway, Amherst New York 14226

Telephone: 716.834.9701 ~ Email: info@accccc.org