Next month my LO will be starting daycare. He will be almost 15 weeks and will be in a center with ten infants under 12 months old. Among a ton of other anxieties about leaving him during the day my biggest worry is that he will feel abandoned now that he doesn't have one on one attention all day 
The center has plenty of swings, bouncy chairs and toys but his attention span is so short that I know he gets tired of things quickly. I spend much of my day walking him around and looking at stuff and talking. Something that won't happen when it's a 4:1 caretaker ratio.
I'm wondering if any bees have worked in infant care before. What sort of stuff happens all day with the littlest ones????
Thanks!
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I have been wondering about this too! I'm interested to see responses.
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@sarah.clarisse: I don't work in infant care. But my son attended daycare as an infant. They do music class, learn sign language, artwork, story time, play with puppets, circle time as a group, go outside on nice days, etc. There are tons of activities they do!
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My LO was in a center with a similar ratio. Between their naps and their feeding times I know she got a lot of 1:1 attention. There is a lot more activity going on in an infant room. If you just sat in your living room, sure you may want to walk around to see different things. But in a center the room is constantly changing with people coming and going so the scenery changes.
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I know at our daycare, the infants get moved around the room. They have some baby gyms, do tummy time, look at themselves in mirrors and often they will put the babies facing each other so they watch each other. My daycare has one bouncy seat and no swings. They try to keep the babies uncontained to encourage movement. They will also do activities like the teachers will blow bubbles. I think there was enough activity going on with all the different kids in the room that my LO never got bored.
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I never specifically worked in an infant room when I worked at a daycare but would step in occasionally to help out. While it may not be the same level of one-on-one I know that the center where I worked the teachers spent a lot of time individually talking to the babies as they were doing things and holding them. A lot of the day would be taken up making sure diapers are all changed regularly, that all the babies were fed as needed, and monitoring naps. When I filled in I would typically sing to the babies or look at toys/books. Also they would have different 'art projects' which mainly included sensory activities or hand print art. I actually felt pretty at ease leaving my LO at daycare with the experience of working in a center (even with that level of ease it was (and is) super hard to miss him all day!). Does your center have any sort of lesson plan that they put together for the infant room that you could take a look at to get an idea of what they do all day or could you visit the room with your son for a little while to observe?
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Great question, I was wondering the same thing. I asked when I took the tour, and they said they sing and play and read, but what about when the other babies are getting fed, which can take a while? My daycare doesn't allow swings or bouncers, and only uses boppies to help them sit up. Is that normal? It seems boring!
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Our daycare doesn't have any bouncers/swings etc so it's a lot of floor play with various toys, mini ball pit, sensory activities, mirror wall area,.. They have kid sized furniture, a practice ramp/stair type thing for the older infants to try out.. They spend some time outside in the grass or on the deck, water play, bubbles. They also have music time, sign language, buggy rides around the campus, etc. They read and paint and do other "crafts" related to the holidays, books, seasons/weather. I think napping and eating takes up a lot of time, too!
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Thanks ladies. I'm glad they have swings because LO enjoys his at home but I also don't want him spending all day in it. I'm hoping he will be entertained people watching
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