As parents start heading back into the office, it’s time to think about infant daycare. Daycare provides much more than just babysitting — early learning and general wellbeing are promoted on a daily basis, and it’s important to have your child in a solid routine and a good environment for growth. Despite this, it’s expected that some parents may be apprehensive when sending their children back to school and daycare during a pandemic. Here’s what you need to know about getting ready for a return to daycare.
Infant Daycare Safety Guidelines
The first thing to check is whether the daycare is following the proper CDC childcare guidelines for COVID-19. Schools should have solid plans in place for temperature checks, hand washing, social distancing, and cleaning and disinfecting. Staff should be ready and well prepared in case they get sick, and the home isolation guidelines should be followed before returning to work.
Changes to safety procedures might mean that the average day at daycare runs a little bit differently. To minimize contact with other children and staff, groups will be smaller, and your child’s classroom shouldn’t change too much throughout the day. Hand washing is promoted, and temperatures are checked for everyone, both children and staff, and classrooms are sanitized daily to reduce the spread.
By looking out for each other and taking these essential safety measures, your child gets to return to a safer environment for learning and care. Frequent contact points like light switches, doorknobs, and counter tops are regularly sanitized, as well as toys.
Making The Right Decision For You
If your daycare provider is following all of the recommended guidelines, it’s up to you to decide whether a return to daycare is best for your child. This decision relies on many different factors, and what fits for one family might not fit for another. If you’re in doubt about what will be the best option, don’t hesitate to speak to your pediatrician.
Firstly, take a look at how your local area is handling the pandemic. With lower active cases there’ll be a much lower risk of transmission, and therefore heading back to daycare will be an easier experience. To reduce the risk of transmission, children and adults that have been exposed to COVID-19 should practice caution and self-isolate if necessary. These small actions to slow the spread of the virus help to get local daycare providers back to running normally sooner, making the adjustment period easier for you, your family, and your child.
Medical history also plays a large role in deciding whether your child is ready to return to daycare. If your child is immunocompromised, not up to date with vaccinations, or you have a family member that is at a higher risk of COVID complications, you may want to wait a little bit longer before starting up with infant daycare. This decision is best discussed with your pediatrician, who is able to give you an in depth run down of how to keep your child and your family safe during this time.
COVID-19 Safety At Providence Children’s Academy
At Providence Children’s Academy, your child’s safety and health is of the utmost importance. We’re open to provide infant daycare services while making sure that we follow all the CDC guidelines and work to go above and beyond in providing a safe environment for your child to grow. If you would like to know more about how we’re being COVID-safe, don’t hesitate to contact us at 954-570-6914. We’re ready to answer any questions you may have about how we’re keeping infant daycare at Providence Children’s Academy safe.