Caterpillar Room. 6 weeks to 14 months

The Caterpillar room is designed to cater for the needs of babies from the ages of 6 weeks until 14-15months of age, we have 12 babies in the room each day. The ratio in our room is set to DECS regulations (1:4) which provides your baby with quality care and interactions, and thus more opportunities to develop strong attachments to caregivers, which is of high importance to us at Play Learn and Grow.

Educators in Room

There are four full time educators in the Caterpillar Room, the room is self-sufficient, this means that we cover each other’s breaks, and so at some periods in the day there may only be three staff (which is still guided by DECS regulation on ratios of 1:4 in the 0-2-year-old room). There are four shifts in the room, these shifts are staggered throughout the morning to ensure that at all times of the day we can provide high quality care for your baby

Our Routine

To encourage a sense of Belonging and consistency for your baby, we endeavour to reflect your current home routines as much as possible and within DECS regulations. so please let staff know of your baby’s sleep and feeding routines, this way the consistency of their routine can be followed through whilst in our care. You can let us know when these change by filling in a new child information sheet.

An information journal is kept in the room with your baby’s daily routine for staff to access throughout the day. Our daily routines within the room are set for both Summer and Winter however we like to maintain flexibility within the room, following current interests and needs of the babies.

Our Experiences

The Caterpillar babies participate in many spontaneous experiences throughout their day with the focus on age-appropriate literacy through exposure to books/text, finger plays and music and movement. All babies are provided with individual experiences determined by observations and based on children’s interests or developmental requirements.

Sleep Time

Sleeping in a new environment can be a little unsettling at first for your baby, it takes some babies time to adjust to their new surroundings, so at first their sleep patterns may be interrupted, however, we do attempt to follow your baby’s sleep routine as closely as we possibly can.

Please remember to pack any comforters that your baby has, this helps them settle. We provide sheets for your baby, and each baby has a cot allocated to them. When your baby is placed in their cot they are supervised/ comforted/ patted/ cuddled by a staff member until they go to sleep - babies are not permitted to be left unattended while going to sleep.

In line with the SIDS guidelines we cannot allow the babies to sleep with pillows, large soft toys, duvets, lambskins, quilts, or bottles. If your baby needs these to go to sleep with, they will be removed only after your baby has gone to sleep.

Breast Feeding

If you are still breast feeding, we welcome you to come and feed your baby at any time during the day, we have a breast-feeding area in our room.