Are you planning to start-up as a child minder or an at home nursery? There are lots of safety proofing + room organizing you will need to look into and Nate from
Sydney, Australia has given us a list well worth looking into!
** If you would like to do a guest post on my blog, please have a look at this post with the information and contact details. **
Safety Tips for Home Day Care
In-home daycare can be the perfect choice for stay-at-home parents with an excess of time and energy and the need to contribute to their household finance. Still, it is not a job that everyone can do. If you have made the decision to open a daycare centre at your home, you should know that love for kids isn’t nearly enough to make it happen. It is, of course, the starting point for this endeavour. Know that you are not starting a glorified baby-sitting service, but a place where parents will feel confident to leave their children without fearing they’ll be hungry, scared or unsafe. Because safety comes first, here are a few tips on how to insure your home becomes that safe place.
The Arrangement of Rooms and Furniture
The very first sign of impending safety issues of any daycare is the layout of rooms and furniture throughout it. First of all, areas for the quiet and loud play should be clearly separated. Second, you should make sure that any furniture, equipment and toys are sturdy enough for the kids to pull themselves up. Stairs should obviously be blocked off with railings and safety doors. Other things you should look after are the blind spots that are obscuring children while playing and long straight paths that encourage running.
Qualified Caregivers as the Best Accident Prevention
Providing a daycare is a very fulfilling and lucrative job and you have to consider investing in it beforehand and not ‘jump in’ unprepared. Obtaining an online course degree or some other kind of training is the best thing to do. It will help you do the job better and make you a trustworthy caregiver to whom parents will come in their moments of need. It will also generate positive word of mouth recommendations. Uneducated caregivers are an invitation for accidents to happen.
Safety of Nursery Products and Equipment
According to Dr Karen Sheehan, medical director at the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Chicago, there are not enough rigorous regulations that force large toy manufacturers to test the reliability of their products. So the fact that some of them are in the store and hence in the home daycares throughout the world does not guarantee quality or safety. Take this task upon yourself and always check if the available toys are potentially dangerous and whether they are in good condition. Always inspect if the playing area is free from choking and tripping hazards.
Securing the Exterior
Children love playing outside and you can’t keep them in the house all the time. So, another task for you is to make sure that the outside is safe for them. Climbing equipment, swings and slides shouldn’t be placed above concrete and asphalt. All playing equipment must be covered with safety caps (plastic would be best). Don’t use large inflatable jumping toys and pools. Clean the lawn of animal excrement and check for other hazards.
Emergency Plan
No matter how hard caregivers try to keep everything safe, sometimes accidents will happen that are out of their control. That’s why you should have an emergency plan and constantly improve it based on new findings. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors should be placed on the ceilings of every room. Always keep track of children, and check if the fire extinguishers are working properly and if the evacuation path is clear and easy to navigate.
Even if some of these issues may seem too thorough at the first glance, the truth is that it is much better to be safe than sorry. As a caregiver you are assuming great responsibility for all the kids under your supervision and you shouldn’t let down the parents who entrusted their most valuable treasure to you.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@ERFmama” hidden_hashtags=”#kids #WP” hidden_urls=”http://ow.ly/R0Kx9″]What you didn’t know about starting a day care-#guestpost by @NateMVickery[/tweetthis]
Nate M. Vickery is an entrepreneur from Sydney. He is always looking for ways to save and make money.
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Therese has completed the ‘Advanced Child Car Seat Training Course’ at TRL (Transport Research Lab) and is a CPD accredited car seat expert. She blogs about in-car safety, car seats, tips, reviews, giveaways and advice. She’s a mum on a mission to change the law and raise awareness. She is also a breastfeeding advocate and gentle parenting promoter who loves cloth nappies, baby-wearing, BLW and co-sleeping/bed-sharing.