Support Carers and Infant Development

This assignment explores the crucial role of support carers in nurturing the health and development of infants. It emphasizes the importance of professional training for support carers to effectively meet the needs of growing children. The assignment also discusses the significance of establishing trust with both infants and their parents to ensure open communication and a supportive environment. Limitations faced by support carers, such as parental involvement and information sharing, are also addressed.

Running head: CARING FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
Caring for babies and toddlers
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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CARING FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Safe and hygiene practices for provision of care to baby and toddlers...........................................2
Developing secure relationship with the babies and toddlers..........................................................3
Supporting the learning in different age groups..............................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................6

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CARING FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
Introduction
The current assignment focuses on the aspect of the care of babies and toddlers belonging
to different age groups. This requires both professional and practical experiences of the support
carers. The care and management of a budding toddler is different in aspects from that of a new
born and requires high degree of technical experiences. Therefore, catering to the care
requirements of the babies and toddlers a number of safety measure needs to be addressed
pertaining to infection prevention and controlling the rate of infant deaths. For the purpose of
achieving success in the aforementioned process a safe and secure relationship needs to be
developed with the toddlers. This further helps in supporting learning and development in the
children of different age groups. The policies of childhood and care have been developed with
respect to National quality framework for early childhood education and care.
Safe and hygiene practices for provision of care to baby and toddlers
The implementation of safe hygiene practices helps in optimum growth and development
of the babies and toddlers. However, as commented by Enserink (2013), the safety and hygiene
requirements vary with different age groups. In this respect, three different age groups were
considered by the early childhood educator such as children below 24 month age, toddlers
belonging to the age group of 2 and 3. The hygiene methods and practices differed greatly across
the different age groups and calls for greater degree of professional expertise in relevant
domains. In order to look after the care requirements of the infants a number of precautionary
steps or measurements can be implemented. Here, the babies should be provided with positive
nappy changing or toileting experiences. The support carer of the child should look for cues of
discomfort in the child and use those cues to develop a suitable care plan for the child (acecqa ,

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CARING FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
2017). The rest and sleep requirements of the child are crucial for their growth and development.
As commented by Velleman et al.(2014), the child educator must discuss the rest needs of the
babies with their respective family members. Moreover, some of the safety concerns which
needs to be taken care of in looking after an infant are reducing the exposure of the baby to
tobacco smoke. Additionally, the babies need to be put in the same sleeping room as that of the
parents for the first 6-12 months. Thus, promoting positive nappy changing and play areas to the
children could help in relieving the stress in the children.
The support carer also needs to assure that the toddlers in the age group of 12 months to 3
years of age should develop positive sensory and motor skills which help in the recognition and
identification of objects. As commented by Bhutta et al.(2013), the children in the age group p
of 12-3 are in the Piaget’s stage of development. Additionally, the child educator should take
enough care that the harmful or sharp objects are not kept within the proximity of the children.
Developing secure relationship with the babies and toddlers
The child educators play a crucial role in the development of a positive sense of
belongingness within the child. As mentioned by Thompson (2014), frequent warm and
affectionate interaction with the child can inculcate a feeling of trust and positivity within the
child. These feeling s further govern the responsiveness of the child to the world in general. As
argued by Goldberg (2014), childhood trauma and experiences of the past often affect the growth
and development in the child. The families of the child should be instructed by the support carer
to provide the child with their comfort objects or objects of interest such as their favourite toys
(acecqa , 2017). Moreover, frequent one to one interaction between the child and the care givers
also result in the development of a positive behaviour in the child. In this respect, the toddlers

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CARING FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
belonging to the Piaget’s stage of development often depict exploratory behaviour which needs
to be encouraged at each and every point (acecqa , 2017). This forms the foundation for the
learning and development of the children.
Supporting the learning in different age groups
The first two year of life is critical for language and social development which forms the
basis of the interaction of the child with the social world. As commented by Haager and Aceves
(2017), the educators can contribute to a great extent in language development t in the child by
repetition of words, sound and gestures. As mentioned by Owen (2014), using short simple
sentences further helps in the development of phonetics and sentence construction in the child.
The narration of short stories and rhymes to the children can further develop imagination and
learning powers in the child. Additionally, consistency with home practices and respectful and
positive interaction can enhance the physical and social developments in the children.
Conclusion
The current assignment focuses on the concept of developing proper care and
management policies for the care of the infants. In this respect, the support carer looking after the
care requirements of the babies need to be well trained. The sae could be assured with high
degrees of professional training where the care and support professional are well informed about
the relevant methods and approaches. One of the crucial parameters for looking after the health
and overall development of growing infants is to develop a secure relation with the children. This
helps in developing a bond of trust within the child assuring the child grows up within a positive
and healthy environment.

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CARING FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
However, a number of limitations are faced by the support carers in looking after the
toddler or the babies. Some of these include lack of sufficient participation from the parents of
the infants, hiding or lack of sufficient amount of information by the parents. Therefore, the
support carers also need to develop a bond of trust with the parents which facilitate free and easy
exchange of information.

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References
acecqa (2017), acecqa, Availabet at :
http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/educator-to-child-ratios [Accessed on 5
Oct. 2017]
Bhutta, Z.A., Das, J.K., Rizvi, A., Gaffey, M.F., Walker, N., Horton, S., Webb, P., Lartey, A.,
Black, R.E., Group, T.L.N.I.R. and Maternal and Child Nutrition Study Group, (2013).
Evidence-based interventions for improvement of maternal and child nutrition: what can be done
and at what cost?. The lancet, 382(9890), pp.452-477.
Enserink, R., Ypma, R., Donker, G.A., Smit, H.A. and van Pelt, W., (2013). Infectious disease
burden related to child day care in the Netherlands. The Pediatric infectious disease
journal, 32(8), pp.e334-e340.
Goldberg, S., (2014). Attachment and development. Routledge.
Haager, D. and Aceves, T.C., (2017). Supporting Language and Literacy Development for
Additional Language Learners with Disabilities. The Wiley Handbook of Diversity in Special
Education, pp.183-205.
Murphy, A., Steele, M., Dube, S.R., Bate, J., Bonuck, K., Meissner, P., Goldman, H. and Steele,
H., (2014). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) questionnaire and adult attachment interview
(AAI): Implications for parent child relationships. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(2), pp.224-233.

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Owen, S., (2014). Teacher professional learning communities: Going beyond contrived
collegiality toward challenging debate and collegial learning and professional growth. Australian
Journal of Adult Learning, 54(2), p.54.
Thompson, R.A., (2014). Stress and child development. The Future of Children, 24(1), pp.41-59.
Velleman, Y., Mason, E., Graham, W., Benova, L., Chopra, M., Campbell, O.M., Gordon, B.,
Wijesekera, S., Hounton, S., Mills, J.E. and Curtis, V., (2014). From joint thinking to joint
action: a call to action on improving water, sanitation, and hygiene for maternal and newborn
health. PLoS medicine, 11(12), p.e1001771.