New programs to help families ease their babies into childcare are being implemented by Guardian Childcare and Education.
This is part of the organisation’s aspiration to be the “baby experts” and demonstrate that its teams truly understand the world of babies and their families.
The initiatives include having specialist Baby Ambassadors in centres and Baby’s First Food Passport, a collaborative tool to track a child’s food journey.
Under this program, first foods are trialed at home and families, educators and the centre’s chef work together to safely explore food from puree all the way through to solid foods.
Guardian Childcare is also trialing the Baby Circle, a meeting place for families to gain understanding and confidence around the childcare experience for babies.
Insights from having a baby
Guardian’s National Baby Ambassador Simone Myskiw said the Baby Circle concept grew from her own experiences as a first-time mother.
Simone had been working in early childhood for a long time but having her own baby gave her fresh insights.
“I understood the family experience from another perspective and gained insights into the journey that families go on,” she said.
“That included the multiple changes that occur from becoming pregnant, to being at home with baby, returning to work and starting care for my baby.
“It was hard to go through so many transitions, and that is what inspired this work. How can we support families to feel less impacted by this transition and offer authentic support and guidance?”
Simone said the challenges of having a new baby were compounded when families considered putting their “precious and special” babies into childcare.
“Starting a baby in childcare is such a hard time in a family’s life,” Simone said. “Often you don’t know what goes on behind the door unless you work there.
“It was hard for me, and I was enrolling my baby in the centre that I was managing. So I could only imagine how hard it was for other families who hadn’t been more than an arm’s length away from their baby since they were born.”
With her dual role as a new mother and an experienced childcare educator, Simone took a keen interest in ensuring Guardian Childcare became exceptional at care for young babies.
She worked “really, really hard” on family relationships and helping families feel comfortable with their care choices.
The Baby Circle trial
The Baby Circle is effectively a meeting place for new families to gain understanding and confidence around what happens in childcare and early learning centres.
The initial Baby Circle trial was for families who had booked their babies for a January-February start to commence a relationship with the centre several months before that.
“That way families had time and space to explore and trial getting ready for work, getting baby ready for the day, navigating a drop off and confidently starting back at work, which is a really tricky and unknown experience that you know nothing about until you have to experience it for yourself,” Simone said.
“I really wanted them to get to know the centre and feel the centre working.
“They get to meet and know the team, see children coming in and out, and ask lots of questions like ‘how sick is too sick to come to the centre” and how sleep routines look in the centre versus at home.”
Understanding bedtime in a centre
The early engagement also helps families learn tips around how professional carers handle baby sleeping and eating, and what the transition from home to care and back again looks like.
“We invite them to come in at baby bedtime and watch how we do it, so they are confident we are really upholding up our commitment to safety,” Simone said.
“But we are also really making sure the families feel like their rights are respected and we are not judging them on their decision making.”
Knowing your baby is in good hands
Simone said she quickly noticed after trialing the program that more families were keeping their children in the centre and having the confidence to return to work knowing their baby was in good hands.
“After a year with us, the babies were a really solid, strong, capable group of toddlers,” she said.
“We just noticed over time that the children were more settled and the families were happier and our team were even more confident in how they engaged with families.”
The Baby Ambassador program
Similarly, Guardian’s Baby Ambassador program, which identifies a highly trained champion for babies in each centre, was born from a trial in one of the centres.
“Our Baby Ambassadors are really that person who can really advocate for babies and families of babies in the centre,” Simone said.
“They can explain what is happening in a baby and their family’s life to other educators and ensure we really see the world from a baby’s perspective, and we care more about their special needs.”
Baby’s First Food Passport
The Baby’s First Food Passport is activated when a family enrols and teams discuss with families what a baby has already tried at home.
“Then we share that information with the centre chef or cook, and then they create the baby meals based on what babies have already tried,” Simone said.
“This way we are tracking the baby’s food progress in partnership with families and not giving foods to any babies that their families are not comfortable with.”
For more information on the Guardian Childcare baby program click here.
