- Provide a dedicated place for daytime sleeping outdoors as well as indoors to suit the needs of individual babies.
- Enable and allow babies to sleep when they need to and to wake up from naps naturally.
- Provide ample seating both indoors and outside so that adults can sit comfortably with distressed, resting and alert babies. Swing seats outdoors work especially well.
- Keep the environment quiet and calm, so that babies can attend to the voices and natural sounds around them.
- Plan to take account of the individual cultural and feeding needs of young babies in your group.
- There may be considerable variation in the way parents feed their children at home. Remember that some parents may need interpreter support.
- Plan for feeding times to be slow and pleasurable. A gentle rhythm to feeding times allows babies to anticipate what is coming next and feel relaxed.
- Make the nappy changing and dressing area pleasant to be in for both babies and adults, so that changing becomes a time for one-to-one relationship building.
- Trained staff can introduce baby massage sessions that make young babies feel nurtured and promote a sense of wellbeing. Involving parents helps them to use this approach at home.
- Offer suitable sensory areas to stimulate infants to engage through sound, visuals, and tactile experiences.
- Always offer tummy time on soft surfaces.
