When parents are selecting an early childhood program for their infants and toddlers, one of their top priorities is a safe environment. Parents should always assess safety procedures and how educators work to ensure the safety of the very young children under their care. Data from a large-scale national study conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found that two-thirds of the childcare settings they examined had at least one safety hazard.
“Safety was an extremely important aspect when we were looking for a program for our 9-month-old baby, because it creates the foundation for a healthy environment,” Ellianne Dean, a Minnesota mother of two young boys, said. “As a parent, it is necessary to be an advocate in ensuring children are part of an early childhood program that will set them up for success by prioritizing their physical and mental well-being.”
For early childhood educators with Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, the first requirement among the 13 CDA Functional Areas is to maintain a safe environment for young children. CDA students are also taught basic practices on how to prevent and reduce injuries. Educators in most communities are required by local and state licensing guidelines to adhere to certain standards to keep children safe while under their care. Keeping infants and toddlers safe is no easy task, because it requires vigilant supervision of young children, ongoing monitoring of the facility’s safety, collaboration among colleagues, and careful observation and individualized attention to an early child’s cognitive, psychosocial, and motor development.
Child safety is also more than learning pediatric CPR and first aid. Infants and toddlers are curious and eager to explore the world around them, which means that they can surprise an educator with a potentially dangerous action at any time. It takes a keen eye and meticulous attention to ensure that they are safe when sleeping in their cribs or attempting to crawl or walk; as well as, monitoring what foods are safe for each of them to eat (a topic we will focus on our next infant/toddler blog on Functional Area 2: Health). An early childhood educator also can help improve young children’s safety at all early childhood education settings (family child care, center-based, preschool, and home visitor) by paying attention to and sharing the following tips with families.
Safety During Playtime
Maintaining a safe environment while infants and toddlers play or engage in other activities helps them to learn how to navigate their surroundings in ways that minimize risks of being hurt by objects or other children.
Therefore, it’s important for educators to make sure that:
Safety During Naptime
Paying attention to infant and toddler safety when little ones are sleeping is also critical. This innclude following certain guidelines for (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) prevention. SIDS is the leading cause for death among infants from birth to 12 months, and it requires that children be monitored often while sleeping.
According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, educators can help reduce the risk of SIDS and other hazards by:
In short, with good training, planning, and staffing, and careful attention to the young children in your care, you will play a vital role in promoting infant and toddler safety. Your work shows that quality care puts safety first. Other tips can be found in the Essentials for Working with Young Children (2nd Ed.) textbook’s early childhood education guidelines, and training sections on how to maintain a safe environment for infants and toddlers.
1 Bullard, J. (2011). “Safety in Early Childhood Environments.” Retrieved from https://www.education.com/reference/article/safety-early-childhood-environments/.
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Janie Payne is the Vice President of People and Culture for the Council for Professional Recognition. Janie is responsible for envisioning, developing, and executing initiatives that strategically manage talent and culture to align people strategies with the overarching business vision of the Council. Janie is responsible for driving organizational excellence through strategic talent practices, orchestrating workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management as well as a myriad of other Human Resources Programs. She is accountable for driving effectiveness by shaping organizational structure for optimal efficiency. Janie oversees strategies that foster a healthy culture to include embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.
In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.
Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.
Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.
Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.
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Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
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Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
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