| nursery (baby bay) |
Adventureland Baby Bay
The Adventureland Baby Bay Nursery provides a safe and loving environment for babies to grow and learn about God. We have two sections in the nursery, one area reserved for calming crying babies and one area reserved for active play. In the quiet area, we have fish tanks and soothing sounds that help calm our babies to sleep. In the active baby area, infants have fun in a “simulated” fish tank as they are able to interact with our loving, friendly, and well trained volunteers.
General Policies
Our room is opened and ready to receive children 20 minutes prior to the beginning of service.
All families must follow proper security procedures to insure the safety of the children in Adventureland. New families may register at the Welcome Hut to receive a security tag and to check your child into the program. In the event that the Baby Bay workers need you to come back to the program during the service (if the baby is nursing or excessively fussy), the number on the security tag will be displayed on the lower right hand corner of the auditorium screen. Babies may only be checked in and released to the parent with the security tag given to you at the Welcome Hut. Your child will be safe and secure while checked into Adventureland!
Parents should return to the program to retrieve their child immediately following the service. This will help to reduce any apprehension your child feels as they await your return.
Babies will be fed pre-measured formula, milk or juice as instructed and provided only by the parent. Medications cannot be given by the Adventureland volunteers; please do not put any type of medication in your child’s bottle or cup.
Please include a change of clothes each time your child comes to church. Spilling or soiling may occur and they will be much happier of they have familiar clothes to put on.
Children should not bring personal toys to church.
As a safety and health precaution for other children, parents should refrain from entering the Baby Bay nursery.
As a service to nursing mothers, a private room is available next to the auditorium where you can watch the service. A Welcome Hut guide will be happy to help you locate the room. Please inform the Adventureland workers that your infant is nursing. We recommend providing a bottle in the event your return to the program is delayed (the Baby Bay is equipped with a refrigerator and a bottle warmer).
We value the personal attention for our babies. Our target adult-child ratio for the nursery is 1 to 2. All nursery workers are personally interviewed and trained. Every caregiver and committed volunteer in Adventureland has been given an extensive background check, as well as completing a thorough application. A proper adult-child ratio is extremely important to us as this insures excellent attention for each child in our care.
Healthcare Policies:
Adventureland loves kids and every aspect of our program is designed to create a clean, secure, and caring environment. Nurturing staff & volunteers serve our ministry areas in order to offer positive biblical learning and social experiences for your child. We strive to be sensitive to and make provisions for the healthcare concerns of all children and their families. In an effort to ensure that your child’s experience is happy and healthy, we encourage parents to make sure that their child falls within the standards of health that we have established, according to the 2003 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases of American Academy of Pediatrics, in order to prevent the spread of illness.
Children should be excluded from the childcare setting for the following:
• Illness that prevents your child from comfortably participating in program activities • If they have had a fever within the past 24 hours
• Any of the following signs suggesting severe illness, fever, lethargy, irritability, persistent crying, signs of difficulty in breathing, or other manifestations of possible severe illness
• Vomiting (2 or more times) or experiencing diarrhea in the previous 24 hours • Mouth sores associated with drooling unless deemed noninfectious by your physician
• Rash accompanied by fever at this time
• Drainage or redness that could possibly be considered conjunctivitis (“pink eye”) at this time
• Head lice or scabies
• Chickenpox, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, pertussis (“whooping cough”) and hepatitis A until deemed noninfectious by your physician
• Impetigo, until 24 hours after treatment has been initiated
• Streptococcal pharyngitis (“strep throat”) until 24 hours after treatment has been initiated If your child is experiencing any of the above criteria, we ask that you do not bring them into Adventureland. If you have questions concerning any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact any member of the Adventureland staff at (618)351-8463.
Hygiene Policies:
Because it is not always known when a child has a communicable disease, we take the following precautions to reduce the risk of infection:
Hand washing – The single most important procedure to minimize the spread of infection is frequent hand washing. Proper hand washing includes sanitizing hands before feeding times, after diaper changes, after handling any contaminated items and any other time a worker deems appropriate.
Nose wiping – Children’s noses are wiped as needed. We do not require disposable gloves; however, hands must be sanitized immediately afterwards.
Disinfecting surfaces – At the end of each session, all surfaces (swings, tables, saucers) will be disinfected with an anti-bacterial disinfectant wipe. Toys are disinfected in an anti-bacterial soak individually and allowed to air dry. Other surfaces are disinfected as the workers deem necessary.
Diaper changing policy -- Our infants and younger toddlers are provided with a diaper changing area in each room where the surface is cleaned frequently, a fresh disposable paper is put down, and precautionary measures are taken to prevent the spread of germs. Staff members are provided with fresh latex-free gloves to wear when changing a diaper. Each child is checked hourly for wet or soiled diapers. Staff will use church provided wipes unless parents provide a necessary alternative due to allergies.
Additional Information:
The Baby Bay cares for infants newborn through walking. Once your child begins to walk with stability, they will “graduate” into the Adventureland Toddler Reef! If you are unsure if your child is ready to move to Toddler Reef, please speak with a Baby Bay volunteer.
