Know

Why Are Schedules and Routines Important?

Take a moment to think about your day today. What if you arrived at your place of work and were told, “You’ll be starting at a different time today. Your hours today will be 11:45 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. We also need you to help at a different location. We need you to work with a teacher in the infant classroom at another day care center. When you come here tomorrow, you may be helping at a different location again. I will let you know.”

How would you feel? How might your feelings affect your ability to find this new location? How will your feelings affect your behavior with the teacher and infants in the other classroom? How does this apply to infants’ and toddlers’ feelings and behaviors in settings with varying and unpredictable schedules and routines?

Infants and toddlers do not understand the concept of time, so they organize themselves by the people they are with and the events that happen. When things happen in the same order each day, infants and toddlers have a better understanding of their world and feel more secure. A predictable schedule filled with consistent and responsive routines helps them to know what to expect and helps them feel more confident in themselves and the world around them.

A Daily Schedule for Infants and Toddlers

Each infant and toddler is different from the next. For infants and toddlers, we think of a daily schedule as something to help maintain routines that are consistent and supportive of individual children’s needs. We also think about schedules in terms of how much time is given to different routines. For example, some infants may take a number of short naps throughout the day, whereas others may take one or two longer naps. For very young children, differences from one child to the next are normal. Children develop best when teachers modify their schedules to accommodate infants’ and toddlers’ needs rather than trying to get children to fit a set classroom schedule.

An infant or toddler’s schedule is guided and supported by a primary caregiver based on what is learned through observations and connections with the family. The primary caregiver strives to understand the child’s needs and help him or her transition from one experience to another.

Caregivers, along with other program staff, help determine what is included during a day. When caring for infants and toddlers however, the focus should stay on the sequence of their care and how things happen rather than keeping to a time schedule. Daily schedules often include:

Experiences: Caregivers should remain close by to offer support to infants and toddlers as they play and explore their environment at their own pace.

Caregivers should remain close by to offer support to infants and toddlers as they play and explore their environment at their own pace. Caregiving routines: Arrival, feeding or eating, diapering or toileting, sleeping, departure, etc.

Arrival, feeding or eating, diapering or toileting, sleeping, departure, etc. Transitions: Times of change that occur in a child’s day, such as snack to outdoor play.

Predictable schedules help provide a framework and direction for caregivers when caring for infants and toddlers. In turn, infants and toddlers feel secure when schedules and routines are dependable; this tells them that they can trust caregivers to provide for their needs. For example, some infants will take short naps during feedings. Other infants may eat quickly and immediately fall asleep when finished. Within a consistent daily schedule, caregivers are able to build routines around infants’ and toddlers’ natural habits.

A daily schedule for an infant–toddler classroom might include:

Arrival/greet families

Breakfast/feeding

Breakfast/feeding Indoor/outdoor developmentally appropriate experiences, naps as needed

Diapering and toileting

Small group time with songs

Lunch/feeding

Diapering and toileting

Naps as needed

Naps as needed Diapering and toileting

Snack/feeding

Indoor/outdoor developmentally appropriate experiences

Departure

When considering your schedule, and particularly diapering or toileting routines, remember infants and toddlers should be checked and changed (or asked to try the toilet) at least once every two hours or more as needed (e.g., at family’s request or for temporary diaper rash). In addition, children should always be immediately changed if they have soiled themselves.

Responsive Routines

Routines are the consistent, predictable daily experiences of an infant and toddler, such as greetings, diapering, sleeping and feeding. The ways caregivers create and support routines enables them to help infants and toddlers build trust and independence. Explaining to infants and toddlers what is happening during routines and transitions can help build a sense of predictability and trust. For example, when diapering, a teacher could say, “I’m going to take your pants off now, OK?” Or, when preparing to eat, “First we need to wash your hands, and then we can have a snack.” It is important for teachers to help interpret children’s experiences by acknowledging their feelings (“I’ll bet you’re hungry, aren’t you!”). Using songs to accompany routines can reduce stress during transitions and make these experiences more enjoyable for children and teachers. They can also serve as a cue for children about the upcoming activity, e.g., a “clean up” song before going outside to play. In addition, as we will discuss in the Guidance course, giving children warnings about an upcoming transition, can help them feel more in control and prepared for the next part of the day (“In five minutes we will clean up snack. Does anyone else need something to eat?”).

Time spent in interactions during diapering, feeding, toileting, etc. also encourages children’s learning. For example, we can encourage language development during a feeding with an infant by describing foods, tastes and smells. “Oooh, I smell the peaches. Do you? Don’t they smell sweet?” Using pictures that show routines like sleeping or diapering can help older infants and toddlers anticipate what is happening next. Time spent holding and cuddling an infant during feeding builds strong relationships between teachers and children that are the foundation of learning during the infant and toddler years. Demonstrating the steps in a routine (e.g., hand washing), explaining aloud what you are doing, and including pictures that show the steps in the routine are all ways that caregivers can help toddlers become familiar with routines and learn how to complete them more independently.

Infants and toddlers make sense of their worlds when routines meet their needs and are completed in familiar ways. Infants and toddlers with medical issues or disabilities may have needs that differ from those of the other children, and accommodations are necessary in caregiving routines. It is also important to respect what families want for their infants and toddlers and to honor diversity.

With young infants, the caregiver must be especially flexible meeting the child’s needs. Over time, routines become more predictable, which allows for similar and consistent interactions. With this predictability, infants and toddlers feel understood and are able to affect the world around them. Over time, infants and toddlers learn that certain actions usually follow others, and they learn that adults are trustworthy.

By participating in daily routines, infants and toddlers receive the message that they are capable of doing very important things. Participation in enjoyable and meaningful routines helps foster healthy development and builds self-confidence. For example, while most toddlers cannot put their coats on completely by themselves, they often enjoy taking part in the process. A toddler might hold his arm out or complete the zipping once you have started it. By encouraging infants and toddlers to take part in routines, they become more self-sufficient and take pride in their attempts and accomplishments. However, it is important to remember that not all cultures view early independence and participation in routines in the same way. Caregivers can connect with and learn families’ ideas about daily routines, as well as about what is most important and valued.

For toddlers, especially those with special needs, pictures that help support their successful engagement in routines can be incredibly helpful. For example, you could display a small series of pictures near the sink to remind children about the necessary hand washing steps. Or, perhaps near the snack table, there is a small series of pictures that reminds them about the important steps before (e.g., washing hands, gathering napkin) and after (cleaning up space, throwing trash away) having snack. See more information from Kids Included Together on how to support all children in your setting: http://www.kitonline.org/

See

Watch this video and identify how these caregivers supports infants and toddlers in their daily routines.

Responsive Routines for Infants & Toddlers Video not available Responsive Caregiving routines with infants and toddlers

Do

Infants and toddlers learn about their world and the people around them through daily routines. Try the following actions in the learning environment to support responsive schedules and routines for the infants and toddlers in your care: