Curious Kittens Nursery
Intimate Care Policy
At Curious Kittens, the well-being of all our children is our priority, and this includes supporting children’s care and welfare on a daily basis in line with their unique needs. Central to this is offering familiar, consistent practitioners who support children to feel confident and secure. Children will need to be cuddled, encouraged, reassured and held. Intimate care routines are essential to ensuring children stay healthy and safe, and for very young children this includes meeting intimate needs including nappy changing, toileting, changing and on occasion medical support which may be specialist. Frequently this intimate care will be conducted on a 1:1 basis. Doors to changing areas are always left open at all times so areas where intimate care takes place are clearly visible, and staff are not left alone during changing times.
At your child’s induction and registration, we will ensure we understand your child’s individual routines and needs in order to fully support them.
We promote consistent relationships, through the Key Person system and having familiar teams working in each of our age group rooms. In addition transition between rooms is handled sensitively so that children feel secure when moving to a new environment.
All our highly trained staff at Curious Kittens have full DBS clearance, Paediatric First Aid, and have atttended safe-guarding training that helps staff identify signs and symptoms of abuse and how to raise any concerns in a speedy and appropriate manner. Curious Kittens operates a Whistle Blowing Policy, all staff are fully confident and supported in knowing they can raise any worries about any children at any time, to fully safeguard our community.
As part of our quality assurance, management continously observe practice on a day to day basis; including on occasion intimate care routines.
Curious Kittens conducts risk assessements on all aspects of the nursery operation, including relating to intimate care routines, and has safeguards in place to ensure the safety of all involved.
Procedures for Nappy Changing
- Changing mats are at an ergonomic height and have a ‘high side’ safety spec.
- Mats are wiped down with ant-bacterial spray before and after each use.
- Practitioners wear disposable aprons and gloves which are changed for each nappy change.
- Parents are asked to supply their own nappies and wipes, and named creams as required.
- Parents are fully consulted on nappy changing regimes/requests.
- As well as ‘set’ nappy chaning routine times, nappies are changed as needed during the day.
- We are happy for parents to supply cloth nappies.
- Nappy changes are recorded in our hand-over books for parents, and on our nappy monitoring chart.
- Nappy changing times are used as an opportunity for practitioners to have 1:1 communication contact with babies – babies are respectfully told they are to have their nappies changed, and are talked/sang to during the process
- Parents may on occasion be able to change their child’s nappy at nursery, with a member of staff adjacent and never with other children in the room
Procedures for Toilet Training
- In consultation with parents, practitioners are atuned to signals from children that indicate when they are ready to start toilet training – including ability to communicate, showing awareness of a ‘need to go’, showing an interest in older children’s toileting routines, demonstrating an ability to undress/dress – these are deemed of more significance than ‘age readiness’.
- As far as possible, routines and language at toilet training are kept consistent between home and setting.
- We do not recommend ‘pull-ups’ – they are expensive, and for children confusing as toilet training children are too young to easily differentiate between nappies and pull-ups – they ‘feel’ the same.
- Parents are requested to send children who are toilet training in loose pull up trousers/not belts etc, to support their independent skills. Parents are requested to send a minimum of 3 complete named changes of clothing for children per half day session whilst they are toilet training. Soiled clothing will be placed on your child’s peg in a plastic bag.
- Toilet training is always a relaxed and positive experience for children at Curious Kittens stuctured around parent wishes, and with plenty of encouragement and praise.
- All children are given a special reward chart with favourite characters for toilet training, with stickers and stamps, to re-inforce the postive learning taking place.
- Children are changed/supported by a familiar adult during toilet training routines.
- Occasionally a parent may be able to assist their child with toileting at nursery – this would always involve a member of the nursery team in the immediate vicinity, and never with other children in the room at the same time.
- A guide to potty training is available for parents.
It is important that where possible children are potty trained as they go into the busy and more independent environment of the Pre-School Room – we are happy to assist parents with this at every step. The Pre-School Room children are able to independently access suitable toilets during the day, as well as at prompting toileting/hand-washing times throughout the day – this is all part of important development and self-care for young children.
Procedures for dealing with ‘accidents’
Occassionally children will have ‘accidents’ at nursery, for instance during potty training, struggling with toileting, or needing some additional help or support from time to time. At Curious Kittens we treat every child respectfully, reassuringly, and with sensitivity. Any intimate care needs, for whatever reason, will be carried out in this way, so children are wherever possible saved from any embarrasment. This is always carried out away from parents and any visiting adults. During intimate care staff always
- Wear disposable gloves
- Organise a change of clothing a quickly as possible and have them close at hand
- Consider whether there may be an underlying cause for an accident, and log it accordingly
- Use reassuring words while attending to the child’s needs.
- Use children’s own wipes where possible, or if using nursery wipes, ensuring the child does not suffer from any allergic reactions beforehand.
- Place any soiled clothes in a securely sealed bag on the child’s peg.
- Ensure the child washes their hands thoroughly.
- Use anti-bac spray to clean any necessary areas, wash hands using anti-bac wash.
- Reassure child
- Fully explain the incident to the child’s parent/carer at hand-over.
Please feel welcome to speak to Nursery Management at any point if you have any questions or concerns about our policy and procedures, or any other questions you may have.
Please also see our Policy for Infants, Partnership with Parents Policy, Medicine Policy, Health and Safety Policy, Safeguarding Policies, and Infection Control Policy
Please do ask for a copy of our “Guide to Potty Training” information sheet.
August 2017