Nursery

Purpose * Staff * Ratios * Procedures * Security * Health

Purpose - We are a church which cares for children and their families. Because a baby often first experiences "church" in a nursery setting, we are committed to providing a loving, nurturing atmosphere in our nurseries. In this way, all children who enter here will have the opportunity to know and experience, from an early age, the love of God. 

We want you as parents to feel comfortable in leaving your most precious gifts with us.  We want you to be assured that we are doing all we can to provide a safe, well organized environment for your children.  For this reason, we have designed the following nursery policies and procedures.  We hope they express our church's overall commitment to your child's spiritual growth and physical well-being. 

Staff - All of our nursery employees are carefully selected and screened before beginning work in our nurseries. All employees are CPR and first aid certified and must go through a State of Georgia criminal background check. We have regular monthly staff meetings and written nursery procedures to ensure that our nurseries are efficient, safe, and sanitary.

SUNDAY NURSERY SCHEDULE

Nurseries are provided on Sunday mornings for the 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 worship services. 

Crib Room:                                                        Room 218

Crawlers Room                                                  Room 219

Young Toddler Room                                        Room 217

Mustard Seed A  (must be walking)                   Room 215  

Mustard Seed B                                                Room 213

Godly Play (must be 3 by 9/1)                            Room 216

Children's Church (must be 4 or in K by 9/1)     Room 214 Provided ONLY during the 11:00 service

Ratios   - The FUMC Nursery strives to maintain NAEYC's recommended staff to child ratios. They are as follows:

Check In- Our Nursery staff arrive early to prepare their classrooms. Children are received 10 minutes prior to Sunday worship and other scheduled activities. Please register your child on the sign-in sheet at the door. For safety reasons, the nursery staff will take your child at the door. It is safer and less confusing for the children, if parents do not come into the room. Our staff will try to make this transition as smooth as possible. Please note the following procedure for check-in:

1. Parents must sign children in one at a time.
2. Parents, please hand children over the half door, or for older children, open the door and close it immediately (one child at a time please.)

PICK UP- When picking your child up from the nursery, please note the following procedures:

1. You must present your copy of the security card to the nursery staff member.  Again, under no circumstances will a child be released to a sibling under 18 or to a designated adult without the security card. 
2. Please make sure that you sign your child out on the sign-in sheet. 
3. Please let the staff release your child by passing the child over the half door.  This prevents any of the other children from running out of the nursery through the open door. 

What to Bring -

1. Clean diaper bag with everything your child may need (bottle, disposable diapers, pacifier, etc.)
2. If the child uses a pacifier, the clip-on type is required.
3. Each child must have a spill proof cup filled with clear liquid for snack time and it should be clearly labeled with their name.
4. Special comfort toy or blanket is welcome. Please be sure it is labeled.
5. Complete change of clothes.
6. Children who are not fully potty trained must be in a diaper or pull-up.

If you are in the early stages of potty training, please inform your child's teacher of your wishes for supporting you in this effort.

EXPECTED BEHAVIOR-

Good behavior will be expected.  If a child's behavior becomes disruptive to other participants, the parents will be called for a conference or for dialog on possible solutions.  If a child's behavior continues to be inappropriate within this group, the parents will be asked to make other arrangements for their child's care. 

DISCIPLINE-

We utilize positive reinforcement methods such as speaking to the child about what was done, refocusing their attention, and as a last resort, short periods of "Time Away" from the group until the child can act appropriately. 

PARENT VOLUNTEERS-

A vital part of our nursery ministry is our parents volunteers.  We have a staff of nursery attendants, but also require the services of our parents to help keep the nurseries running smoothly.  Parents who use the nurseries must volunteer for one hour, during the 9:30 service, about once every two months.  We do not place volunteers in the same room as their child.  We have found that this is usually not a productive situation for the parent or the child. 

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Security - Our nurseries employ a security system for the protection of your children. When you register your child, you will be given a security card to fill out, and on that card is a security number. A security card must be filled out on each individual child in the nursery. In the event that you need to be notified, you will be visually paged in the Sanctuary and the family center. If you are not located in either of these areas, someone will come and ask you to come to the nursery.

When you drop your child off with the nursery staff, you will be given a copy of the security card, YOU MUST HAVE THIS CARD WHEN YOU PICK UP YOUR CHILD. Children will only be released to an adult 18 years or older. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL A CHILD BE RELEASED TO A SIBLING UNDER 18 OR AN ADULT WITHOUT THE SECURITY CARD.

You must provide a written request for anyone other than a previously authorized adult to pick-up your child. We will request proper identification, such as a driver's license, be presented by the appointed guardian.

GENERAL-  Parents are required to remain at the church while their children are in the nursery.  Our weekday and evening nurseries are not equipped to provide care to children whom a church member is sitting or providing home daycare.  Because we are more adequately staffed for Sunday services, we welcome all children to attend.  During the week, nursery is provided for approved church related functions through pre-planning and scheduling by the event leader. 

Children are not allowed to bring food into the nursery classrooms.  Our staff must be able to give quality care to all the children in the nursery.  Supervising one child as they eat a meal may take attention away from the other children.  Parents are more than welcome to use the small dining room to feed their children before dropping off their child.  Generally, a light snack is served during each scheduled nursery. 

Due to State of Georgia guidelines on non-licensed childcare facilities, children under the age of two may not be in nursery care for more than 8 hours per week. 

Please make the nursery staff aware of ANY food allergies your child may have.  Please see that we are advised in a detailed WRITTEN format explaining all specific allergies and reactions. 

 OLDER CHILDCARE POLICIES-

The first United Methodist Church is committed to providing older childcare for children who are in Kindergarten-5th grade.  This program of custodial care has been established to support parents in their church involvement when Children's Ministry events are not available. 

For your children's safety, it is not appropriate to ever leave children unattended in our facility.  If a parent chooses not to use this program, the child(ren) must remain with their parent.  It is not acceptable for children to be in the Family Center while they wait for a parent, unless they are participating in an organized Children's Ministry/Recreation event. 

All children attending our older childcare program are expected to bring one of the following for their use during their time in our program. 

• Homework
• Games
• Reading Material
• "G" rated movies

Nursery staff reserves the right  to set aside any resources that are not appropriate, or that cause a disruption to the group. 

All policies and procedures previously stated for younger children regarding staff, sickness, security, and food are the same for older children. 

Health Policy - Please do not bring sick or contagious children to the nursery as we strive to keep our nurseries safe healthy places for all our children. If a child is showing signs of fever or infection, we reserve the right to return the child to you. Signs of illness include, but are not limited to:

Severe or persistent cough
Unexplained rash or spots
Yellow or green discharge (from nose, eyes or ears)
Earache
Sore throat
Temperature over 100 degrees
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Any skin infection

Please do not bring your child back to the nursery until they have been symptom free or on antibiotics for a full 24 hours. It is against our policy to administer any medication to children.  Please do not place any medication in a child's bottle or sippy cup.  If your child has a diaper rash, please advise the nursery staff.  A topical ointment will be administered, if the ointment is provided in the child's diaper bag with written parental permission given to the staff. 

As a general rule, if you child needs medication to provide healing or comfort, please do not bring them to the nursery until they are well.

The nursery staff have the final responsibility of determining whether or not a child may stay in the nursery.  They have the authority to refuse to take a child who appears to be ill, and also notify parents if a child becomes ill during attendance and needs to be taken home.  We appreciate your cooperation in helping to keep our nurseries as healthy as possible. 

IN SUMMARY-

We hope that you and your child will enjoy being involved in the FUMC's of Lawrenceville Nursery Program.  Please feel free to provide any suggestions or comments to the nursery coordinator. 

Our ultimate goal is to provide a safe and spiritually stimulating environment for our most precious gifts from God-our children. 

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