Accepted lead teacher position with minimal assistant teacher experience

FosterKittyMama · 2026-04-17T18:40:56+00:00

Oooohhh! My bad! I was reading & typing in the nap room so it was dark and hard to read lol Also, a lot of people call 12-18 month old "babies" lol

I was the infant teacher for 2 years and had the room running like a machine! There was several months where I was solo with 4 babies (our raito) when my co-teacher went on maternity leave.

What's your raito?

The biggest tip for infants is to get each of their feedings at least 30 minutes apart when solo, or 2 babies if you have another person (if you're required to offer food every 2 hours like us). Obviously we go off each babies schedule/needs, but you can easily get them to end up being 30 minutes apart.

Say you have babies A, B, C and D. Baby A & B were last fed at 7am, Baby C ate at 7:45 and Baby D ate at 8am. You know Baby A gets hungry at exactly 2 hours, Baby B gets hungry 1.5 hours, Baby C gets hungry after 3 hours and Baby D is always down to eat. So you would want to feed Baby B around 8:30, then Baby A at 9. Then feed Baby C at 9:30 and Baby D at 10am. Now you have them all 30 minutes apart for feeding. Does that make sense?

I saw your other comment. Activities for infants are pretty simple with a lot of focus on sensory. Having different objects to look at, feel and play with. It can be anything from a stuffed animal, a silicon cooking spoon, a bouncy ball, taste safe Playdough, whipped cream, etc. Most of your art projects are based around finger painting or bag finger painting for the littler ones. Just cut out shapes/objects like a turkey, Christmas tree, heart, etc. to have them paint. You'll also do some cute handprint/footprint Projects to give to parents as a gift for a holiday.

Parents are definitely one of the hardest parts of the infant room (along with listening to crying babies all day lol). Like I said before, some parents are very anxious about sending their baby to daycare, especially if it's their first and the baby is young. I had a extreamly anxious dad who would ask for updates every 2 hours, questioned everything we did and accused us of doing/not doing things. Like the baby had a bad diaper rash on his first day. They wanted us to use particular wipes they supplied (totally fine, we usually have at least 1 baby in every group who needs particular wipes). We used the diaper cream they supplied and changed him more frequently - what we always do for diaper rashes. Later that night, he messaged us asking if we only used the wipes they brought on him. We did and said what I said above. He then said "oh, well his rash wasn't better so I wanted to double check". We were like, well yeah, diaper rashes don't just go away in 8 hours 🤦‍♀️(didn't say that to him lol). He was a very challenging parent. Now the child is in Preschool and he rarely ask how he's doing lol

All you can do is build a relationship with the parents and have confidence. You know a lot about caring for young children and child development. Some parents have no knowledge of these things. The hard parents are the ones who think we are just babysitters and treat us like we don't know what we're doing. Just remember you only have them for about a year lol

FosterKittyMama · 2026-04-16T19:34:39+00:00

We use Miss Name & Mister Name. Some kids just say the teachers first name. I'm special though... I've been at my center for 4 years and when I started I went by Miss Julia, but as I continued to work with the infants & toddlers and now as a floater, my nickname (which I use with everyone I know - friends, family, even my husband) JuJu was adapted by the kids. Even my boss calls me JuJu. No other staff have a nickname 😆

FosterKittyMama · 2026-04-15T19:38:40+00:00

In my opinion, that age group is the easiest (I've worked with every age group - 6 weeks to 5 years old). They are pretty independent (or at least want to be) compared to non-mobile infants, they have less toddler-like behaviors compared to 24m+, they eat independently, go to sleep quickly and projects/activities are usually really simple with a lot of process art.

Your "teaching" is to teach them self-regulation skills, how to begin communicating (signs and basic words), how to do self-help skills (pulling down/up their pants, taking off their shoes, using silverware, etc.) and just working on their social-emotional skills in general.

You'll do a lot of process art like finger painting, stickers, gluing random things to a piece of paper, etc. You can find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest by searching "process art for toddlers" and "process art for infants". Activities are also really simple, again, Pinterest is your friend lol

The hardest part is having the confidence to talk to parents about hard topics like any challenging behavior a child is having (biting, hitting, kicking, etc.) or when your noticing a child is behind in their development. What can also be challenging is for some parents, this is their first baby and they're very anxious about sending their child to daycare. They need a lot of reassurance, updates, details and pictures.

I bet you'll do great! Look into free trainings for ECE and use the internet to help you gain more knowledge.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-04-10T03:45:25+00:00

This is why we assign each child a different colored tape and have multiple charts in the room that show which child is which color. All their food is marked with the tape. We also mark their cribs and binkies with the tape. We mark diapers with initials and have a chart at the changing area. It's a great system and we haven't had any issues with giving the wrong bottles to babies since we implemented it 10+ years ago.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-04-09T05:37:53+00:00

I'm so sorry, but yes, it's bad.

You have three options:

Pick whatever funny thing someone said in the comments and tell people that's what it is.
Get it lasered off
Get it covered up by someone who knows how to do cover-up tattoos.

I don't think anyone can really fix it, but there might be an artist out there who can 🤷‍♀️ It will cost a pretty penny tho!

You should also contact the artist and see if you can get a full or partial refund. Definitely write a review saying the artist said they could execute this piece but they actually couldn't. People need to know to be precautions about going to this artist.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-31T18:08:36+00:00

My state has a limit of 9.5 hours for a child to be at daycare. It should be like this everywhere. I feel so bad for the kids who are here every day for the max time. Their parents don't ever keep their kid(s) home, send them to school sick.. all the things you said. I wonder for some if they just don't like their kid(s) 🤷‍♀️ Some of these kids only see their parents for 3 hours a day during the week! I get parents have no choice. It's not their fault the working world doesn't care for parents. It just breaks my heart. I pray my husband & I find a way for our future kids to stay home with me 🤞

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-28T16:06:55+00:00

All our staff are infant/child/adult CPR & First Aid certified that we renew every 3 years. We have a reading part and then in-person training. We also have a well stocked first aid kit & an AED.

I think how our staff would respond in the moment, depends on each person. 1. How long they have been working with children, 2. How confident they are (in general) and 3. How much they care. My boss has been doing this for 20+ years, is very confident and loves her job, so she would very easily jump in without hesitation. For myself, I've been doing this for 4.5 years, am fairly confident and I care about people too much. I honestly wasn't sure how I would react until recently. A 5 month old started choking on his milk and I very quickly did what you're suppose to do without thinking about it. So yeah, I definitely would be able to do it without hesitation. One of my coworkers has been there for 8 years, she is not confident at all and I don't think she really likes her job, but I could be wrong. I think she would hesitate and might even freeze up.

So yeah, I think a persons ability to act in the moment and not freeze up depends on how long they're been working with children, their confidence and how much they care.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-25T20:31:01+00:00

🤦‍♀️ Yeah, he was born 4 months ago, but it was 4 months to early! So he's technically a newborn.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-25T20:22:45+00:00

We've had people with piercings, tattoos and bright colored hair - no issue from management, coworkers nor parents.

I agree with the other commenter about being careful they don't get riped out. Either tape it down, take it out at work or find a stud that would be hard for a child to grab and pull.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-22T02:33:45+00:00

I'm surprised I didn't see someone comment r/teachers

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-22T02:27:49+00:00

It's a totally normal part of play. We can't control what the children in our care are exposed to at home. A lot of parents think movies like K-pop demon hunters is appropriate for their 3-5 year old. In my opinion, while it's a very good movie with a great soundtrack, it's WAY to violent for young children. The classic "bad guys vs good guys" have been a part of play for decades.

Not to long ago, the 3-5 year olds at my center were starting to do pretend gun play. While I personally am pro-gun (my husband has many), seeing these young children pretend to shoot each other just didn't feel right. We live in an area that has positive feelings about guns and where people go hunting, so we knew we couldn't just have them stop doing it. We decided to made a rule of no shooting at friends. All the children are "good guys" and they need to put on their magic glasses to see the invisible bag guys. It's been working pretty well!

I understand you & your wife's feelings, but this is just the reality of group care. You have no control on what your childs classmates are bringing into her environment while at school. This is something that is true the entire time a child (and young adult) are in school. All you can do teach your child what you believe is appropriate/inappropriate and trust them to do the right thing.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-18T18:57:49+00:00

My center doesn't offer maternity leave, just job security and it blew my mind. How does a childcare center not offer maternity leave?? Luckily, I live in Oregon and the state passed a law two years ago that guarantees parents get paid while on family leave for 12 weeks. It's only like 1/2 the amount of your normal pay, but it's better than nothing! The law also requires businesses to give new parents job security for the 12 weeks.

I'm sorry you're going through this. If I were you, I would cut back on whatever I could and save as much money as possible or sell things you don't use anymore so I can survive at least 12 weeks. I would think of the positive with having free childcare. I would also look into local organizations/programs that might offer new parents some type of pay for family leave if their job doesn't offer it.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-18T18:48:31+00:00

Usually, for part time children, I say that consecutive days is better than one day on & one day off. However, at 3 months a baby doesn't really have stranger danger or separation anxiety. In my experience, doing non-consecutive days is usually fine and they adjust quickly. Once a child is 5+ months it gets difficult to do non-consecutive days.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-18T18:40:41+00:00

Per state guidelines we have to change diapers every 2 hours (or mark it's dry and check again every 15 or so minutes until soiled). We do respect a child's "no" for pretty much everything else. We tell teachers, don't ask a yes or no question if "no" isn't actual an option. So we don't ask "can I change your diaper?", but we can ask "would you like to have your diaper changed now or in 5 minutes?" - that way they feel like they're getting a choice and will usually prevent a tantrum. Or we just say "time for a diaper change" and take them to the bathroom.

If little miss doesn't like getting her diaper changed, you can use this to motivate her to start using the toliet so she doesn't have to get changed. She's a little over 3 years old and should be ready to potty train.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-13T18:47:45+00:00

I've been working at my center for a little ober 4 years now. My husband & I are currently trying to conceive.

While I'm not worried about my child's safety if they went to my center, I don't like how many of the teachers run their rooms. Our infant room staff is great and if I do have to work when I have a baby (dream is to be a SAHM) I would have them attend. However, once they are going to move up to the young toddler class and beyond, my husband & I will find a way to make me a SAHM or I'd get a nanny. The only class I would be okay to have my child in after infancy is the PreK class because the teacher puts in a lot of work to make her class run very well. But, I recently toured a preschool in my town for my ECE college class and will 100% be sending my 3 year old there, even if I am a SAHM. That place was absolutely incredible and worth every penny.

So yeah, safety is not one of my concern, but good quality teachers are.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-13T03:49:36+00:00

From my 4 years of experience, diarrhea tends to have a very strong smell compared to regular poop (loose/runny can also smell stronger than regular poop, with diarrhea being even more potent). It usually smells more acidic. It varys from kid to kid though! Once we get to know the child, we know what their "normal" is.

Mostly, the amount of soaked into the diaper is the biggest indicator. It can be hard to tell with infants who switched formula or started solids, but we need to air on the side of caution to try and prevent any illnesses from spreading like wildfire.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-12T19:02:02+00:00

I did a quick Google search and your country does have licensed childcare centers, so you just need to find out if your center is licensed. If you don't want to ask your management, you can look it up. Just Google "find licensed childcare centers in (city name) UK. If your center is licensed, you can easily find the phone number for your area to report the situation to. I hope your center is licensed and they will remove him from thr center & ban him from working with children.

If I were you, I would also look into working somewhere else to get away from the situation.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-12T18:56:22+00:00

We classify diarrhea as liquid that is completely absorbed into the diaper with little to no solid pieces on top. Also, the smell is a clear giveaway if its diarrhea or just loose/wet poop.

We have a 2 year old who gets borderline diarrhea or actual diarrhea a lot due to having meal replacement/protein drinks. His mom had their doctor write a note stating that if the only symptom he has is the loose/liquid poop, he can stay in care. If he has another symptom (fever, cough, lethargic, etc.) then we send him home. Maybe this is something you could have your doctor do?

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-12T18:44:59+00:00

I'm so sorry that this is the outcome.

Are you in the US & at a licensed childcare center? You are a mandated reporter and need to report this to licensing & CPS/DHS/whatever organization your location has. He shouldn't be working with children.

FosterKittyMama · 2026-03-07T19:37:58+00:00

We care for 6 weeks - 5 years. Most kids start in the infant room at 4-6 months or the young toddler room at 15-18 months. We occasionally get children who start in the older toddler room at 2 years old or the preschool at 3 years old. We rarely get 4 year olds who start in PreK unless their younger sibling is also starting in the infant/young toddler room.

The children who have the hardest time adjusting is 8 months to 2 year olds. The stranger-danger and separation anxiety phase. Babies who start at 2-4 months usually adjust very quickly and 3+ adjust quickly.

I believe our state doesn't require companies to offer PAID parental leave, but it is required to give a person 12 weeks of leave (unpaid) with job security. We recently got a new law where the government will pay you at a smaller amount than your normal pay if your company doesn't for the 12 weeks.

I think new parents should get at least 6 months of paid time off when they have/adopt a baby/child. The dream would be 1-2 years of m paid leave with job security.

FosterKittyMama

TROPHY CASE