Babies & Toddlers

At Manor House Nursery we invite babies from 6 months up to the age of two years into our carefully designed and thought-out room.

We have quiet calm spaces, areas that inspire imagination and lots of open floor space to support our babies and toddlers developing physical skills including rolling, crawling and walking.

Our activities are carefully chosen to reflect babies and toddlers’ interests and enable them to build their skills and knowledge. They provide enjoyment and challenge. We enhance resources as children’s fascinations and skills develop.

Our resources are purposefully chosen to support children’s holistic development, they are often open-ended resources with no pre-determined outcome that can support a range of learning stages. Resources are on low shelves, or in baskets for babies and toddlers to make choices and access independently. Babies love a treasure basket, filled with natural, household and recycled objects. Our babies engage in this sensory exploration through their fingers, hands and mouths providing greater stimulation both for their interest and brain development.  

Mealtimes

Mealtimes provide ideal opportunities to engage babies and toddlers in social interactions and support their developing independence. Our tables are set up with the chairs at low level to allow babies and practitioners to come together at mealtimes.

We work closely with parents to ensure your babies’ feeding routine from home is followed at nursery whilst providing flexibility to meet your babies individual need. We make up your babies’ bottles as they are required following guidance from the NHS. If your baby is breast fed, then we welcome you to bring in your milk from home and we will store it safely until your baby needs it.

For advice on breastfeeding and returning to work see the NHS website or ask how we can support you. https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/feeding-your-baby/breastfeeding/

When practitioners tune in to babies wants and needs and respond sensitively, children develop trust and feel secure in the setting

Sleep

Nursery can be a busy and stimulating space and young children, it’s important babies have a safe and appropriate space for sleep. At Manor House Nursery, we have a range of sleeping environments including a separate sleep room which adjoins the main play room. We also provide ‘baby nests’ indoors and outdoors to allow toddlers to be independent and choose for themselves when to sleep. We enable babies and toddlers to access their familiar comforters as and when needed. We work closely with parents to understand routines at home and will follow this as much as possible whilst ensuring we provide flexibility and respond to individual needs.

We follow the safer sleep guide from the lullaby trust. For more information our sleep policy, please request via email. You can also access further information on safer sleep via the Lullaby trust website. https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/

Personal Care

Nappy changing and toilet training are carried out by our carefully chosen key people who have built a strong attachment with your baby. This helps to ensure your child feels at ease and is comfortable. Our nappy changing area is carefully thought out, it is in a separate space just off the playroom with a vison panel. It offers privacy, whilst ensuring the children’s safety and welfare.

Outdoor Play

Our brilliant babies and toddlers also have their own safe and secure outdoor space which they can explore all year-round. We take our babies and toddlers on outings to the park and around the community. We provide pushchairs for the little ones who are not yet walking or need some help with the distance.  

The outdoors provides opportunities to inspire awe and wonder through rich, authentic experiences stimulating children’s senses through what they hear, touch, see and smell. Children are able to encounter the weather, texture, space and noise, enriching their understanding of the natural world and encouraging movement and risk taking.

We provide suitable clothing to enable our babies and toddlers to spend uninterrupted periods of time investigating and learning across all seasons.

Being outdoors and having lots of physical play is essential for balance and co-ordination. Outdoor play regulates fitness, helps children to regulate feelings and behaviour and so support their overall well-being.

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing“.