Our Nurseries are available each Sunday during the Worship Service for children crawling to 3 years. The rooms are designed to provide a comfortable place to spend time and explore. The older classroom offers art and craft opportunities. Parents are invited to get their child(ren) settled in the Nursery before the Worship Service begins. Nursery caregivers expect children will be picked up after the worship service and before noon when the Religious Education Program is finished.

Children who are not yet crawling or do not wish to be away from their parents, are welcome in the Sanctuary. Comfort rooms are available in the back of the sanctuary if fussy babies or young children need to have parental attention.

NURSERY GUIDELINES

Welcome to our Nursery!

We welcome you and your children to our church. It is the goal of the Live Oak Religious Education program to provide a safe, comfortable and nurturing environment for your child. We also want you to feel secure about your child’s well being while you attend services at Live Oak. We feel that we accomplish this goal in two ways.

• We provide you, the parent, with the information you need to know about our nursery program: how it is run, the rules that we have crafted to ensure a safe environment, and contact information you may use to have your questions answered.
• We provide your child with an environment that is safe for them. Your child is safe to explore the room – it is properly childproofed. The room will also be properly staffed to ensure that there is always enough individual attention paid to your son or daughter.

Please take the time to read the following guidelines that we have prepared for you. This short booklet will answer most of your questions as well as introduce you to the policies that we have put in place to safe guard all of the children we care for. Your understanding and cooperation are deeply appreciated.

Thank you! Nursery Staff

QUICK LIST

This is a quick rundown of the policies that we have adopted to provide a safe environment for your children. Each entry in the Quick List will have a more detailed explanation in the sections following.

1. Children from crawling up to and including age three are accepted for care in the nursery.
2. Children above nursery age are not allowed in the nursery.
3. The nursery is regularly available for the Sunday service. Live Oak may also provide nursery care for other special occasions. Announcements of those occasions will note the availability of care.
4. Nursery staff will not accept children that are currently ill, or have been ill within the last 24 hours.
5. Nursery staff will not give medication to children.
6. Parents are required to fill out the Child Drop-Off sheet when dropping off and picking up their children.
7. Food or drink may not be brought into the nursery. The nursery staff will serve only water and non-allergenic foods. Exceptions for nursery A are clearly labeled bottles of milk or formula.
8. One nursery staff will be present for every four children in nursery A and one nursery staff for every six children in nursery B. There will be a minimum of two adults per room.
9. Essentials bags (diapers, clothing, etc.) need to be clearly labeled with the name of the parent or child.
10. Children will only be released to a properly identified and preauthorized adult.

Age of Care

Children from crawling up to and including age three are accepted for care in the nursery. The nursery is not staffed at an appropriate level to ensure the safety or quality of care for younger infants.

Live Oak UU wishes to welcome all to our services! For parents with younger children, please feel free to bring your child to the service with you. There are comfort rooms just off of the main room. These areas have been specially set aside for this purpose. While in the comfort room, you may continue to listen to the service without impacting our other members’ ability to do the same.

Safety

For safety reasons, do not allow children above nursery age to enter the nursery rooms at any time. If you see older children in the nursery at any time, please ask them to leave or notify appropriate Live Oak staff. The only exception would be a nursery volunteer working to ready the room.

Older children do not always understand the care and maintenance of a room for small children and infants. They can leave small objects that could be choking hazards, unplug safety devices, etc.

Nursery Availability

The nursery will begin accepting children 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the service. Please pick up your children no later than 12:00.

Child Illness

If your child becomes ill or injured during the service, one of the nursery staff will quietly come to you during service and bring you back to the nursery. For the health and safety of all children, nursery staff and the peace of mind of our children’s parents, children that have had the following symptoms within the last 24 hours will not be accepted:

• Fever
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Yeast Infection, monilia, thrush
• Impetigo (infected wounds), boils, untreated ringworms
• Runny nose with green or yellow mucus discharge
• Communicable eye infections, conjunctivitis (pink-eye)
• Contagious skin rash
• Cough, croup (except in the case of allergy)
• Any symptom of usual childhood disease such as mumps, measles, chicken pox
• Use of antibiotics for 24 hours or less.

Medication

Our nursery staff is not adequately trained to dispense any type of medication. If your child requires medication, please come to the nursery at the appropriate time to administer it, or you may want to keep your child with you in the comfort room.

Drop Off and Pick Up

There will be a child sign-in sheet at the front of the nursery. Please make sure you fill this out. In addition to you and your child’s name, please list any food allergies or other special attention your child may require.

Nursery staff requests that only one parent drop off or pick up the child. This will help keep the area clear and avoid congestion and/or confusion.

Please make sure that you are wearing your nametag when you pick up your child and that you sign your child out on the sign-in sheet. Children will be released only to a properly identified and preauthorized adult.

It is common for children in the nursery to suffer from separation anxiety. Please tell your child “good-bye” when leaving him or her in our care and exit the nursery. It is common for children to cry when you leave. Normally, the children will calm down in just a few minutes. If your child continues to be upset for 10 minutes (or sooner by parent’s request) with no sign of calming down, a nursery staff member will come to find you. Should this happen, you should feel free to bring your child to the comfort room where you may both continue to enjoy the service.

All of our nursery doors have windows. Please feel free to peek in on your child during the service! We do ask that you try to not be noticed by the children when you do so as it may cause them to become upset when you don’t come in to play with them.

Feeding

Food allergies are one of our top concerns. The nursery staff will provide one snack of Cheerios, oyster crackers, or rice cakes. Please do not bring a snack for your child, or tell your child that there is a snack for them in their essentials bag. Nursery staff will generally not provide a separate snack for your child.

If your child has food allergies, please note that on the sign in sheet. For the safety of your child, we also ask that you specifically tell one of the nursery staff that your child has food allergies so that all nursery staff will be aware. Your child’s nametag will have a mark reminding staff of this. Should your child need a snack other than the ones provided by the nursery staff, we would allow your substitution.

Nursery Staffing

The goal of the Live Oak Nursery is to have at least one staff member for every four children. We generally have one full time staff person in the nursery and one or more volunteers. In the event that we are not able to provide adequate staffing, once we reach our caregiver to child ratio, we will no longer be able to accept children. Should we not be able to care for your child, we encourage the use of the comfort room where you and your child may enjoy the service together. Please note, this is not a frequent occurrence and one or more of our other volunteers are generally available.

Since we only have one full time staffed position per nursery, we rely heavily upon our membership for volunteers. If your child is frequently cared for in the nursery, we very much appreciate one of the parents (dads are welcome too!) to volunteer about once every five to six weeks. It is our policy that two adults be present in each room. If we cannot meet this criteria the nursery will be closed that day.

Parents: If you are not a volunteer in the nursery, please exit quickly once your child has been properly checked in. Too many big feet can leave too little room for the little feet.

Essentials Bags

Essentials bags (diapers, clothing, etc.) need to be clearly labeled with the name of the parent or child. All of the items in the bag should also be clearly labeled with the name or initials of your child. Masking tape and pens will be available in the nursery. If you have any special items that your child may need, please point them out to the nursery staff.

Your essentials bag may need to contain the following items:

1. All items required for a change (diaper, creams, ointments, salves, wipes, etc.)
2. Extra diaper(s) — please have your child’s name on them
3. Bottle or cup as needed
4. Pacifier (clip on type is preferred) or other item your child may find comforting
5. Change of clothes.

Please do not bring toys, books, candy, gum or other personal items. Nursery staff will not give any of the above items to your child if they are in the essentials bag.

Comments, Questions and Concerns

Please feel free to contact any of the people below to address any and all comments, questions and/or concerns you may have regarding the Religious Education Nursery program. We welcome your input and are happy to have the chance to address any concerns or answer any questions you may have.

• Director of Religious Education – DRE@liveoakUU.org
• Executive Team – executiveteam@liveoakuu.org

Signatures

• I have read, understand and accept the guidelines set forth by the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church Religious Education Nursery Staff.
• I agree to abide by the guidelines set forth in this booklet. I realize that the nursery staff on duty is there for all of the children entrusted to their care. Nursery care staff has the authority to interpret and implement the guidelines.
• I understand that any concerns or disagreements that I have may be brought to the attention of the Live Oak Religious Education department and/or the Nursery Coordinator and that my concerns will be heard and responded to.

Parent Signature: ____________________________________________

Nursery Staff Signature: ____________________________________________

Date: ____________________________________________