Nursery

Loving care for little ones from newborns to preschool

The nursery is where we meet the needs of the youngest in our church family. Our time with these little ones – newborn through age three – is spent singing songs, engaging them in play, memorizing short catechism truths and teaching simple lessons about our Lord. This ministry allows parents to engage in the Sunday School hour and corporate Worship, unencumbered.  We take up with joy, our covenant vows, to come alongside you, the parents in assisting in Christian nurture of your children. Thank you for giving us the opportunity and privilege to minister to you by caring for your most precious gifts.

How We Care for Your Child

Entering the Nursery.  When you drop off your child or pick them up, please do not linger in the nursery.  Your child’s caregiver will greet you at the door.  This will avoid overcrowded rooms that can be dangerous for your child. Please have family and friends wait outside of the nursery until your child is picked up

Dropping off and Picking Up a Child.  For the safety of our children, we ask that all children are signed in and out of nursery care.  Please be sure to list your phone number in the event the parent is needed, we will send a text, asking you to come.  If you do not respond to the text within a reasonable amount of time, the deacon on duty will come and notify you that you are needed.  Please be as specific as you can with helpful information about your child when you sign them in.

Getting to Know Your Child.   In order to best get to know and care for your child, we ask that a Child Profile Sheet be completed for each child that is either regularly visiting or is a new member of CPC.   You will be asked to update all of the information on the Profile Sheet each year.  These can be turned into Heidi Shafer or a nursery caregiver.

What to Bring.   Please send a diaper bag with your child and include his/her name on the outside of the bag.  Include diapers, wipes, bottles or cups with drink, pacifier (if used), and a clean change of clothing.  Diaper bag and bottles/cups should be labeled.  The nursery worker may label your child’s bottle or cup and/or diaper bag for easy reference, if they are not already labeled.

Our Food Policy.  Nursery care-givers are not able to feed meals to children.  We are happy to give bottles or sippy cups and feed them a snack but this is limited to the snack you provide, cheerios, goldfish, pretzels or animal crackers.  If a child does not come with his/her own drink, we will provide them water to drink. 

Our Cry Policy.  Please be assured that if your child is inconsolable (i.e., on “full-boil” and not showing any signs of calming down) for longer than 10 minutes, a nursery worker will contact you on the phone number you leave on the sign-in sheet. It is not necessary for you to check on your child, which can disrupt the class as well as the child.

Our Diaper Changing Procedures.  Our Infant/Crawler and Toddler nurseries are provided with a diaper changing area in each room where the surface is cleaned frequently.  It is the policy of CPC that only our hired care-givers are to change diapers.  This is to ensure that the following procedures are maintained each time a diaper is changed.  

• A fresh disposable paper is put down and precautionary measures taken to prevent the spread of germs.  
• Latex-free gloves are used when changing a diaper
• Children are checked for wet or soiled diapers regularly
• Care-givers will use church provided wipes unless parents provide a necessary alternative due to preference or allergies.

Graduating to the Next Class.  Your child’s birthday will be used to determine when he/she will be moved to the next class. If you have concerns about the class your child is in, please contact Heidi Shafer, the children’s ministry coordinator. Together, we will decide on the best class for your child. 

Safety and Security of Our Children

To ensure the safety of all our children, the CPC nursery employs the following security measures:

• Sign-in/out procedure
• Child Profile Sheets
• Care and Vigilance of our Nursery Care-givers.

The system works as follows:  The person dropping off the child at the nursery signs his/her name on the sign-in sheet located near the door of the nursery classroom and lists his/her phone number and or location during the Sunday school hour.  Upon picking up the child, the person who dropped off the child or a person who has been listed on the back of the Child Profile Sheet as eligible to pick up the child will sign his/her name before being able to take the child from the nursery classroom.  If the paid nursery care-giver in the room does not recognize the person picking up the child, she may request ID to verify that the name is listed on the child’s registration card.

No Toys From Home, Please.  We ask that children do not bring their personal toys from home to the nursery classroom.  This is to ensure that all toys in the classrooms are age appropriate and safe for all children.

Our Emergency Procedure.  In the event of an emergency requiring the building to be evacuated, your child will be evacuated by his/her teacher with the class. For this reason, it is very important to properly sign your child in and out.  The sign-in sheet will serve as a “roll call” once the class has made it to safety.  Your child will be released to you only after the roll has been checked, and every child accounted for.  Of course, you are welcome to find your child’s class and remain with the class as they exit the building.  Please do not try to pick up your child up in the building as this could confuse the situation and put others in danger.  

In the event of a weather-related emergency, your child’s class will be moved into the safety of the inner hallway. Attendance will be checked upon evacuation and upon return to the class.

Our Wellness Policy

In order to protect your child and other children, do not bring your child to the nursery if any of the following symptoms exist within 24 hours prior to coming to the nursery:

• Fever
• Vomiting and/or diarrhea
• Any symptom of chicken pox, mumps, whooping cough, measles, scarlet fever, or other childhood diseases
• Common cold-runny nose and/or cough
• Sore throat
• Croup
• Any unexplained rash
• Any skin infection
• Pink eye or other eye infection 

If these symptoms are present, you will be asked to come get your child.  If your child has allergies and exhibits symptoms that may be misinterpreted as a cold, please inform the nursery worker.

Our Medication Policy.  Nursery care-givers do not give medication of any kind.  You are welcome to return and medicate your own child if necessary.

Our Hygiene Policy.  Because it is not always known if a child is infected with a communicable illness, we take the following precautions to reduce the risk of infection:

• Hand washing. The single most important procedure to minimize the spread of infection is frequent hand washing. Proper hand washing includes sanitizing hands before feeding times, after diaper changes, etc. All care-givers will encourage and assist children with proper hand washing procedures after bathroom breaks. 
• Nose wiping.  All children’s noses are wiped as needed. If a child presents with colored mucus, the parent will be asked to remove the child from the nursery classroom out of protection for the other children.  
• Disinfecting Surfaces/Toys.  At the end of each session all surfaces and toys are disinfected.  Any toy a child places in his/her mouth will be placed in a bin to be disinfected with soap and water.  No toy will be sprayed with a chemical disinfectant but washed with soap and water.  Once a month all toys regardless of use are wiped down and cleaned with soap and water.  
• Open Wounds.  All open wounds must cleaned and covered with a band aide.