Do You Have an Ear For Babies?
Educators place great emphasis on knowing the students in their charge.
After all, if you don't know your students, how will you know your curriculum is appropriate and how will you know if students are making appropriate progress? But what if your students are infants? Child care centers across America take in infants beginning as early as two months old.
Many times the only criteria for this young student is proof of him receiving his first set of immunization shots.
The infant room teacher is presented with a student who doesn't talk, doesn't walk, and needs a lot of custodial care.
Sometimes this can seem like a breeze to the uninitiated teacher who thinks she can feed him, diaper him, and watch him nap.
What an easy job.
Those teachers working with infants for any period of time quickly learn and feel the enormous responsibility of taking care of these fragile students.
A well child delivered to the morning classroom may develop a raging fever within the next few hours.
Infants are not miniature adults and this makes a teacher's task of getting to know students all the more difficult and all the more exciting.
Most infant room teachers, if they have really thought about it, will tell you that each infant in her charge has five distinct cries.
If she is caring for four infants at one time (which is a normal regulatory limit) she has the possibility of hearing 20 different cries.
That's not including hers if she finds she is not proficient in "baby-ease".
If there are eight students in the room with two caregivers that would be listening to 40 different cries.
Here are the five distinct cries each infant room teacher must master for each infant.
Hunger The hunger cry is an attempt to get the caregiver to feed the baby.
It sounds simple enough.
If you feed the baby, the baby will stop crying.
Maybe.
Hunger changes quickly when you are an infant.
The two month old who was admitted to care will need to be fed more often than the four month old.
But, the four month old will probably need a larger quantity.
It is possible to feed an infant who will continue to communicate hunger by crying, sucking on fingers, and visually searching for more food.
What's wrong? Consider the timing and amount of the feeding.
Staff may have to talk with a parent about the need to change.
Sometimes first time parents are so focused on doing as they were told on their first doctor visit that they really forget the baby is growing.
Dirty Diaper "Hey you, I've got a dirty diaper.
" When the baby feels uncomfortable he'll let you know.
If the baby continues to cry after being cleaned and changed look further.
What kind of a diaper was it? What brand of diaper was it? Babies are very sensual and may respond differently to different textures or chemicals in diapers.
Perhaps a change in diaper caused distress.
Is there a rash that needs medical attention? Is teething causing excessively caustic bowel movements? Illness When an adult doesn't feel well he can moan and groan to a friend.
The baby will cry to the caregiver for some support.
A tuned in ear can often hear this pre-illness cry before a fever develops.
This cry often comes with a slow down in behavior and an increase in sleeping.
Fear The child in a trusting relationship communicates fear to his caregiver.
Anything that frightens the child can cause the child to cry.
This cry can seem desperate but can be eased by comforting words and a calm demeanor from the caregiver.
Affection This cry comes about when the infant is seeking some attention.
"Hey, I'm bored over here...
want to play?" Or, "Hey, I'd like to cuddle a bit...
got some time?" Or may it is, "Gee, can you rock me for a while?" This reaching out to the caregiver is the main method the infant has to communicate his needs.
Sometimes, if the caregiver isn't fast enough, the crying will intensify.
And, most times once the baby's needs have been met the crying will stop.
Many first time parents and first time infant room teachers are amazed that the experienced infant room teacher can distinguish the child's needs through the sound of his crying.
There's no trick to it, it just takes a lot of listening and practice.
There's a whole world of communication going on in the infant room and it isn't just one-sided.
After all, if you don't know your students, how will you know your curriculum is appropriate and how will you know if students are making appropriate progress? But what if your students are infants? Child care centers across America take in infants beginning as early as two months old.
Many times the only criteria for this young student is proof of him receiving his first set of immunization shots.
The infant room teacher is presented with a student who doesn't talk, doesn't walk, and needs a lot of custodial care.
Sometimes this can seem like a breeze to the uninitiated teacher who thinks she can feed him, diaper him, and watch him nap.
What an easy job.
Those teachers working with infants for any period of time quickly learn and feel the enormous responsibility of taking care of these fragile students.
A well child delivered to the morning classroom may develop a raging fever within the next few hours.
Infants are not miniature adults and this makes a teacher's task of getting to know students all the more difficult and all the more exciting.
Most infant room teachers, if they have really thought about it, will tell you that each infant in her charge has five distinct cries.
If she is caring for four infants at one time (which is a normal regulatory limit) she has the possibility of hearing 20 different cries.
That's not including hers if she finds she is not proficient in "baby-ease".
If there are eight students in the room with two caregivers that would be listening to 40 different cries.
Here are the five distinct cries each infant room teacher must master for each infant.
Hunger The hunger cry is an attempt to get the caregiver to feed the baby.
It sounds simple enough.
If you feed the baby, the baby will stop crying.
Maybe.
Hunger changes quickly when you are an infant.
The two month old who was admitted to care will need to be fed more often than the four month old.
But, the four month old will probably need a larger quantity.
It is possible to feed an infant who will continue to communicate hunger by crying, sucking on fingers, and visually searching for more food.
What's wrong? Consider the timing and amount of the feeding.
Staff may have to talk with a parent about the need to change.
Sometimes first time parents are so focused on doing as they were told on their first doctor visit that they really forget the baby is growing.
Dirty Diaper "Hey you, I've got a dirty diaper.
" When the baby feels uncomfortable he'll let you know.
If the baby continues to cry after being cleaned and changed look further.
What kind of a diaper was it? What brand of diaper was it? Babies are very sensual and may respond differently to different textures or chemicals in diapers.
Perhaps a change in diaper caused distress.
Is there a rash that needs medical attention? Is teething causing excessively caustic bowel movements? Illness When an adult doesn't feel well he can moan and groan to a friend.
The baby will cry to the caregiver for some support.
A tuned in ear can often hear this pre-illness cry before a fever develops.
This cry often comes with a slow down in behavior and an increase in sleeping.
Fear The child in a trusting relationship communicates fear to his caregiver.
Anything that frightens the child can cause the child to cry.
This cry can seem desperate but can be eased by comforting words and a calm demeanor from the caregiver.
Affection This cry comes about when the infant is seeking some attention.
"Hey, I'm bored over here...
want to play?" Or, "Hey, I'd like to cuddle a bit...
got some time?" Or may it is, "Gee, can you rock me for a while?" This reaching out to the caregiver is the main method the infant has to communicate his needs.
Sometimes, if the caregiver isn't fast enough, the crying will intensify.
And, most times once the baby's needs have been met the crying will stop.
Many first time parents and first time infant room teachers are amazed that the experienced infant room teacher can distinguish the child's needs through the sound of his crying.
There's no trick to it, it just takes a lot of listening and practice.
There's a whole world of communication going on in the infant room and it isn't just one-sided.