Welcome Infants
Infant Daycare in Newark, DE
NDNCC provides full-time infant care for children starting at the age of 6 weeks right in the heart of Newark, Delaware.
Our focus is on meeting the individual needs of each infant. Relationship building, learned early in life and throughout childhood, is the stepping stone of both social-emotional and intellectual growth. We build relationships with infants by nurturing and loving them, creating routines, and embracing their individuality.
We look forward to caring for your precious baby!
Our trained teachers understand the significance of your baby’s first year of life. We work together as a team to meet the needs of each child, creating an environment for constant play and learning. On a daily basis, our children have a multitude of developmental growth opportunities from sensory exploration, to quiet book time, to “tummy time”, and musical experimentation.
Your infant gets to enjoy an environment that offers:
Nurturing Relationships
Warm, familiar teachers dedicated to building secure bonds and supporting each child’s unique personality and development.
Individualized Schedules
Personalized routines for feeding, sleeping, and play, prioritizing your child’s natural needs. Parents are only required to supply diapers and wipes.
Early Communication
Introduction to American Sign Language and call-and-response interactions to support early brain development and pre-verbal communication.
Safe Developmental Environment
A secure, stimulating space for exploration, featuring a reading/snuggling tent and soft surfaces to facilitate tummy time and motor skill development.
Sensory and Musical Exploration
Opportunities for sensory play, musical experimentation, and exposure to rhythm instruments to stimulate auditory and tactile development.
Healthy Meals
Formula is provided to babies at no additional cost, and parents are welcome to bring breastmilk, either frozen or prepared in advance. For bottle feedings, we ask families to provide clean, ready-to-use bottles (no glass), labeled, and matched to the number of daily feedings. To maintain health and safety standards, bottles are not reused. Infants not yet eating table food will also be served jarred foods along with formula/breastmilk.
Low Class Ratio
Recognizing that babies need and deserve extra love and care, NDNCC exceeds the ratio set by the Office of Child Care Licensing by placing three teachers in the infant classroom instead of two, for six hours during the day. This means that we have a teacher-to-child ratio of 1:4.
Daily Updates
We complete individual daily sheets that communicate to families about their child’s health, nutrition for the day, sleeping habits, diaper changes, feelings, and learning experiences of the day. We utilize the Teaching Strategies Gold assessment tool to help our staff and parents/guardians monitor the children’s development together, and offer conferences to discuss these developmental assessments.
Get Involved
We have a parent board directly outside of the classroom door, where you will find our lesson plans. Lesson plans and corresponding activities in the Infant classroom are individualized according to each child’s stage of development. The strategies used to reach our objectives are posted right next to the parent board. We encourage families to take a look!
Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSG) and Ages and Stages (ASQ) Developmental Monitoring
Communication between families and teachers is key to your child’s experience at our center and adds to your level of comfort and satisfaction. NDNCC understands the importance of providing our families with information on their children’s progress and development. Outcome and assessment data, generated from our assessments, allow staff the opportunity to continually review and enrich our curriculum and better meet each child’s developmental and individual needs. These practices represent our commitment to continuous program improvement. We use Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSG) to monitor outcomes and Ages and Stages (ASQ) as a developmental screener.
TSG is an objective-based system designed for teachers to assess children in all areas of development and learning. Classroom activities and lesson plans are created to support school readiness in the areas of literacy and mathematics. Assessment results will be shared during bi-annual parent/ guardian – teacher conferences and by request.
Class Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some popular questions we get pertaining to the Infants classroom –
What do I need to provide for my child?
- Diapers and wipes are provided by parents/guardians.
- Please make sure your child has three changes of seasonally appropriate clothes marked with his/her name.
- Please ensure your child’s clothing are items that can get messy.
- Per the Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, closed-toe, and closed-heel shoes are mandatory for outdoor play. Sneakers work best.
- Please check your child’s wall hanging/cubby each day for artwork, messages, accident report forms, or soiled clothing.
What time are meals served?
- Breakfast is served at 8:30 am, lunch is served at 11:30 am, and snack is served at 2:30 pm. Please do not send in food from home, such as a birthday treat, unless previously arranged. We are a strictly nut-free facility. Any outside food must be labeled as made in a nut-free environment.
- Infants under the age of 12 months will be fed according to their schedule. As they grow and start eating solid foods, we will feed your child foods that you have already introduced at home. Eating times will be adjusted toward the group’s schedule to prepare them for the move to Tweenies. Infants younger than 12 months will be served cereals, fruits, and vegetables provided by NDNCC.
- NDNCC participates in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). All children must have a Special Diet form completed by your child’s medical provider in order to be served table foods.
- If your child has a food allergy or food intolerance, families are permitted to provide food from home with prior approval, including a doctor’s note. Meals must meet the CACFP guidelines.
Additional Information about bottles and sippy cups:
- If you are breastfeeding your child, breast milk must be dated and labeled with your child’s name. Nursing mothers are welcome to breastfeed their infants here at any time. Parents/guardians of bottle-fed babies will need to provide 4–5 labeled and dated bottles with caps.
- If you choose to use the formula that NDNCC provides, we will happily prepare your child’s bottle.
- If your infant uses a special type of formula, please have the bottles ready to heat and feed.
- Bottles are warmed using warm tap water.
- Only breast milk, formula, or water will be placed in your child’s bottle.
- No bottles will be served with cereal or any other food product in them.
- Infants will not have bottles while lying down or in their cribs.
Come Check out our Classrooms
Please come for a visit and observe the fun happening in the Infant classroom!