Being a teacher and caregiver of a baby or a toddler can be both fun and hard work. A baby’s health and safety is the biggest responsibility you’ll face as a teacher. From immunizations to doctor visits to treating tummies, learn how to prepare for any aches and pains that lie ahead. These helpful links and images from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focus on children ages zero to three and will help you learn how to give the infants and toddlers you teach a healthy start to life.
Diseases & Conditions
When one of your children is sick you want answers. Find out what you need to know about common childhood diseases and conditions. The links on this page will help you learn about diseases and conditions that could affect the children in your classroom. If you don’t find what you are looking for, browse all teachers topics or view CDC’s A to Z index for a more detailed list of topics.
Autism, Birth Defects, Common Cold, Ear Infection, Flu, Group B Strep, Jaundice, Prenatal Infections …More
Safety in the Home & Community
Keeping your children safe is the classroom is your number one concern. Get expert tips on how to keep your child safe in your classroom and community. You play an important role in keeping your childen safe — no matter how old he or she is. The links below provide information and tools to help protect your baby and toddler from injuries and violence.
Child Passenger Safety, Medicine Safety, Safety in Your Home, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Vaccine Safety …More
Raising Healthy Children
This section provides you with information that will be helpful for you as a teacher and caregiver. The information in this section will also support your pupil’s parents in raising a healthy baby.
Breastfeeding, Infant Health, Infant Immunization Questions, Maternal Health, Positive Parenting Tips …More
Milestones & Schedules
You can see a child’s development by how they play, learn, speak, and act. Teachers and caregivers play a critical role in the development of infant and toddlers. Providing a safe and loving classroom and spending time together – playing, singing, reading, and even just talking – can make a big difference! Besides tracking your children’s growth and development, you can learn about topics such as developmental disabilities, immunization recommendations, and screening.
Child Development, Developmental Milestones, Growth Charts, Immunization Scheduler, Vaccines and Immunization Questions …More
Additional Related Web Sites
The World Wide Web provides information on numerous topics of interest to professionals. The alphabetized list below is just a sample of Web sites related to the growth and development of young children:
American Academy of Pediatrics
www.aap.org
This site offers child health information to both parents and professionals. The publications section is particularly helpful to obtain the latest policies and publications regarding children’s health and safety.
Beginning Together
www.cainclusivechildcare.org/bt/
Beginning Together was created in collaboration with the California Department of Education, Child Development Division (CDD) and WestEd, Center for Child and Family Studies as an inclusion support to the Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC).
The purpose of Beginning Together is to ensure that children with special needs are incorporated, and appropriate inclusive practices are promoted, in the training and technical assistance provided by the existing cadre of CDE/WestEd certified trainers in the PITC. This is accomplished through a “training of trainers” institute, regional outreach activities, revision/development of written materials, support to institute graduates, and support of inclusive practices in other PITC activities, such as the demonstration programs.
Bright Futures
www.brightfutures.org
Current and emerging preventative and health promotion of infants, children, and families. This site features guidelines for health supervisors; a section for developmental issues and strengths in the infancy period; and related publications.
CELLcasts, Center for Early Literacy Learning
www.earlyliteracylearning.org
The goal of the Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) is to promote the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based early literacy learning practices. This site has resources for early childhood intervention practitioners, parents, and other caregivers of children, birth to five years of age, with identified disabilities, developmental delays, and those at-risk for poor outcomes.
Child Care and Early Education Research Connections
www.childcareresearch.org
An effective tool for policymakers and researchers that facilitates access to current research and findings, datasets, statistics, instruments, and other analytic tools related to child care and early childhood education.
Child Care Bureau
www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ccb/
Information on the Child Care and Development Block Grant, links to other Administration on Children and Families sites and other information within the Department of Health and Human Services, with links to other related child care sites.
CIVITAS
http://childtrauma.org/
The CIVITAS Child Trauma Programs at Baylor College of Medicine are attacking child maltreatment in several areas. The Family Information section has information on the effects of traumatic events on children and what you can do to fight child abuse. The site also contains some articles in Spanish.
Council for Exceptional Children
www.cec.sped.org
This professional organization is dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with disabilities and the gifted. The Web site offers resources for people working with and advocating for students with special needs.
Department of Health and Human Services – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/tanf/index.html
An invaluable resource for the latest news on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). You can obtain essential documents regarding child support, child care funds to states, Medicaid resources, and the Welfare Reform Implementation Informational Package. Some of these documents are available in Spanish.
Diapering Poster
www.ecels-healthychildcarepa.org
This poster is based on Caring for Our Children, 3rd Edition, a publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Public Health Association, and the NRC for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education; created by CCA Global with guidance from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the AAP.
Early Childhood Connections
www.ecconnections.com.au
Parents and Professionals working with young children want up-to-date information. It is often difficult to find time to track it all down. This site contains a treasure trove of links to international publications and resources, research and projects all related to early childhood, as well as information on the early childhood community in Australia.
Early Head Start National Resource Center
www.ehsnrc.org
This site contains a database of all the Early Head Start program sites as well as valuable tips and strategies for trainers and many full text documents on a range of infant/toddler related topics.
Every Child by Two: The Carter/Bumpers Campaign for Early Immunization
www.ecbt.org
This Web site offers resources and information on early immunization. The new 1997 immunization schedule is posted. A program of the American Nurses Foundation, the campaign offers an Immunization Partners Conference and community action activities.
For Our Babies
http://forourbabies.org
For Our Babies is a national movement promoting healthy development in U.S. children from conception to age 3. They advocate for the types of environments, experiences, and relationships that infants and toddlers need in order to thrive.
Giving Children Their Best Chance
www.cdrhelpdesk.org
Each child grows and learns at his or her own individual rate of development. Although children may accomplish certain tasks sooner or later than others, there is a range of what is considered normal development. This website offers a developmental checklist and other resources for families.
I am Your Child
www.iamyourchild.org
This site provides information regarding key issues in child development, parenting questions, expert advice, resources, and a community action campaign.
Keeping Babies Safe
www.keepingbabiessafe.org
Keeping Babies Safe, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission partnered to bring you a national education campaign on sleep safety entitled “Safe Sleep (Environments) for Babies.”
Let’s Move! Child Care State Challenge
www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org
Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative from U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama that’s dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that kids born today will grow up healthier. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let’s Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years.
National Association for Family Child Care
www.nafcc.org
The National Association for Family Child Care is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting quality child care by strengthening the profession of family child care.
National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
www.naccrra.org
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies aims to promote national policies and partnerships to advance the development and learning of all children and to provide vision, leadership, and support to community Child Care Resource and Referral.
The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
NICHCY is a project of the Academy for Educational Development, operated through a Cooperative Agreement with the Office of Special Education Programs, U. S. Department of Education. This Web site offers information on disabilities and disability-related services for individuals from birth to 22 years. In addition to their publications, NICHCY offers information searches on their database, referrals, and technical assistance.
The National Parenting Center – TNPC
www.tnpc.com
This site offers parenting resources and advice from experts in the field of child development. Professionals may find useful advice and helpful tips to share with parents.
National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care
nrckids.org/
This site has many links to related sites pertaining to child care, child health, special needs, and parenting. You can also find each states child care licensing regulations and the National Guidelines for Out of Home Care Programs – Health and Safety Performance Standards.
Nemours Foundation/Kidshealth
www.kidshealth.org
Developed by pediatric medical specialists, this site offers information on child health to children, parents, and medical professionals. The parenting section offers information about specific illnesses and parent support groups.
Parents as Teachers National Center
www.parentsasteachers.org
Parents as Teachers is a trusted resource providing a proven home visiting model for the most respected organizations and professionals who meet the evolving needs of families. Their work with the professional community helps young children grow up healthy, safe and ready to learn.
The Program for Infant/Toddler Care
www.pitc.org
The Program for Infant Toddler Care seeks to ensure that America’s infants get a safe, healthy, emotionally secure and intellectually rich start in life.
Resources for Infant Educarers
www.rie.org
Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) teaches a unique philosophy and methodology in caring for infants. The teachings of Magda Gerber, incorporating respect, quality time, patience and observation are offered in the form of training classes, books and videos. The site is a resource for parents and professional infant/toddler care teachers.
Safe Sleep
www.healthychildcare.org
This brochure, A Parents’ Guide to Safe Sleep, is designed to help parents reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (in English and Spanish).
Tummy Time
www.healthychildcare.org
Back to Sleep, Tummy to Play, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, answers questions about the importance of safe play and sleep (in English and Spanish).
Virginia Child Care Resource & Referral Network
www.vachildcare.org
Virginia Child Care Resource and Referral Network is a community-based network of early care and education specialists whose purpose is to deliver services to families, child care professionals and communities to increase the accessibility, availability, and quality of child care in Virginia.
Virginia Early Childhood Foundation & Smart Beginnings
www.vecf.org
Smart Beginnings is a network of locally operated coalitions that are working to improve the quality of care and education for children from birth until kindergarten. In the state of Virginia, 1 out of 7 children will enter kindergarten unprepared. That’s why Smart Beginnings partners across the state are working with parents and early childhood professionals to ensure that each child will be ready to succeed in school and in life.
Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS)
www.dss.virginia.gov
The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) provides assistance to citizens of Virginia to help them live their best lives. One child, one senior citizen, one person at a time, VDSS programs and services help people triumph over poverty, abuse and neglect, achieve self-sufficiency and shape strong futures for themselves, their families and their communities. This web site provides information on the programs, activities and resources that VDSS uses to achieve these goals.
WestEd
www.wested.org
WestEd’s site offers information on all levels of education including the infant/toddler stage. It also has links to more specific content areas such as charter schools, math and science education and standards and assessment.
Zero to Three / National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
www.zerotothree.org
A national organization dedicated to advancing the healthy development of infants and toddlers, this site offers cutting-edge research, demonstrated best practices, parenting tips, publications, and conference information.
211 United Way
www.211uwgrp.org
The 211 Virginia website helps individuals find community resources by county, need (e.g. Individual, Family & Community Support), and type of program (e.g. Parenting, Respite, Car Seats, or Child Protective Services).
