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Overview: Importance of Health in Child Development

Conducting the Daily Health Check

Teachers should use all of their senses to check for signs of illness. This includes:

Listening to what families tell you about how their child is feeling and what the child sounds like (hoarse voice, coughing, wheezing, etc.)
Looking at the child from head to toe (with a quick scan) to see if the child looks flushed, pale, has a rash, has a runny nose or mucus in the eyes
Feeling the child’s cheek or neck (as part of a greeting) for warmth or clamminess
Smelling the child for unusual smelling breath or a bowel movement.

Here are the signs to observe for:

General mood and atypical behavior
Fever (elevated temperature)
Rashes or unusual spots, itching, swelling, and bruising
Complaints of not feeling well
Symptoms of illness (coughing, sneezing, runny nose, eye or ear discharge, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.)
Reported illness in child or family members

What can teachers do to help young children feel more “at home” when it is time for them to rest?

Think of sleep and sleep routines as part of the child’s individualized curriculum.
Classroom teachers should meet with a family before a child enters your care. This is an opportunity to find out about a child’s sleep habits before they join the classroom. When you know how a baby sleeps at home, you can use that information to plan for how they might sleep best in your care.
Brainstorm ways to adapt your classroom to help a child feel “at home” during rest times. For example, a baby who is used to sleeping in a busy environment might nap better if you roll a crib into the classroom. Some mobile infants and toddlers might have a hard time sleeping in child care because they think they will miss something fun! These children benefit from having a very quiet place to fall asleep. When you have a positive relationship with a baby it will be easier to know what will help them relax into sleep.
Encourage families to bring in “a little bit of home” to the program – like a stuffed animal or special blanket. A comfort item from home can help children feel connected to their families. They might want that comfort all day. The comfort item from home can also help children make the transition to sleep while in your care. Make sure that infants under one year of age do not have any extra toys or blankets in the crib with them.
Share with families what you learn about their child. Use pick up and drop off times to ask questions about sleep at home. Families can share information that could make their child more comfortable in your care. You can be a resource for families about sleep and their child. Remember that families are the experts about their child.

What to do When a Child Requires Exclusion

When a child becomes ill enough to be excluded, they should be immediately isolated from other children. Early care and education programs are required to be equipped to isolate and care for any child who becomes ill during the day. The isolation area shall be located to afford easy supervision of children by center staff and equipped with a mat, cot, couch or bed for each ill child (or a crib if caring for infants).
The child's authorized representative shall be notified immediately when the child becomes ill enough to require isolation, and shall be asked to have the child picked up from the center as soon as possible.

Supporting Children Under Stress

Supporting children’s mental health also extends to helping children deal with the stress that they may encounter. One of the most important things teachers can do is provide the child with a predictable, safe haven where children can feel secure. Teachers can create a comfortable and comforting everyday routine that is child-centered, individualized, responsive, and helpfully structured to give young children a sense of control and predictability that may be lacking in other aspects of the child’s life. Central to these efforts is providing children with supportive adult relationships that are reliable and helpful. This may be more difficult than one would expect because young children under stress often test these relationships to see whether teachers and other adults will remain responsive to them even when children act defiantly or negatively.
In some circumstances, it can be helpful for teachers to obtain the advice of an early childhood mental health consultant who can observe the child in the classroom, talk with the teacher about the child’s behavior, and suggest strategies for providing supportive assistance. Early childhood mental health consultants can be valuable resources to an early childhood education program. They can help teachers provide much-needed support to young children who may not have other such sources of support elsewhere in their lives.

Additional Resources

Head Start’s Health Literacy: Tips for Health Managers: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/public...ealth-managers

Staff Health in Early Care and Education Programs: https://cchp.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/...ealth_0606.pdf

Licensing’s Records to be Maintained at the Facility: https://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/entr...sh/LIC311A.pdf

The Culture of Sleep and Child Care: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/...-sleep-pdf.pdf

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2010). The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood.

Childhood Infectious Illnesses: http://www.ocwtp.net/PDFs/Trainee%20...hartOption.pdf

When to Keep Your Child Home from Child Care: https://www.healthychildren.org/Engl...hild-Care.aspx

Tulane University Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: https://medicine.tulane.edu/infant-institute

Zero to Three - Early Childhood Mental Health: https://www.zerotothree.org/espanol/...-mental-health

CDC’s Children’s Mental Health: https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/index.html

Reference: Safety, Health, and Nutrition in Early Childhood Education, 2018, California Community Colleges, Chancellor's Office. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License