The needs of young children in care : a memorandum / prepared by the Home Office ; in consultation with the Advisory Council on Child Care.

  • Great Britain. Children's Department
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The needs of young children in care : a memorandum / prepared by the Home Office ; in consultation with the Advisory Council on Child Care. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    41 Furnishing of nurseries The furnishings and equipment for a household of young children are similar to those found in an ordinary simple, but comfortable, home. There is no need for small sized furniture in the children’s living rooms and toilet fittings are of ordinary domestic sizes. Attractive curtains, rugs, tables and chairs of ordinary height, a settee and fireside chairs, and pictures (hung low enough to be seen by the children) all help to create a homely atmosphere. Shelving and cupboard space are provided for playthings, so as to give space for individual belongings and for those used by everyone. Low beds rather than cots are suitable for many of the children and each child should have his own; and in the bedrooms there are chests of drawers and mirrors at a suitable height. Bed- rooms for two or three children are found to be more homelike than larger rooms for six or eight beds. The provision of one or two single bedrooms may make it unnecessary for there to be special isolation rooms. The furnishing of babies’ rooms can assume a more homelike character as rugs, nursing chairs and chests of drawers are provided. The provision of labour saving devices such as washing machines, spin dryers, and washing-up machines is a great asset in that it enables the staff to spend more time actually with the children. 42 Special medical arrangements are made in a nursery to safeguard the health of the children. A medical officer is appointed, who may be a general practitioner; sometimes one doctor can undertake all the work may be shared by two doctors, and a medical officer of the local health authority may be concerned with the general hygiene of the nursery while a general practitioner attends to the ailments of individual children. It is valuable for the doctor’s visits to the nursery to be frequent enough for him to know the children well and discuss their progress with the staff. The control of infectious disease and medical aspects of the planning of accom- modation are matters on which the visiting doctor is expected to advise, and it is important that any illness among the staff is made known to him. In the case of a nursery provided by a local authority it is desirable for the advice of the medical officer of health to be sought on all medical matters connected with the nursery including