Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ask-dr.-sue-the-ideal-diaper-changing-station/5013092/
The 1999 Child Care Design Institute held at Harvard and Tufts merged health and safety concerns with the creative energy of architects and child care designers. After a presentation on health and safety standards for child care, about 30 of the more than 60 participants in the Institute stayed for a dynamic three-hour brainstorming session on how to design the ideal diaper-changing station for child care. First, these 30 volunteers reviewed the desired features of a diaper-changing station. Then, as five teams, they sketched their ideas for presentation and critique by the whole group. All the designs had good ideas.The first priority for a diaper-changing station is that it should foster positive interactions between the child and the caregiver. Diaper changing is a frequent activity for infants and toddlers. Much of diaper changing is done with children on their backs looking up at the care-giver, or at the ceiling. Although the purpose of the activity is to replace soiled diapers, caregivers have rare one-on-one time during the process. To avoid contaminating the environment, the caregiver has to perform eight steps of diaper changing correctly. Often the caregiver must remain aware of what is going on with the other children in the ...