75-03-09-24. Specialized types of care and minimum requirements.

1. Infant care. a. Environment and interactions. (1) A group child care serving children from birth to twelve months shall provide an environment which protects the children from physical harm. (2) The provider shall ensure that each infant receives positive stimulation and verbal interaction with a staff member responsible for caring for or teaching children, or emergency designee, such as being held, rocked, talked with, or sung to. (3) The staff members responsible for caring for or teaching children, or emergency designee, shall respond promptly to comfort an infant's or toddler's physical and emotional distress. (a) Especially when indicated by crying or due to conditions such as hunger, fatigue, wet or soiled diapers, fear, teething, or illness; and (b) Through positive actions such as feeding, diapering, holding, touching, smiling, talking, singing, or eye contact. (4) The provider shall ensure that infants have frequent and extended opportunities during each day for freedom of movement, including creeping or crawling in a safe, clean, open, and uncluttered area. (5) Staff members responsible for caring for or teaching children shall take children outdoors or to other areas within the group child care for a part of each day to provide some change of physical surroundings and to interact with other children. (6) The provider shall ensure that infants are not shaken or jostled.

(7) The provider shall ensure that low chairs and tables, high chairs with trays, or other age-appropriate seating systems are provided for mealtime for infants no longer being held for feeding. High chairs, if used, must have a wide base and a safety strap.

(8) The provider shall ensure that thermometers, pacifiers, teething toys, and similar objects are cleaned and sanitized between uses. Pacifiers may not be shared.

b. Feeding.

(1) The provider shall ensure that infants are provided developmentally appropriate nutritious foods. Only breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula may be fed to infants less than six months of age, unless otherwise instructed by the infant's parent or medical provider in writing.

(2) The provider shall ensure that infants are fed only the specific brand of iron-fortified infant formula requested by the parent. Staff members shall use brand-specific mixing instructions unless alternative mixing instructions are directed by a child's medical provider in writing.

(3) The provider shall ensure that mixed formula that has been unrefrigerated more than one hour is discarded.

(4) The provider shall ensure that frozen breast milk is thawed under cool running tap water or in the refrigerator in amounts needed. Unused, thawed breast milk must be discarded or given to the parent within twenty-four hours.

(5) The provider shall ensure that an infant is not fed by propping a bottle.

(6) The provider shall ensure that cereal and other nonliquids or suspensions are only fed to an infant through a bottle on the written orders of the child's medical provider.

(7) The provider shall ensure that a staff member responsible for caring for or teaching children is within sight and hearing range of an infant during the infant's feeding or eating process.

c. Diapering.

(1) The provider shall ensure that there is a designated cleanable diapering area, located separately from food preparation and serving areas in the group child care if children requiring diapering are in care.

(2) The provider shall ensure that diapers are changed promptly when needed and in a sanitary manner.

(3) Diapers must be changed on a nonporous surface area which must be cleaned and disinfected after each diapering.

(4) The provider shall ensure that soiled or wet diapers are stored in a sanitary, covered container separate from other garbage and waste until removed from the group child care.

d. Sleeping.

(1) The provider shall ensure that infants are placed on their back initially when sleeping to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, unless the infant's parent has provided a note from the infant's medical provider specifying otherwise. The infant's face must remain uncovered when sleeping.

1. (2) The provider shall ensure that infants sleep in a crib with a firm mattress or in a portable crib with the manufacturer's pad that meets consumer product safety commission standards.
2. (3) The provider shall ensure that if an infant falls asleep while not in a crib or portable crib, the infant must be moved immediately to a crib or portable crib, unless the infant's parent has provided a note from the infant's medical provider specifying otherwise.
3. (4) Water beds, adult beds, sofas, pillows, soft mattresses, and other soft surfaces are prohibited as infant sleeping surfaces.
4. (5) The provider shall ensure that all items are removed from and that no toys or objects are hung over or attached to the crib or portable crib when an infant is sleeping or preparing to sleep. With written parental permission, the provider may place one individual infant blanket or sleep sack, a pacifier, and a security item that does not pose a risk of suffocation to the infant in the crib or portable crib while an infant is sleeping or preparing to sleep.
5. (6) A staff member shall check on sleeping infants regularly and have a monitor in the room with the sleeping infants, unless a staff member is in the room with the infants while the infants are sleeping.2. Night care.- a. Any group child care offering night care shall provide program modifications for the needs of children and their parents during the night.
6. b. In consultation with parents, special attention must be given by the staff member responsible for caring for or teaching children to provide a transition into this type of care, appropriate to the child's needs.
7. c. The provider shall encourage parents to leave their children in care or pick them up before and after their normal sleeping period when practical, to ensure minimal disturbance of the child during sleep, with consideration given to the parents' work schedule.
8. d. The provider shall ensure that children under the age of six are supervised directly when bathing.
9. e. The provider shall ensure that comfortable beds, cots, or cribs, complete with a mattress or pad, are available.
10. f. The provider shall require each child in night care to have night clothing and a toothbrush marked for identification.
11. g. For a group child care not operating out of an occupied private residence, staff members responsible for caring for or teaching children must be awake and within hearing range during sleeping hours to provide for the needs of children and to respond to an emergency.3. Drop-in group child care.- a. If a group child care serves drop-in children, schoolchildren, or before-school and afterschool children, the group child care must be sufficiently staffed to effectively handle admission records and explain the policies and procedures of the group child care and to maintain the proper staff member to child ratio.

b. The provider shall ensure that the program reflects the individual needs of the children who are provided drop-in care.

c. The provider shall ensure that records secured comply with all enrollment requirements contained in section 75-03-09-22.

d. The provider shall ensure that admittance procedures provide for a period of individual attention for the child to acquaint the child with the group child care, its equipment, and the staff members.

e. A group child care may not receive drop-in care or part-time children who, when added to the children in regular attendance, cause the group child care to exceed the total number of children for which the group child care is licensed.

4. A provider shall ensure that a group child care serving only drop-in care children complies with this chapter but is exempt from the following provisions:

a. Subsections 4 and 5 of section 75-03-09-20, subsections 6 and 7 of section 75-03-09-21, subdivision f of subsections 2 and 3 of section 75-03-09-22, and subsection 1 of section 75-03-09-25.

b. A group child care serving only drop-in care children is exempt from the outdoor space requirements.

History: Effective December 1, 1981; amended effective July 1, 1996; July 1, 1996, amendments voided by the Administrative Rules Committee effective August 24, 1996; amended effective January 1, 1999; January 1, 2011; January 1, 2013; April 1, 2016; April 1, 2018; January 1, 2023; April 1, 2024.

General Authority: NDCC 50-11.1-08

Law Implemented: NDCC 50-11.1-01, 50-11.1-04, 50-11.1-08