Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Posted: **Wed Sep 06, 2017 4:00 pm**

Hi.
I was speaking with my director at the beginning of this week as we have had a new baby start (we have had 18 months + for the past year that i have been here) she is 10-11 months old and needs to be in a cot. My question is now that there is a baby in there do we NEED to document the 10-15 minute checks for the whole day and keep them? At the moment we are using white board/markers and wiping off if we run out of space, I feel like this defeats the purpose if we are just wiping it off and not actually keeping evidence. Is this just best practise or is it in the regs/NQS/law somewhere. I have searched far and wide in both of these documents but haven't seemed to find anything.

Also in regards to cots in the cot room is there a specific amount of space that needs to be in between each one? For some reason 30cm is stuck in my head but i have looked in all the above places also but have not found anything regard this sort of thing.

Thanks for your help.
Sharmayne

Posted: **Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:47 pm**

In regards to the cot space:

I checked out the Childcare Regulation it states that "The beds must be placed so that there is enough space for an adult to walk between the beds and to gain easy access to each bed from either side of the bed". However, it doesn't state in the National Regulations...

,
Lorina

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:57 pm**

Many Authorised Officers from the Regulatory Authority (RA) view sleep check sheets as a child development record, and would require you to keep them. When you think about it, sleep for an infant is a very important part of their day, just like playing outside each day is important (and you would probably have learning stories, photos or other types of documentation to record this type of participation in the program). A lot of services now simply take a photo of the whiteboard before rubbing it off. Think of this scenario........a parent makes a complaint to the RA that 2 weeks ago educators forgot to check on her baby during her afternoon sleep, as when she looked at the whiteboard that afternoon at pick up time she noticed that only her child's morning sleep checks had been recorded, not the afternoon sleep......if you wipe off this information every day, how will you prove to the RA when they investigate that the sleep checks were completed? Sleep checks are part of safe sleep practices and should be mentioned specifically in your centre policy/procedure. You should keep a record of the checks to prove that you are following policy. It is a breach of the National Regulations if educators don't follow policy.

Posted: **Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:42 pm**

CThomas wrote:QR_BBPOST Many Authorised Officers from the Regulatory Authority (RA) view sleep check sheets as a child development record, and would require you to keep them. When you think about it, sleep for an infant is a very important part of their day, just like playing outside each day is important (and you would probably have learning stories, photos or other types of documentation to record this type of participation in the program). A lot of services now simply take a photo of the whiteboard before rubbing it off. Think of this scenario........a parent makes a complaint to the RA that 2 weeks ago educators forgot to check on her baby during her afternoon sleep, as when she looked at the whiteboard that afternoon at pick up time she noticed that only her child's morning sleep checks had been recorded, not the afternoon sleep......if you wipe off this information every day, how will you prove to the RA when they investigate that the sleep checks were completed? Sleep checks are part of safe sleep practices and should be mentioned specifically in your centre policy/procedure. You should keep a record of the checks to prove that you are following policy. It is a breach of the National Regulations if educators don't follow policy.

Great advice!

,
Lorina

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