moonsafarian:

Hi all,

I have a concern. My DS is going to the IFC at MFS and during a visit, the P told us that when the babies reach 8-10 months, they no longer provide a cot bed for their naps. Instead, they sleep on child mattress on the floor. I saw 2 mattresses by the wall in the tiny room cramped with 5 cots, and I can't help but feel bad for my child.

And by the time he goes to the IFC, there will be 13 babies altogether. He'll be able to crawl and I'm just imagining, when he wakes up from his nap, and starts crawling around, no one may notice as the teachers will all be in the main room. Besides, the mattress isn't big enough for him to roll over when he flips. Am I unduly worried?

Hi moonsafarian,

My soon-to-be-7 months-old gal is at one of MFS infantcare ctr. The P did explain to us the rationale of making babies 7 months and above sleep on the mattress when we toured the ctr before we enrolled her. As they usually can stand by this age, it's safer for them to sleep on the floor in case they stand up and fall out of the cot. As you know especially at infantcare, teachers are unable to watch them all the time.

For the ctr my gal is in, the cots are in a separate room whereas the older babies sleeping on mattresses are outside in the main area but segregated by a door and it is quite spacious. I quite like the layout and arrangement.

As for the 2 concerns you raised - i) about your son waking up and crawl, I think it should be quite safe once he can crawl well. If he needs milk and cries, the teachers will be able to hear him. ii) the size of the mattress; I have seen the standard mattress in my gal's ctr and I find it quite ok. The older babies seem to have no problem sleeping on it.