Should students and casual educators change nappies?
This is a reflection. Because of that it might feel rambling, or like I am sitting on the fence. And perhaps I am, because I simply don't know how I feel. But here we go.
I remember being an early childhood student back in 2002. I was sitting in a TAFE class and was told it was time to learn how to change a nappy. I had pretty limited experience, being the youngest child in my family and not a known "baby person". Out comes the doll and some tiny nappies (disposable and cloth) and I got my first real taste of one of the key parts of working with children.
When the time came to do my first placement in a service, I was told that I would need to change a child's nappy and be observed and assessed, while my TAFE teacher visited. I felt conflicted. I knew what to do, what was expected of me, but I didn't know these children and they didn't know me. I had literally spent a matter of days with them and while I had worked hard on connection, it would be unreasonable to expect that they would be fully trusting and comfortable with me.
But this was what was expected, and from what I hear, is often still expected now.
I understand that students need to learn - it is important that they have the technical capability of changing a child safely and hygenically. It is also important that they learn how to connect with a child in a respectful way during the process.
But what does this mean for the infant or child involved? What choice do they have? Does it matter if they feel comfortable, or if they don't really know this person changing them? What impact does it have if someone they barely know is changing them, while someone else watches on?
Surely we want children to feel safe, secure and connected?
It's a similar story when we talk about casual educators. Do we want someone who is new to the service, and might have only just met a child to be changing their nappy? I'm not saying that they are not capable, or that they would not be respectful and warm in their interactions. But what if the child does not feel comfortable? And, there is also the argument that if a casual educator doesn't change nappies, it can be a burden on other educators in the room. I understand that too, but what do we value more - our own feelings of "I can't believe I am changing my fourteenth nappy today" or a child's feeling of discomfort?
The simple solution might be "don't let casuals or students change nappies", but there's more to it than that isn't there? When a child arrives for the first day of care, they often don't know any of the educators in the service. Someone will have to change that child's nappy though! Perhaps this is where our orientation and settling processes become so important - when families are supported to visit the service on multiple occasions with their child prior to starting care, children are given the opportunity to see familiar faces and start to build connections with the people caring for them. And perhaps this is also where the concept of primary caregiving becomes key - when an educator is assigned as a child's primary caregiver, they become the one who builds that strong relationship, and supports children to feel that sense of trust and security, they then become the one who is the "go-to" for routine tasks like nappy changes.
What's my conclusion? I don't know that I have one - this blog post certainly wont be wrapped up in a neat little bow! So, I will throw it over to you with some reflective questions:
- Can you really learn to change a nappy without using a human child?
- How can we support students and casual educators to participate in these key elements of caregiving without compromising children's comfort and wellbeing?
Would love to hear your thoughts!
I think this is where two things really come into play:
- the first, as always, will be the policies and procedures of the service: what we’ve all agreed is best practice, based on what we know and value. If the decision is that students or casuals don’t change nappies, that’s the hard line.
- but, more importantly, perhaps, consent. We know when a child gives consent to having their nappy changed, even a young infant: we read their cues, can tell their comfort or discomfort levels from their body language. When a child says no, or their cues indicate a no, and they show more comfort in having that casual or student be the person in the moment, where do our policies stand? And what reflection are we doing on why that child is more comfortable with that person? Is it their clothing, especially when our service has uniforms for regular staff. Is it their scent? Do they smell like home, and why? Is it their similarity to that child’s most special people: their family members, or a resemblance to the educator that casual is filling in for, on the day? Is it something else?
When we make our decisions, we always need to think about two questions: is this best practice (taking into account what we know in a holistic way, and how this has informed our policies and procedures), and are we upholding the child’s rights. And when there are times that these appear to be in conflict, who is advantaged and who is disadvantaged when we work this way?
Like Rebecca, I don’t have a conclusion, but this is an excellent entry to inform my own reflection.
For me, that trust is sacred. It’s the foundation of everything we do. I may be a bit old-fashioned in my thinking, but I believe that when families hand over their children to us each day, they’re placing a deep level of faith in who we are — not just as professionals, but as people. That means something. So I’ll leave it at that.
As a relationship pedagogical service we don’t allow casuals to change nappies unless the child has a relationship with them. The same with students. When either first starts with us we have a full induction where we explain our infants and toddlers approach and outline our expectations on how they conduct themselves with children. We discuss consent, connection and respect for children’s rights. Our educators are highly trained in this. People share shock and admiration for the we do things because it is so different from other relief work/placement experiences. We made a commitment to this way of practicing. That’s why we take many students every year to show them a different (and we believe better) way of approaching relationships with children.