Warm Responsive Care

Not sure if it has happened to you but frequently on prac placements and now at work I face the issue of being disapproved of by the other carers for providing what I call 'warm responsive care' to the children

For example
- I will cuddle a child if they are crying
- I will let the children make choices
- I work hard at making toileting and nappy changing a fun interactive experience
- even sometimes following the interests of the child

At its most extreme I have been criticised for:
- picking up a crying baby
- cuddling a unsettled child with downs syndrome because it is "spoiling" him
- being over-supportive of a new child because "they need to learn to play with the children not the adults that's not what we are here for". This particular discussion also included being told that the only reason you would spend time with the children is because it is a ego boost (go figure - who thought that's why you talk to children in care!)
- looking after a child who had decided he had 'lost' all of his friends because they were going on to primary school and he wasn't
- i could go on and on..... but won't - it'll get boring and it will turn the post into another rant.

Louise Porter has a excellent book that talks about guidance and how to provide quality responsive care to children. I can't recommend it enough see link to the left.

I also recommend any thing about the Reggio Emilia method and the Curtis and Carter books (see the bottom of this blog for links).

As part of this is the issue of controlled crying, personally I think this is such a big issue that I will reserve it for another post where I can provide you with the most up-to -date research - in summary - do not do it!