New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services
Subchapter C - Social Services
Article 2 - Family and Children's Services
Part 418 - Day Care Centers
Subpart 418-2 - Small Day Care Centers
Section 418-2.7 - Program requirements

(a) The program must establish and implement a daily schedule of program activities that offers reasonable regularity in routines, including snack and meal periods, nap and rest periods, indoor activities, outdoor play time and a variety of large muscle activities throughout the day. There must be physical activity, appropriate to the ages of the children in care, every day.

(b) When care is provided to infants less than six months of age, the daily schedule must include short supervised periods of time during which the awake infant is placed on his or her stomach, back or side allowing them to move freely and interact socially, thus developing motor skills and social skills.

(c) The daily schedule must include a routine of good personal hygiene practices, and when night care is provided, this includes changing into night clothes, brushing teeth, and washing before bed in the manner to be agreed between the parent and the program.

(d) Children must receive instruction, consistent with their age, needs and circumstances, in techniques and procedures that will enable them to protect themselves from abuse and maltreatment.

(e) Each small day care center must provide a sufficient quantity and variety of materials and play equipment appropriate to the ages of the children and their developmental levels and interests, including children with developmental delays or disabilities, which promote the children's cognitive, educational, social, cultural, physical, emotional, language and recreational development.

(f) As age and development permit, children must be allowed freedom of movement and must be provided with an environment designed to develop such skills as crawling, standing, walking and running.

(g) Children must be provided an opportunity to choose between quiet activities and active play.

(h) Daily supervised outdoor play is required for all children in care, except during inclement or extreme weather or unless otherwise ordered by a health care provider. Parents may request and programs may permit children to remain indoors during outdoor play time so long as such children will be supervised by a caregiver.

(i) Except while sleeping, awaking or going to sleep, an infant must not be left in a crib, playpen or other confined space for more than 30 minutes at any one time. Other than at meals or snack time, a child must not be left in a high chair for longer than 15 minutes.

(j) Children may not sleep or nap in car seats, baby swings, strollers, infant seats or bouncy seats. Should a child fall asleep in one of these devices, he or she must be moved to a crib/cot or other approved sleeping surface.

(k) For day and evening care, appropriate rest and quiet periods, that are responsive to individual and group needs, must be provided so that children can sit quietly or lie down to rest.

(l) Other than for school age children, sleeping and napping arrangements must be made in writing between the parent and the program. Such arrangements shall include: the area of the program where the child will nap; whether the child will nap on a cot, mat, bed or a crib; and how the napping child will be supervised, consistent with the requirements of section 418-2.8 of this Subpart.

(m) Sleeping arrangements for infants through 12 months of age require that the infant be placed flat on his or her back to sleep, unless medical information from the child's health care provider is presented to the program by the parent that shows that arrangement is inappropriate for that child.

(n) Cribs, bassinets and other sleeping areas for infants through 12 months of age must include an appropriately sized fitted sheet, and must not have bumper pads, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, wedges or infant positioners. Wedges or infant positioners will be permitted with medical documentation from the child's health care provider.

(o) The resting/napping places must:

(p) Individual clean bed coverings must be available, as needed, for each child requiring a rest period.

(q) Bedding, which is the removable and washable portion of the sleeping environment, must not be shared between children.

(r) Sleeping surfaces, including bedding, which is the removable and washable portion of the sleeping environment, must not come in contact with the sleeping surfaces of another child's rest equipment during storage. Mats and cots must be stored so that the sleeping surfaces do not touch when stacked.

(s) No crib, cot, bed or mat may be occupied by more than one child, nor by a child and any adult.

(t) Children unable to sleep during nap time shall not be confined to a sleeping surface (cot, crib, etc) but instead must be offered a supervised place for quiet play.

(u) If television or other electronic visual media is used, it must be part of a planned developmentally appropriate program with an educational, social, physical or other learning objective that includes identified goals and objectives. Television and other electronic visual media must not be used solely to occupy time.

(v) Television and other electronic visual media must be turned off when not part of a planned developmentally appropriate program activity.

(w) Children must not watch television or other electronic visual media during meals.

(x) Television and other electronic visual media must be turned off while children are sleeping, and during established nap times. This is not to prohibit a program from using electronic visual media for business purposes during sleep or nap time if its use does not interfere with the supervision of children.

(y) At the time of the child's admission to the program, the program must furnish parents with appropriate instructional materials that will assist them in evaluating the program, and its caregivers. Such materials must include information concerning child abuse and maltreatment and guidance on the steps the parent may take if they suspect their child has been abused or maltreated.