WELCOME TO THE ST MICHAEL CATHOLIC CHURCH NURSERY
It is our goal to provide your child with quality care, teach them about God’s love and provide a service to you as a parent.
The nursery volunteers will try to provide gentle and loving care to the children in a clean and safe environment.

GENERAL GUIDELINES
Our nursery is open to parishioners and visitors during the 8:30 and 10:30 am masses on Sundays.
The nursery is located in the basement of the church, which is a temporary location. It is offered for children from infant to 5 years of age.
Currently, the nursery is open from October through May. However, with adequate space and volunteers, we may extend the nursery to be open longer or possibly all year. The nursery is a wonderful service, but is not possible without the help of the parishioners!
The nursery will be staffed with two or more nursery volunteers for each mass. It is our standard procedure to do a background check on all nursery volunteers.
PLEASE LABEL ALL of your child’s belongings, including pacifiers, bottles and sippy cups.
If your child is in diapers, please change them prior to bringing them to the nursery. Our nursery volunteers will only change them if they have a dirty diaper while they are there.
If your child is potty trained, please have them go to the bathroom prior to bringing them to the nursery. We don’t have a bathroom in our nursery. If a child needs to go to the bathroom while in the nursery, one of the nursery volunteers will take them upstairs to the bathroom and assist them if needed. No child will be able to leave the nursery alone.
If you are potty training your child, we ask that they wear a pull-up for the time that they are at the nursery.
Typically, we will not offer snacks. If there is a special event where the children will be in the nursery for two or more hours, we would then offer a snack and drink. We prefer children not to bring snacks to the nursery, as other children will want a snack too. Absolutely, no snacks containing peanuts should be brought to the nursery.

WHAT TO BRING
- Diapers
- Change of clothes
- Bottle of water, formula or milk (must be pre-mixed), if needed
- Pacifier, if appropriate
We ask that your child doesn’t bring any toys from home. If they have a special blanket or stuffed animal/doll that provides them security, they may bring that along.

WHEN TO KEEP YOUR CHILD AT HOME
We ask that you keep your child out of the nursery if they have any of the following symptoms:
- Fever, currently or within the last 24 hours
- Vomiting or diarrhea, currently or within the last 24 hours
- Sore throat or ear pain
- Runny nose and/or constant and raspy cough
- Unusual fatigue or irritability
- Questionable Rash
- Conjunctivitis (pink eye)

If your child is being treated with antibiotics, he/she must be on the medication for at least 24 hours prior to coming to the nursery. Nursery volunteers will not administer any medicine of any kind.
If your child has a continually clear-runny nose or a rash due to non-contagious allergies, please let us know.
Children can become ill very quickly. If your child should become ill while in our care, we will have someone locate you in church.
Please help keep our nursery a healthy place!

SIGNING IN
When you sign your child in, complete the sign in sheet and take a laminated number tag for yourself. Please place a name tag on your child’s back. The name tag should include their first name and the number on the laminated card.
It is normal for children to cry when leaving a parent, but this usually doesn’t last for long. Nursery volunteers will try to divert his/her attention to something else. We will notify you should anything unusual arise.
Please let the nursery volunteers know if there are any special instructions, such as food allergies or a desire for them not to have snacks.

SIGNING OUT
Be sure to pick your child up promptly after the service. PLEASE be aware that only the person (adult) with the designated number will be allowed to pick up your child. If you lose your laminated card, you will need to provide a picture ID. This is for the safety of your child and peace of mind of parents and the nursery volunteers.
If there is an event in the gathering space, please pick up your children prior to attending the event.

EMERGENCIES
In the unlikely event that there may be an emergency while caring for your child, we will have the mass coordinator or usher find you immediately and call 911 if necessary.
If you are ever needed while your child is in the nursery, the mass coordinator, usher or nursery volunteer will walk through the church with a piece of paper with your laminated number on it to try to locate you. Please be alert! Depending on the situation, we may make an announcement to find you, but this would be only in an absolute emergency.

BEHAVIOR GUIDELINES
The children at St Michael Catholic Church are typically well-behaved and a blessing to the volunteers. In the rare instance where there are lapses in age appropriate behavior we have formulated the following consequential guidelines:
Inappropriate Behaviors
1) Using materials inappropriately (i.e. throwing toys, etc.)
2) Not obeying or showing respect to authority
3) Rough-housing
4) Inappropriate language (cussing or name calling)
5) Physical aggression (hitting, biting, spitting etc.)
Discipline
1) Reminder of the rules and appropriate age behavior expectations
2) Time out- sitting for a few minutes (age appropriate)
3) If we are not able to change behavior with the above we will ask you to speak to your child prior to bringing them to the nursery in the future.

IDEAS FOR MAKING OUR NURSERY A GREAT PLACE TO BE...
- Encourage the volunteers by expressing your appreciation.
- Pray for the nursery volunteers.
- Volunteer to work occasionally in the nursery. We suggest that parishioners using the nursery volunteer in the nursery at least once a year.
- Share constructive suggestions and ideas for improving our nursery to the volunteer coordinator at the parish center.