Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Baby room

The often disregarded baby room was the focus of a project on how young children are cared for, as Dr Kathy Goouch and Dr Sacha Powell explain.

There seems to be a lack of research information about the processes and practices of early childhood education and care for children from birth to three (David et al, 2003). This gap in research knowledge is particularly evident in relation to the specific field of work with babies from birth to 12 months, in varying forms of daycare.

Although the increase in maternity leave seems to have resulted in a drop in the numbers of very young babies being looked after outside the home, Unicef (2009) has reported that around 18 per cent of babies under 12 months in England are in some form of daycare provision; and this is often for a large part of the working week. Accordingly, we have focused on exactly that age group in the Baby Room Project, our latest research initiative.

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