The Nanny Credential
Exam is Here

The International Nanny Association is sponsoring the childcare industry's first competency exam. Set yourself apart from your fellow childcare professionals by being among the first to take this landmark test. Upon passing the exam, you will receive a certificate to include in your professional portfolio.

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Sign up for the test and The Philadelphia Nanny Network will take care of all the details, including the exam fee!

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TPNN highly supports the idea of a childcare credential- so much so that if you sign up for the test through us, we will take care of all the arrangements, including paying your exam fee. We strongly encourage nannies to take advantage of this opportunity to affirm their high level of competency and knowledge of childcare issues, as well as making themselves more marketable.

Minimum Requirements:

• Have at least 2000 hours (the equivalent of one year full time) experience as an in-home childcare practitioner
• Be currently employed in the in-home childcare industry
• Be current in Infant/Child CPR and First Aid Certification

Location: Harcum College, 750 Montgomery Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA

Date/Time: Saturday, June 5 at 9:00 AM

For more information, call The Philadelphia Nanny Network at (888) 299-0628, ask for Wendy.

Baby Downtime
Giving babies some time on their own every day can be good for them.and you too!

Allowing babies the time and space to do a quiet activity of their choosing, or nothing at all, is crucial to their development. "It's very important for children to discover things on their own and not be bombarded with information," says Clare Lerner, a child development specialist at Zero to Three. "In fact, infants can get overwhelmed and not absorb anything unless they have time to chill out."

Being an infant may look like all play and no work, but figuring out the world is a full-time job.

Babies study their environment by watching what goes on around them-that's why they are often cranky at the end of the day. They are worn out from a day of making sense of every new thing they have observed.

There are benefits to letting your baby have downtime during the day: If he's not constantly playing and interacting with you, he has a chance to learn to be more independent. Just about anything that allows a baby to slow down and reflect at his own pace can be called downtime:

• Lying in his crib and babbling to himself
• Sitting in his high chair while you prepare a meal
• Looking at a picture book, alone
• Feeling the texture of blocks or a favorite stuffed toy
• Staring into space

Interacting with someone or watching a video does not count as downtime. Even when you are soothing an infant in your arms, massaging them, bathing or rocking them-if they are focusing on someone else besides themselves, it's not true downtime

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