Drop In Child Care Coming to The Natural Baby January 17 2017

For all of our local families, we are so excited to announce the launch of "Nurture Hours" our own drop in child care option for Athens families which will be starting on February 1st, 2017!

Similar to traditional "Mother's Morning Out" Programs, Nurture Hours will be offered two days a week for 4 hours at a time. We aim to provide a "stepping stone" and a flexible option that families can utilize no matter their long term care plans, family structure, parenting styles, or possible religious affiliations.

At Nurture Hours we will uphold the mission of The Natural Baby which is to ultimately nurture family. We find the utmost importance in nurturing families especially postpartum mothers and care providers to young children. Parents give so much of themselves and often times neglect their own needs for self care among other things.

In times of great stress and exhaustion it is vitally important to take care of yourself when you are in a care providers role. Through nourishment of your body, mind, and all aspects of ones self you can better provide loving and nurturing support in your preferred parenting style and often times can find more joy and love from that role, when you first take time for yourself.

Since parents are so often strapped for time, resources & reliable babysitters or care providers, The Natural Baby hopes to bridge that gap so that parents of young children can have time to take care of themselves and ultimately nurture their family unit- what ever your family unit may look like. 

We also feel that child care shouldn't be a sacrifice in your standards of care and attention for young children. When looking for care ourselves we were surprised just how limited the options were unless you were looking for full time care in a large facility. Similar to planning our birth we were looking for something smaller scale and a little more of an intimate experience where we knew that the time, attention, and relationships would be priority. Nurture Hours aims to do all of that for you and your family. As we grow we may be able to offer more days or more options but truly keeping our drop in care small scale is at the heart of why we wanted to start this. 

Here are the details you may find most helpful about Nurture Hours:

- Convenient Normaltown Location - 1590 Prince Avenue
- Drop in Care - No commitment required drop in as needed or wanted
- Offered Mondays & Wednesdays, 9am - 1pm
- Small Scale - Maximum 7 children 
- Mixed Age Group - Ages 6 weeks to 5 years
- Low Ratios - 2 teacher : 7 child maximum
- Consistent Staff 
- Knowledgeable Staff supporting families through breastfeeding, positive child guidance, cloth diapering, babywearing and first aid
- Connection to Nature - 45 minutes average time spent outdoors a day
- Reserved Options Available

Stop by and take a tour during our normal retail shop hours and see more about or space and meet the staff or make an appointment ! We aim to help you find the childcare that meets your need best and we also have information of some other great early learning options in the Athens area if our program isn't a good fit. So if you are looking for something different just let us know and we would love to connect you with some of our local Athens early learning pals!

We also offer Infant & Toddler Sensory Play Group which is a great first step to "try out" our space and come with your child to get more comfortable with our space and care providers. 

Please read more about our philosophy and requirements on our information page and as we build our program and prep for opening please let us know if you have any questions!!! Contact us or leave us a comment down below!

What questions do you have and what are /were your biggest fears about starting a new child care option? For us as parents we have felt the full range of emotions about leaving our child with someone new and we would love to hear about your thoughts, feelings and personal experiences!