6 weeks – 17 months
Infants
Our infant room takes babies from six weeks old. We staff it at one caregiver to four babies — the Texas minimum for this age — with a group of no more than eight, and the same two people are there every day so your baby is not handed between strangers.
Full — Waitlist only. Next expected opening: November.
A baby who is settled sleeps, eats and learns. That is the whole job in this room, and it is why we keep the group small and the faces the same. Ms. Danielle has led the infant room for nine years; she and Ms. Rosa are the two people your baby will see every day.
Infants stay in the infant room the entire day. There is no combining rooms at open or close, which is common at centres with long hours and is the moment ratios usually slip. We open at 6:00 am with the infant room fully staffed.
Safe sleep is not negotiable and it is not a preference. Babies under twelve months sleep on their backs, on a firm mattress with a fitted sheet and nothing else in the crib — no blankets, bumpers, pillows, wedges or toys. Cribs are in the same room, in the caregivers’ line of sight, and we do a visual check and log it every fifteen minutes. If your paediatrician requires something different, bring the written instruction and we will follow it exactly.
You are welcome to come and feed your baby at any point in the day. You do not need to call ahead, and we will not put you in a waiting area.
What is included
- Formula prepared from your labelled bottles, or your expressed milk stored and warmed to your written instructions
- Nappies and wipes if you would rather not bring them (add $12 a week)
- A written daily sheet: every feed, every nappy, every nap, sent to your phone at pick-up
- Safe-sleep practice: back to sleep, firm mattress, fitted sheet, nothing else in the crib
- Tummy time, floor play and outdoor time in the shaded stroller yard every day it is under 95°F
A day in this room
- 6:00 amDoors open. Bottles into the fridge, daily sheet started.
- Through the morningFeeds, nappies and naps on each baby’s own schedule.
- 9:30 amFloor play, songs, board books, tummy time.
- 10:30 amStroller walk or shaded yard, weather permitting.
- 12:00 pmLunch for babies on solids. Purées from our kitchen or yours.
- AfternoonNaps, one-to-one time, more floor play.
- 4:00 pmDaily sheets finished and sent.
- 6:30 pmDoors close.
Schedules and weekly cost
| Schedule | What it means | Per week |
|---|---|---|
| Five days a week | Monday to Friday, any hours between 6:00 am and 6:30 pm. | $255 |
| Three days a week | Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Wed/Thu. Chosen at enrolment and fixed for the term. | $175 |
| Two days a week | Two fixed days. Subject to space in the room on those days. | $130 |
Plus a one-off $75 registration fee per child, per year. Sibling discount 10%.
Questions about this room
What time do you open and close?
Bright Start is open Monday to Friday, 6:00 am to 6:30 pm, and closed at weekends. There is no early-drop or late-stay surcharge inside those hours — one price covers the day, whether your child is here for six hours or twelve. After 6:30 pm we charge $1 a minute, which exists to protect our staff’s evenings rather than to make money.
What are your staff-to-child ratios?
We staff at or better than the Texas minimum in every room: 1:4 with infants, 1:7 with toddlers, 1:11 in preschool, 1:14 in Pre-K and 1:18 with school-age children. Texas would allow 1:9 for eighteen-month-olds and 1:18 for four-year-olds. The full state table, alongside ours, is on the safety and licensing page — and you can check any Texas centre’s standards and inspection history yourself at the state’s public search.
When do I have to keep my child at home?
We follow the exclusion criteria in the Texas minimum standards. In practice, keep your child home if they have a fever over 100°F under the arm together with a change in behaviour, two or more episodes of vomiting or watery stools in twenty-four hours, an undiagnosed rash with fever, mouth sores with drooling, or an illness that stops them taking part in normal activity. They can come back twenty-four hours after the fever ends without medication and after any prescribed antibiotic has been running for a full day.
How do you handle food allergies?
Every child with a diagnosed allergy has a written care plan from their doctor, a photo card posted in the kitchen and in their room, and a substitution written into the menu. Our kitchen is nut-free. Staff in the room know which children are affected without having to look it up, and every classroom carries the child’s own epinephrine auto-injector where it can be reached in seconds.
Come and see the room your child would be in.
No appointment needed. Come during the day when the rooms are full, ask what the ratio is right now, and take the answer with you.