The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday released draft regulations governing childcare services that establish clear rules around naptime safety, hygiene, nutrition and daily care.
The Childcare Services Act (兒童托育服務法) was promulgated by President William Lai (賴清德) on May 8.
The ministry has since drafted regulations governing the act’s implementation, covering children's hygiene, safety, nutrition, care and learning while in childcare services.
Photo: CNA
The guidelines have a public comment period of 60 days.
They would establish clear protocols around naptime at childcare facilities, requiring children to be checked regularly while sleeping and for sleep routines to be based on children's age, physical development and individual differences, the Social and Family Affairs Administration said.
In June, the Healthy Taiwan Deep Cultivation Program, the Chinese Medical Association, the Taiwan Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University held a joint seminar on child mortality.
Public health experts analyzed deaths of children aged under six in Taiwan, including cases of children suffocating after being covered by blankets or being crushed when sleeping next to adults.
The researchers found that 80 percent of sudden infant deaths were associated with unsafe sleeping environments.
The draft also includes clear regulations on administering medication, which would be limited to drugs prescribed by medical institutions, requiring all medications to first be checked against the information on their packaging.
Childcare providers would have to keep records of medication administered and cannot use invasive methods to administer them.
The guidelines also require childcare providers to regularly monitor children's growth, measuring their height, weight and head circumference at least once per quarter and reporting results to parents.
Providers caring for children at home would also be required to ask parents to provide the child's health records at least once every quarter to assess their development.
Moreover, the proposal incorporates dietary guidelines, requiring childcare facilities to publish a monthly menu of nutritionally balanced and easy-to-digest meals prepared with minimal salt, oil and sugar.
They would be prohibited from serving fried foods or those that could irritate children's stomachs.
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