Center and Family Child Care Homes Licensing

April 2025

CDPHE accessibility statement

Common Licensing Rules and Regulations

Centers and Family Child Care Homes

• Meals and snack provided by the program must meet current Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) meal pattern guidance and requirements
• If a child brings a meal from home that does not appear to meet current CACFP meal pattern requirements, the program must have foods available to offer as a supplement to that meal. 
• Children who are at the program for more than four (4) hours, day or evening, must be offered a meal. Arrangements must be made for feeding children who are in care before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. 
• The size of servings must be suitable for the child's age and sufficient time must be allowed so that meals are unhurried.
• If 100% fruit juice, which is not a sugar sweetened beverage, is offered as part of meals and/or snacks, it must be limited to no more than two (2) times per week. 
• No sugar sweetened beverages.

Common Licensing Rules and Regulations

Centers and Family Child Care Homes

• Children must not be given foods that are contrary to the religious beliefs of their families or that are known to cause an allergic reaction or a health hazard.
• Food and beverages are not to be used as a reward.  
• During meals, children should be encouraged to engage in conversation and to express their independence.

Common Licensing Rules and Regulations

Centers and Family Child Care Homes – Feeding Infants

• An individualized diet and feeding schedule must be provided according to a written plan submitted by the parent or by the child's physician with the knowledge and consent of the parent. 
• All infants less than six (6) months of age must be held for bottle feeding. Bottles must not be propped. Older infants must not be allowed to hold their own bottles when lying flat. 
• Bottles must not be allowed in a crib with the infant. 
• Do not mix cereal with breast milk or formula and feed it to an infant from a bottle or infant feeder unless there are written instructions from the child’s health care provider.
• When the infant program provides food other than breast milk or formula, food must be varied and include food from cereal, vegetable, fruit, and protein sources. When the program does not provide solid food, it must supply any additional foods and/or monitor the infant's total nutritional intake.
• Older infants must be provided with suitable solid foods that encourage freedom in self feeding and must be fed in safe chairs such as highchairs or baby-feeding tables. 
• Children who are actively eating may be in a highchair or other approved feeding equipment for longer than fifteen (15) minutes. Children must be moved once feeding is complete. 

Child Care Centers

• Meal menus must be planned at least one week in advance, dated, and posted in a place visible to parents. After use, menus must be filed and retained for three (3) months. 
• A table, counter, or shelf, separate from the diaper changing area, must be available for preparing infants’ and toddlers’ food.

Child Care Centers

Feeding Infants

• In infant nurseries, an adequate number of highchairs, or other suitable pieces of equipment that meet federal Consumer Product Safety Commission standards

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Feeding Toddlers

• Staff members must either feed toddlers or supervise them when they are eating, and children must be encouraged to try a variety of food served. 
• Toddlers must be sitting when eating or drinking. 
• Children who are actively eating may be in a highchair or other approved feeding equipment for longer than fifteen (15) minutes. Children must be moved away from the feeding location once feeding is complete. 

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Family Child Care Homes

• Primary provider(s) and parent(s) must have ongoing communication regarding special diet and feeding needs of the child(ren). 
• All parents must have access to menus and must be notified of meals being served. 
•  All substitutions must be compliant with dietary restrictions and or food allergies.
•  All substitutions must be documented. 
• Food must be offered to the child from the child’s individual dish and utensil(s). If uneaten portion(s) from the child’s plate are saved, they must be refrigerated and stored safely and must be served, eaten, or discarded within four (4) hours of being prepared. Uneaten portions from one child must not be given to another child; and children must not share dishes and/or utensil(s).

Family Child Care Homes

• Dishes, cookware, high chair trays and utensils must be washed, sanitized, and stored in a safe and sanitary manner. When used, disposable dishes and utensils must be disposed of after use. Food preparation and service areas including, but not limited to, sinks, faucets, counters, and tables must be sanitized. 
• All milk and juice offered to children must be pasteurized. 
• Children are encouraged, but must not be forced, to eat food or drink fluids. 
• Foods offered shall be age appropriate and not pose a choking hazard. 
• Water must be offered and available at all times and cannot be a substitute for milk during meals.

Family Child Care Homes

• Family child care providers must not serve grain-based desserts to children more than two servings per week. These desserts include but are not limited to: cookies, donuts, cereal bars, cake, and brownies. 
• All children must be sitting when eating. 
• Children under the age of eighteen (18) months must be sitting or standing stationary while drinking. 
• Primary providers, applicant 2, equally qualified providers, qualified substitutes, or staff members must either feed children under three (3) years of age or supervise them when they are eating.

Family Child Care Homes: Feeding Infants

• Any change of diet and schedule must be communicated to the primary provider prior to implementing a new diet or schedule.
• Bottles of milk, formula, or breast milk must never be warmed or thawed in a microwave oven. Infant formula and breast milk cannot be reused. If a child does not finish the bottle of formula or breast milk within one (1) hour, the contents must be thrown out. 
• If the infant is breast fed, the provider must not offer formula, water, or other liquids without discussing substitutions or supplementation with the infant’s parent(s) or guardian(s). 
• The primary provider must make an area in the home available for a breastfeeding mother to breastfeed her infant while visiting the home during business hours.
• There must be a sufficient supply of bottles provided for the entire day; or if bottles are to be reused, they must be washed, rinsed, and sanitized after each use. 
• Commercially prepared formula must be mixed in accordance with the directions of the manufacturer or written instructions from the child’s health care provider.

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Family Child Care Homes: Feeding Infants

• Each bottle must be marked with the child’s name when there is more than one (1) child in care that drinks from a bottle. 
• At a minimum, meals and snacks provided for infants under the age of one (1) year must contain the foods listed in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program meal pattern for infants.
• Foods must be appropriate for infants’ developmental stages as determined by instructions obtained from the infant’s parent(s), guardian(s), or health care provider. 
• New foods must not be introduced to children under twelve (12) months of age without parent(s) or guardian(s) permission. 
• Honey and products containing honey must never be served to infants under twelve (12) months of age.

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Resources and References

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Code of Colorado Regulations, Division of Early Learning, Licensing, and Administration, 8 CCR 1402-1, effective 08/30/2024

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Thank you

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