A gentle first year,
held closely.

Our infant program welcomes babies from 6 weeks of age, and they grow with us through roughly 18 months before moving into our toddler rooms. We are currently enrolling infants 6 weeks to 7 months for fall 2026; older infants and all other ages join our waitlist as openings appear.

Yes. Growing Mindfully is an infant daycare on the top floor of 750 N Street in Downtown Sacramento, a five-minute walk from the California State Capitol. Families searching for infant care in Downtown Sacramento, baby daycare in Sacramento, or infant daycare near me, including state employees at the nearby office buildings, are exactly who our infant room is built for.

RIE stands for Resources for Infant Educarers, the approach developed by Magda Gerber. In practice it means we move at your baby's pace: we wait and observe before we intervene, we narrate care before it happens ("I'm going to pick you up now"), we let babies move freely on the floor rather than propping them, and we treat even the youngest infant as a competent, whole person. It is the foundation of how our educators hold every diaper change, every feeding, and every quiet moment of the day.

In our infant room we strive for roughly one educator for every three babies (1:3), tighter than California's 1:4 state minimum. It is a target we reach for rather than a promise we can keep every single day, and on the days we hold it, it means more held hands, more eye contact, and more of your baby genuinely seen and responded to.

Each baby follows their own rhythm, not a room-wide schedule. Infants sleep alone, on their backs, in their own crib in a quiet, dim space, following safe-sleep practice. Feeding follows your baby's hunger cues with held bottles and your provided milk or formula, plus spoon-fed solids once your baby is ready. Diapering is unhurried and narrated, treated as one-on-one connection time rather than a task to rush through. Every feed, nap, and change is logged in the Brightwheel app so you can follow your baby's day in real time.

For an infant, mindfulness is not meditation. It lives in the adults. It is the calm, attuned presence of an educator who slows down, makes eye contact, and responds rather than reacts. We keep the room quiet and unhurried, we name what is happening before we do it, and we let babies feel their feelings while we stay regulated beside them. That steady, present caregiving is the earliest form of the mindfulness we carry all the way through to age six.

Yes. Growing Mindfully is licensed by the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, and complies with California's childcare-licensing standards. Our facility is nut-free, and two organic, additive-free snacks are included daily for children eating solids.

Start by applying to our waitlist through our online portal; it takes about five minutes. We are currently enrolling infants 6 weeks to 7 months for fall 2026. When a place opens for your baby, we secure the space with a signed agreement and deposit and plan a gentle first day together. State employees can also see their exact weekly rate, including the VIP Rate, on our rates page before they apply.

The VIP Rate is our deepest tuition discount, written into our agreement with the State of California and four neighbor buildings: 751 N Street (Department of General Services), 1215 O Street (Resources Building), 715 P Street (CalPERS), and 1416 9th Street (Resources Agency). Any state employee who works at one of these four buildings qualifies, including infant families, and verification at enrollment is via state-issued ID or pay stub. State employees who work elsewhere still receive our discounted State Employee Rate.