Youth And Young Families

During scheduled adult activities, most conferences plan a full children’s program, including child care for those under three. Details of each conference’s children’s program may be found in the conference listing or by contacting the conference registrar.

We want you and your family to have a great time on Star. If you have any questions, contact your conference registrar directly or call the Star Island Portsmouth Office at (603) 430-6272.

Provided Services and Supplies

  • Travel crib/playpen available in room for infants; bed rails available upon request
  • Potty chairs and potty seats available upon request
  • Footstools for comfort for nursing or for use as child-size furniture available on request
  • Nightly child monitoring services from Pelicans (see Hall Monitoring Service below)
  • High chairs and booster seats in Dining Room
  • Sterilization of children’s bottles, sippy cups, and eating utensils after every meal in the Dining Room—leave items on table and they will be cleaned and placed at the front of the dining room before the next meal
  • Milk available at all hours in Dining Room
  • Diaper pails and large sink for bathing of infants on the second floor of Oceanic
  • Children’s books, coloring supplies, and small refrigerator in the babysitting room
  • Blankets for use on lawn or floor available at Front Desk
  • Emergency laundry services provided upon request (please see Front Desk)

What You Should Bring

  • One day’s worth of bottles, sippy cups, and eating utensils for infants/toddlers
  • Enough diapers, changing supplies and formula to last at least the length of your scheduled conference; these items are not sold on island. Allow some extra in case of bad weather and possible delays in returning to the mainland.
  • Comfort item and/or favorite blanket
  • A few toys to amuse child between scheduled conference children’s programs
  • Any prescription or over-the-counter medications you might need for your child. Medical staff and standard first aid supplies are available on island
  • Sunscreen and bug spray appropriate for use on young children

What You Could Bring

  • Favorite snacks to supplement between meals. Fruit juice, graham crackers, and snack crackers are usually served during conference children’s programs
  • Insulated bag/collapsible cooler to store milk or prepared formula in room between meals
  • A sling, front pack, or backpack style child carrier
  • Baby monitor or low range FRS two-way radio to monitor child during naps or to leave with Pelicans during Evening Child Monitoring so you can be reached more easily. Ask Front Desk to charge rechargeable monitors.
  • Camera to capture your child’s journey of discovery on Star Island

What You Should NOT Bring

  • You may not want to bring a stroller—there are no paved pathways to use them. Some people find them useful for use on the boardwalks.
  • Loud, battery-powered toys that may disturb fellow conferees

Hall Monitoring Service

Until September, the island staff provides hall monitors every evening from 8 to 11 p.m. To facilitate this service, families with children eight years and younger will be housed together, usually in the Oceanic Hotel. All families with one or more children eight and under are charged for hall monitoring: the cost is $70 per family ($35 for Pel Reunion, Sar Gathering Family Weekend, and the 4-day YAC Conference) and is automatically added to your room and board bill.

This service is a group sitter service. Hall monitors are not expected to put children to bed, change, or entertain them. Sitters are stationed in the hallways near the children’s rooms to listen, to see that the children are safe, and to see that the parents are sent for if their child/children need them. If a child gets up for the bathroom or other needs, sitters watch in case the child needs help, and especially to make sure that no child wanders outside of the area the monitor is watching. Monitors do look into each room from time to time, and of course talk to any child who is restless, but they cannot linger in any single room. If a child becomes sick, too upset, or unmanageable, a message will be sent to the parents stating that the child needs to see a parent. Should an emergency arise, the medical staff will also be summoned.

Parents using the childcare service are responsible for their children after 11 p.m. The hall monitors check in on the children in their care just before that time and (unless there is a problem) then leave at 11 p.m.—whether or not the parents have returned. All parents should meet the hall monitors each evening in order to communicate any instructions or concerns. If you bring a low range FRS two-way radio to the island, you may leave a labeled handset with the hall monitors on duty so you can be easily reached.