@: Daycare

[heyjude]

After 8 months of either being home with me or my husband, my baby starts daycare next week. I feel like this will change the dynamic of our day very much.

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)

Thank you!

[aw]

My kids don't go to daycare, but I work two days a week and have a sitter that comes to my house. Having the sitter come to our house makes the mornings go a lot more smoothly. For a while I was driving the kids to her house (because she needed to be home during that period) and it made the mornings feel so much more rushed - having to pack stuff up.

1) Pack stuff before you go to bed the night before. Have clothes laid out. Lunches packed.

2) My babies always adjusted well to being with the sitter, but they were much younger than yours when they started.

3) Oh my goodness. I usually cry the first time I have leave and am a mess for the week leading up to it. But after a few times it gets better.

4) In-home sitter. It's a great situation. The kids get to be in their own environment and it doesn't effect their napping. When we were taking them to my sitter's house they didn't sleep well on those days because they weren't in their own beds. I have touchy sleepers, I guess.

5) Once again, I'm different because it's a sitter, but she was very hesitant about the cloth diapers at first. Once I showed her how easy they are she was fine with it. I just make sure she doesn't have to deal with prefolds and pins, because she found those overwhelming. It's incentive to keep up on the diaper laundry and not allow myself to run out of pockets and AIOs. I don't make her dunk the poop or mess with them at all. She leaves them in the bathroom and I take care of the poop when I get home.

[Melissa W.]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?
Give yourself plenty of time. Have as much packed the night before as possible. I still struggle with getting out the door but it is mostly due lack of preparation. If you are prepared, the baby throwing up on your suit won't be as big a deal that if you still have to pack a bag.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?
My kids did great. Take it one day at a time

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?
Yes and no. Yes because of course I love my girls but no because I knew it was the right thing for our family.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?
no bonus points for me.

[Chirp]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly? Find a routine that works for you guys and stick with it as much as you can. H and I get up about 45 minutes before DS does. That way, by the time DS woke up, H and I were ready. Back in the day, I'd usually give DS his bottle while H packed lunches and then we were out the door. Now, DS watches Little Einsteins while we pack lunches.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare? My mom watches DS for us. He loves it over there.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?
I was a mess the first day, the second day wasn't as bad, so on and so forth.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use? My mom's house.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? We use disposables, but my mom asked if we were using cloth. She would have been ok with it.

[downtoearth]

1. Prep the night before as much as possible.

2. My babies did fine, but mine started at 3-4 months

3. I had some tough days, but I found a loving person/people to watch the kids and realized that doing things different isn't always bad, just different.

4. We have used them all in the past...right now it's a private Montessori preschool and public school, but we've had a nanny, a SAHM watch our kid, an in-home daycare, and a center. In ranking, I liked the nanny situation best, then the in-home daycare, then the SAHM and then the center the least.

5. Yup - every place/person who has watched our kids has done cloth diapers. It was easy. Bring a sealed tupperware with clean diapers for the day, bring the dirty diapers home in the sealed tupperware after that - daycare doesn't dump poop, rinse, anything, just throws in the tupperware and we are responsible for the rest.

It will all work out. It's hard to let some control away for caring for your kiddo, but most people who work in childcare have really good hearts.

[Deleted]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly? Prep everything the night before as much as possible. I get up and shower and try to be 100% ready before C wakes up. We then wake him up/get him out of bed about 20mins before departure to give him milk, change him and get out the door. This is much, much easier after he turned 1yr and became more consistent with his sleeping times.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare? With infant care, C went at 9 weeks and simply didn't know better; he was fine but didn't nap great. DH then lost his job, and we had to change centers when he found employment again; C was about 17mos when we returned. There definitely was an adjustment period, and while we were at the daycare center he did cry each morning. But it would stop literally seconds after we left the room. The center then closed and we now have a licensed provider that does it in her home; C absolutely loves it there and has never cried once. The smaller environment just seems to work better for him and his personality.


3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare? The week or so leading to it was honestly harder. The first few days I called a few times, then realized I felt comfortable there; trusting your provider is critical! Can you do a 'test run' with the daycare? Drop your child off, go do some errands or pampering for a few hours and return. It will help you to see what you need to bring, let them get to know the teacher, and help reassure your child that you will return. I also feel that daycare is part of our parenting 'team,' with the 'it takes a village' attitude. C's teachers have all been great with giving tips/suggestions/observations and help build my confidence as a parent.


4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use? As mentioned above, we started out with a center; I liked the facilities and the accountability. We loved the first center but lost his spot when DH was out of work for 6mos. The second center was fine, but C did seem pretty wiped out and cranky at the end of each day. We are now with a licensed provider watching 5kids with an assistant in her home, and this seems to be the best fit for him right now (just turning 2). I am still debating on a more formal pre-school set up once he gets closer to kindergarden.

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)
Thank you![/quote] Perfectly normal Everyone will be just fine, just give it some time and it really will become routine. Good luck with your daycare!

[Deleted]

Aug 17, 2012 14:12:00 GMT -5 heyjude said:

After 8 months of either being home with me or my husband, my baby starts daycare next week. I feel like this will change the dynamic of our day very much.

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly? Get as much ready the night before as possible so then in the morning all you really have to do is dress your baby, change her diaper, feed her and go.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?
Fine. Granted, he started at 9 weeks old, so it was all the same to him.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?
No. I feel like I need to insert the embarrased face here, but really, I needed to work so he needed to be watched by someone other than us, so it was what it was.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use? Until 3 months ago, he was watched by a lady we knew in her home. Since then, he still goes to her 2 days a week, but goes to an in home daycare 3 days a week (for being around other kids and all that).

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so? N/A

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)

Thank you![/quote]

[laurenpetro]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly? pre-pack as much as you can. bottle bags in the fridge the night before. clothing/diaper bag packed and at the door. etc.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare? grace was fine. she was about your baby's age and she didn't miss a beat.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare? for me? yes, but there were a LOT of other factors at play that messed it all up for me. you could potentially be totally fine.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use? we used a center. i've mentioned here before why i won't use in-home care.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so? N/A for me. i tried and failed at this.

and finally, you'll be ok! i promise!

[Deleted]

I'm reading this as I sit outside daycare, waiting to pick up LilShirley. We started this week. I cried a few times, and honestly, I find it difficult to catch up on lost sleep when she's gone before I go back to work. Ditto on prepping everything in advance. Accept that it might be harder on you than on her. I don't cloth diaper, so no advice there.

[froggy76]

Lurker here, but I am being so unproductive at work that I will finally post on this board.

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?

Do as much as you can the night before.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?

The first few days were terrible. Lots of crying, no napping, etc. After that, she was totally fine and now she loves it there.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?

It was just for those first few days when I knew she was upset. Now, I see how happy she is there and it's not hard at all.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

Small Montessori school.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?

They didn't need any convincing, but they had never done it before, so I just make it as easy on them as possible. I try to only send one type of diaper (BG 4.0), send pre-moistened cloth wipes, etc. They had some leaks at first, but finally figured out that the diapers need to be on tighter and now they tell the other moms that they should be using CDs.

[pescalita]

Aug 17, 2012 14:12:00 GMT -5 heyjude said:

After 8 months of either being home with me or my husband, my baby starts daycare next week. I feel like this will change the dynamic of our day very much.

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)

Thank you!

1) The thing that makes mornings difficult for me is I'm on my own. So they run smoothly when I can effectively manage him while getting me/us ready, and this is ever-evolving as he grows. Sometimes it's knowing the right song to sing while doing your makeup, sometimes it's knowing where to put him on the bed that he can't get off, sometimes it's getting as much done as I can while he babbles in his crib. Having things done ahead of time helps, but it's hard to stay on top of, and I really cherish that down time after he goes to bed.

2) he's pretty low key, but he did great. We did two half days first, and he just came home and zonked out (only time he fell asleep on the baby gym).

3) not for me, but I'm not very emotional. It's great stimulation for him, and they care for him, and we get to do what makes us tick. Everybody wins.

4) in-home

5) none of the in-home places we interviewed had a problem with CDs.

[heyjude]

Thanks guys.

[psyck]

Aug 17, 2012 14:12:00 GMT -5 heyjude said:

After 8 months of either being home with me or my husband, my baby starts daycare next week. I feel like this will change the dynamic of our day very much.

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)

Thank you!

Our twin boys started daycare and I went back to work last week. I stayed home for 14 months.

1. I get up, get myself ready, then DH and I get the boys up together, get them ready, then DH takes them to daycare. I do pickup in the afternoon.

2. They have done great! They cried the first couple of days, now they're fine.

3. Yes and no. I did a lot of research into the daycare centers in our area, and I absolutely LOVE the place that we chose. The first couple of days were hard on me, but I can log in and see them on the camera, so that helps a lot. DH and my mom also check on them and send me periodic texts.

4. I use a daycare center. For us, I wanted a center because it would be licensed and we wouldn't be out of luck if the teacher got sick. I also wanted a setting that is educational and had a lot of structure. Meals (including breakfast, lunch and two snacks) are included in the tuition.

5. N/A.

[psyck]

Oh, and I set out any stuff that we need to bring the night before. (e.g. diapers, wipes, etc.)

[heythere]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?
Ditto others to get everything that you can ready the night before.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?
She started at 3 mths, and while I was a wreck, she was totally fine.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?
For me, the first couple of weeks were really tough, but didnt take long to be okay. I cried every day for the first week or so when i had to leave her.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?
Center

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)

It might be hard at first, especially. If you have the flexibility to do shorter days for a couple of weeks, while you both adjust, I would recommend it. Good luck!!

[meg]

Aug 17, 2012 14:12:00 GMT -5 heyjude said:

After 8 months of either being home with me or my husband, my baby starts daycare next week. I feel like this will change the dynamic of our day very much.

we only use daycare 1 day a week as a caveat

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly? pack everything the night before. Food, bottles, label it all, clothes etc. Any time I leave anything for the morning I regret that decision!

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare? Mostly fine. He has been going since 13 weeks though, there might be more of a transition for your daughter at 8 months. He also goes through phases of separation anxiety (at the tail end of a big one now). THAT sucks, but he is always 100% fine within a couple minutes of my departure and has a blast once he chills.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare? Yes. One of the hardest things ever for me. I would love to SAH.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use? He is in a center once a week (home based was not an option for us), one day a week with my mom (might switch this day to DC when #2 comes), one day with DH and the last two days DH is with him in the mornings and I WFH with him in the afternoons. DH works retail so his schedule allows him to handle some child care.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?
We don't CD but our center happily accommodates it. They offered that info to me when I was touring centers, and while i wasn't CDing it was something I liked - like, if they are willing to CD they might be more willing to work with BF babies needs, etc. If that makes sense.

(Can you tell I have trepidation?)

Thank you!

[karinothing]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?

DS started daycare at 6 months. I get up at 540, take a shower and eat breakfast. After breakfast I have DH get the baby up and ready while I dry my hair and get the bottles out. After all of that I nurse DS and we are out the door. I try to get as much done the night before so I just have to grab the bottles in the morning and not much else.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?

The first couple days were hard. He was used to being held a lot of the day and he wasn't napping in his crib yet. He came home after 3 hours because he wouldn't stop crying. We transitioned him to daycare a week prior to me going back to work so we could ease him into it.

After a week or so he got much better. He still naps a billion times better at home. For example, at daycare we are lucky to get one 45 minute nap, but when DS is at home his naps range from 2-4 hours (I guess making up for loss time at daycare). And even though at first I was worried about his lack of daycare naps, I realized that he is still a happy child and functioning just fine, so it all worked out.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?

Not as hard as I thought. I did cry the first day we did a trial run at daycare and I felt really antsy all day without him. But once we got into the swing of things with work it was easier. Plus, his daycare is next door to my work so I nurse him at lunch every day. It is one of my favorite moments of the day.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

We use a center which I love. It is expensive, which sucks. But it feels worth it. The teachers are amazing!

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?

Our provider uses cloth. It really wasn't a big issue here, I just asked and they said sure. I heard that if you show them the diapers it helps to convince them (assuming they are pockets/AIOs) since they are just as easy as disposables. They don't seem to mind them much, although I think they prefer the velcro over snaps since they are quicker (now that DS is hates diaper changes). I think I might pick up some more velcro that I just use for daycare.

I know that having your baby start daycare can be nerve wrecking. Good luck!

[Deleted]

WELL since we've been at daycare for two whole weeks I am clearly an expert. LOL. but I'll answer anyway.

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?
I do as much as I can the night before - get his clothes ready, get anything he needs (like more clothes or whatever) ready, I make the bottles, put them in their little cooler bag in the fridge, I get my clothes ready, we make the dogs' treats, and I have my pump ready to go (I pump in the AM before work so I have it all set up so I'm not fumbling around at 5 am.)

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?
Fine. Granted he was 3 months when he started and he's a pretty adaptable baby, but he's been doing well. He doesn't nap a lot there - sometimes he'll nap for an hour total the whole day, sometimes he will nap for longer - so he is exhausted when he gets home - but he seems to enjoy himself. as much as a 3 month old can, I guess, ha.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?
No, not at all. I was a little worried about why I wasn't more upset about it. LOL. My philosophy though basically is right now I have to work, so there is no point in being super emotional about it. He's being taken care of and he's safe, so that's good. I'll admit that it helps that I basically have as good a job as a lawyer can get I think in terms of having a family - I've been picking him at daycare around 330 each day, I do zero work when I'm home (I don't even think about it, lol), etc.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?
We use a daycare center. I liked knowing it would always be open and available (ie no vacations where its closed or whatever) and I liked knowing it wasn't just one person with kids in several different age ranges.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?
The daycare we originally lined up did take cloth but when they closed abruptly we had to find one fast and couldn't be picky. so this one right now does not take cloth but I am hoping that after we are more established and in a groove we can address the issue.

[fluff]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly? Get everything ready the night before. At drop off, I make it quick and don't linger too long. The longer I take to say goodbye, the harder it is for her to see me leave it seems.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?
She has been in daycare since she was 6 weeks, but at 1 year old, she switched from an inhome daycare to a center. She adjusted pretty quickly.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?
With my youngest, yes. I had a harder time going back to work this time around. Maybe because she is my last and I wanted to soak up every moment I could with her.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use? She went to an in-home daycare for the first year. It was the same lady who watched DS when he was a baby and I've known her forever because I went to school wit her son. She only watches babies until they are a year old, so after that, we switched her to a center where my older kids go after school.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so? N/A

[heyjude]

All helpful. Thank you again.

[meandhim]

My advice: In the mornings (after packing everything the night before) be upbeat and happy and act like your child is going to have a great day. Be quick at the drop off. Don't linger like a PP said. (it's always harder to leave after lingering and DS gets upset then). After getting back in your vehicle, you can break down and cry where your child can't see you.

Sad to say but I learned this through my dog and it works with DS too. I used to be sad to cage my dog in the mornings and tell him how much I missed him and it always made my dog upset and howl when I left him. I switched to being upbeat and it completely changed how he acted (no more howling) so I decided to do the same thing with DS when he was born. For the most part it works. I can probably count on one hand how many times he has cried at drop off and he is 3. A bad day pops up every once in a while but that's expected.

DS has been going to the same daycare since he was 8 weeks old so he really didn't have to adjust.

[livinitup]

1. What do we do to make sure our mornings go smoothly?

I pack everything the night before, including my lunch and her snack for the ride home. I put my keys in the frig so I don't forget it.

2. How did your baby adjust to daycare?

Great. But she slept less than at home. Freaked me out, but then I settled down and realized its okay that she sleeps more at home than care. Same for the bottle, she cluster fed more from the boob, but that evened out after 2 weeks.

3. Was it hard (emotionally) to send your child to daycare?

No, just the shock of the change, but that settled quickly, too. Just feaked at the change, seemed like such a huge step, but therehave a been a lot of big steps since, too - like when she changed rooms, ack! But I LOVED our care center, so that made a big difference in my emotion about it.

4. If you work away from home, what type of child care do you use?

Child Care Center, NAEYC accreditted. Love it.

5. Finally bonus Q: If you cloth diaper did you find a daycare that will take your cloth? Did you have to convince them to do this? How so?

My center supports all of these parenting choices, completely.


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