7 Tips for Transition to Child Care

Child Take Care

As a parent, it can be a challenging process finding the right childcare for your child. You have to choose first, what your needs are: a home-like environment or a fully-accredited, educationally focused daycare in Wimbledon; location; your budget; your schedule and more. Even after choosing the right daycare, you need to work on your child's transition to child care.

1.  Visit the daycare with your child. Introduce your child a few times to his teacher. Show him/her the toys there and do at least a couple 'trial runs.'

2.  Think about the timing and developmental phase of your child.  Kids go through anticipated stages of development throughout infancy, toddlerhood, and preschool.  Although of course there are deep variations, there are also specific periods of developmental “calm” and others of “turmoil,” when new milestones are being reached.  These kids are going through some crisis of learning new communication skills, fresh understandings of the role of caregiver’s separation anxiety.

3.  Talk about daycare at your home before the transition, no matter what the age of your kid.  Read books about kids who are starting preschool or begin daycare. Some of the great books are

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn;                                

Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney.  

Talk about how much fun nursery is, and even play the fun game of 'pretend school' with your kids.

4.  Discuss your day care’s routines for transitioning children with the child’s new teachers and director.  Child care centers may have very diverse philosophies about how to handle the first weeks.  Some may prefer that parents spend the initial days with their child, others may ask that parents give a quick kiss and leave instantly, letting the daycare teachers handle settling in for the day.

5.  Give your child experience with caregivers outside the family and outside your home well before thinking about daycare.

6.  Expect some small or big changes in your baby or toddler. While your kid is getting used to his new routine, he/she may be clingy, or sad. This is normal for most children because kids’ stress hormones raise during this transition period, but it has no lasting harm.

7.  Confront your ambivalent feelings about your kid's starting daycare. It’s normal to feel guilty and little anxious, but it’s necessary not to communicate this to your child. Talk about how you’re feeling with your loved one or a friend, and expect that you’ll even have a strong emotional reaction when your kid starts to like daycare and form attachments to his caregivers.