how do i (do i need to?) prepare my one-year-old for daycare?

[Anonymous]

hi everyone, my son will be starting daycare in january. he'll be one and will be in the center's transition group (for 12-15 month olds). he's been home with me until now and is used to his own schedule, including nursing. i have no prior experience w/daycare. any advice on what i might be able to do to prepare him? i.e. i gave up on the bottle months ago since i've been w/him fulltime and haven't needed to pump. i'm now trying to get him to drink out of cup. anything else i'm not thinking of that might be helpful re meals, sleep, etc? or will he just learn it on the go? thanks for any ideas.

[Anonymous]

Get as much info as you can from the day care about what his schedule will be like there. Find out when they have meals and when the kids nap. Then spend the next couple of weeks getting him on that schedule BEFORE he starts day care.

Find out what kind of food they feed the kids, and if you have an option to bring in your own if you know they will be serving something he won't eat (although, even if it is something he won't eat at home, he may be willing to eat it when he sees other kids doing it).

If you can, I would suggest bringing him for a couple of half days before leaving him for a full day. I actually signed up a week before I started work and brought each of my kids for two or three days, just for a couple hours each day. Mine were little--only 4 months--so that really helped me more than them. But for a one year old, it might help with the transition. At minimum, if you haven't done this already, bring him in to meet the teachers and other kids before the first day.

For the most part, he will likely learn and adapt as he goes. It's amazing what kids will do in groups that they won't do alone at home. Just be prepared for the first couple of weeks to be hard on both of you. It may NOT be hard...but it's always best to prepare for the worst!

[Anonymous]

My son started daycare when he was one (I think he was about 16 months) after being home with me most days and with a nanny 2x week since he was 9 mos old. I didn't do anything special to prepare, except that I did stay there with him the first day, which is actually required at our daycare center. It was helpful to get to know the teachers & get a sense of the routine. But, other than that, I didn't do anything & it turned out to be a very smooth transition. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I would think any kid under age 18 months or so would be have a pretty smooth transition to daycare. It will probably be harder for you!

I thought is to get a good bag and checklist for things you will have to bring back and forth to daycare each day. Also, you will have to set aside 5-10 minutes each night or morning to get the bag/stuff ready, especially if they require food or bottles. Things you will need will be changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, cups/bottles, and maybe a blanky or toy from home.

I think once you've been there a week or two you will get a sense of it. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for your input. Very helpful!

[Anonymous]

DD started daycare at 1 after staying at home with hubby and then a nanny. The first week was a bit traumatic for us both - DD had a lot of separation anxiety, and I may have made things worse by showing up every day at lunchtime (the kids for the most part fed themselves and I was worried she wouldn't eat; it upset DD so much to see me she ended up not eating anyway) - for the first few weeks, I would recommend that if you drop by to see your child during the day, don't let them see you. DD quickly learned to nap once a day (she had not been a good napper before daycare and napped 2xs a day) and to get used to all of the other kids (I think DD was initially quite overwhelmed). DD started eating better once I stopped showing up! I would recommend visiting the center and getting a sense of what a typical day is like for the kids before your child begins - I took DD twice to meet the teachers and other kids. We knew DD was moving to daycare about a month before she started so we worked with her to get her drinking out of a sippy cup and feeding herself (the teachers will help your child eat regardless, but I think it helped DD to eat when most of the other kids ate without having to wait to be fed).