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Hawaii Babies
Preparing for day care (sniff)
I am going back to work soon 
. Although I am looking forward to going back to work, I am already getting sad about leaving Elle (whether with her grandma or daycare). For the first month, MIL will watch her 2 days a week and she'll go to daycare the rest of the week. She'll go to day care full time thereafter. We REALLY love the day care where she is going. We visited the center again the other day and the care providers were so excited to see E. We can tell that they genuinely care for her and the other babies too. We did not get the same feeling when we visited the other day cares. It's getting a tad harder as my return to work date approaches. I did
not anticipate it to be this hard. I am getting very sentimental thinking I won't be able to see her firsts like I do now. Also, she might wonder where her momma is and all of a sudden I'm not with her all day anymore :-(. I've been crying everyday for the
past 3 days 
. Is there any way to make the process a tad easier, if that's even possible?
Also, since we're bringing her to day care, what stuff do I need to prepare? In your experience, what do I need to label? Do I need to put her name in each and every thing I bring to day care? What kind of label did you use? Or did you just mark them with sharpies?
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Re: Preparing for day care (sniff)
Awww... The going back to work always seems harder in the anticipation. But once you get there, it gets easier. The first few weeks were only hard because Alexa was not sleeping and I was SO TIRED!!! I didn't feel sad being away from her because I knew she was having fun and being well taken care of. Plus, since her daycare is in DH's office he went to check on her a lot in the early days. :-)
Now that she's sleeping thru the night and running everywhere and into everything... I think daycare is SO MUCH EASIER than taking care of her all day. Haha. I do miss all the time with her, but it makes the time we do have with her that much more special.
As for labels... I use Name Bubbles. Look for them on Facebook, they sometimes have discount codes. Check with daycare to see if Elle has been assigned a color because that may determine which one you get. I put it on her paci, sleep sack, extra change of clothes, hat, jacket, bottles... I used a sharpie to put her name on baby food jars. We had to label each bottle with DATE using masking tape and a sharpie so I got our own masking tape and pen so I could label them at home and save time at drop-off.
That's all I can think of for now... Good luck! It'll be fine. :-)
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
I would ask your daycare what and how they like things labeled. Ours is pretty strict about how it must be done. They provide the red star stickers on all his bottles and caps (his assigned color/shape). They also use a label maker to create name labels for his bottles. Then we have to put the date made, date expired, and time made on every bottle every day. I just use address labels for this, because they soak off easily at night. I write on them with a sharpie.
To make our transition easier, we brought him 1 1/2 days before I actually went back to work. I couldn't imagine my first (already stressful!) day back at work being even more stressful by worrying about him on his first day. So the Thursday before we brought him for just about 3 hours in the afternoon. MH had off, too, and kept me busy so I didn't worry as much. The the next day we brought him for almost a full day. I got a haircut, massage, and pedicure to keep myself busy. It did help! I still cried that Monday that I went back to work, but I think it was slightly easier that I eased myself and him into it.
FWIW, he LOVES daycare! Sleeps better there than at home, is always smiling in the daily photos they email to me, and seems to really like his teachers. I know that some people don't always have great experiences, so I just thought I'd share that ours is going great so far!
It will get easier. I was mostly sad that he might be confused about where I went but he was great. Because the daycare didn't have an opening right away we ended up having family watch him at our house (that had to fly out here) for the first month. But I think he really loved being around other babies at daycare once he was finally able to go there.
I guess check with your center since it seems like they might assign a way to label? There are usually only 4 or so babies in Jack's room and they all have their own cubby/diaper pail/changing supplies. I labeled the cloth diapers with a sharpie just to make sure those are never mixed up because they all have the same ones. We only have to put their name on the bottle (no date since I bring fresh bottles daily) so I bought orbitz name labels and so far no else came with the same color as him.
They have never mixed up his clothes that I know of so I never labeled anything like that.
+1! It's actually been really great having them at daycare!
The boys cried for about 20 seconds each the first couple of times, but were happy playing with the carers in the fun new environment after that. They like hanging out with the "big kids" (1-2 years old) when they all play outside together, too, and those kids like having smaller babies around - they bring them toys, pat them on the head, make funny faces, etc. It's really cute! Will and Dash have such a good time when they're there - it's a big party all day lol.
I was also able to take Will and Dash in a few times for a short play time (like 30 min) the week before we started, and that helped them get used to the new place.
As far as how I handled it, I was dreading going back to work. DREADING it. But although it was emotional, it was better than I expected. I didn't cry, and I even found myself enjoying it! People kept asking me if it was difficult, and although I missed Will and Dash, it was kind of awesome to get a regular lunch break and be able to go to the bathroom whenever I wanted, not to mention seeing my friends (2 of my closest friends are also coworkers) every day again.
I agree with asking your daycare how they like things labeled. Ours is fairly easy going - we don't have to label clothing, but I did write their names on the tags in their hats (just with a fine permanent marker). At the moment there are only 3 babies in their room and the other one is a girl so it's pretty clear what clothing belongs to what baby.
Because we don't have to date bottles (our center provides solid food), we use these and I LOVE them. So convenient!
Aww, yeah, it's rough going back to work after the baby...I remember dreading it so much! and even quit my job to extend my time with the baby...it's hard!
We have to label everything, but the only thing I didn't label was his pacifier (since he chews all parts of it and I don't want labels or ink coming off into his mouth). I use sharpies for most fabric items (clothes, sheets, etc, even his socks) and I have a label maker, which I printed out and used on everything else (wipes, bag of diapers, sunscreen, bottles, etc).
Ditto! B just started daycare last week (he was cared for by the grandmas before that) and he did so well! They said he didn't even put up much of a fuss when he went down for a nap (I'm surprised they even got him down for one =P) and he was really happy when I left him and really happy when I picked him up. No tears at all! I don't know if it helped that when we went for the tour, he already sat there playing with the other babies and teachers for 30min straight and then we went back again to re-tour with MH since he was at work when I first went to see them...so maybe he was familiar with them already by the time he started.
Miss A isn't in daycare but w/regards to dealing w/going back to work, it IS hard. the best thing I found was just to not think about it in the weeks/days leading up to it! seriously, you ARE going to get sad/emotional about leaving her no matter what so just don't dwell on it.
the first day will be the hardest. yes, everyone says this but it is true. you'll be thinking about her ALL day, wondering what she is doing, if she's happy, if she's missing you, etc. and you'll probably call a few times
then you'll go pick her up and see that she's just fine and even happy to be there and it will start to get easier day by day. and, like Lisa said, it IS nice to actually rejoin the adult world and be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want 
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Thanks for all the works of encouragement. It is good to know that what I am feeling is pretty normal and that it will get better. I also know she will be well taken care of in the daycare where we'll bring her so I have no worries on that end. Our center told me I can bring Elle there 2 hrs a week until we officially have her start there. I think i'll start bringing her there this coming week to slowly get her used to the new environment. Our center had webcams which may be both good and bad! lol. During my first day back at work, I'll probably be watching her all day lol.
Thanks for your recs on the labels. I'll check on them. I'll call the daycare too to confirm what I need to mark off.
Although I know I will terribly miss E, I am looking forward to this! As much as I love my daughter, I don't think I can be a SAHM :-(.
Thanks! I'll try my best not to think about it!