- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Nurseries and Baby Gear
TX-Bride
member
infant day care- What gear/products needed?
TX-Bride
member
When you send the infant to day care, what do you send with them? Do you have a separate diaper bag for day care and when you take the baby out?
TIA
This discussion has been closed.
Re: infant day care- What gear/products needed?
When DS started at 12 weeks we sent 2 packs of wipes, 1pack of diapers, paci, 4 bottles per-mixed, 3 changes of clothes, and a muslin blanket.
Everything stayed at the daycare except clothes or blanket when they needed washed and empty bottles came home nightly. They let us know when he needs more diapers and wipes with 48 hours notice.
Ask what they provide/what you should bring.
DD had a cubby and a closet shelf where we could store stuff. So I brought in a large pack of diapers, wipe box & refills, sunscreen, a sleepsack, pacifier & clip, diaper rash cream, 2 changes of clothes, and a nose bulb sucker thing (since she often had a runny nose). I labeled or wrote with marker her name on all these items, and refilled when they told me it was running low.
Daily, I brought in a little insulated lunchbag with her pre-made & measured bottles for the day. No separate diaper bag needed.
BFP #2 7/18/11 - EDD 3/29/12 - Born 3/13/12
BFP #1 4/4/11 - Natural M/C - 7w1d - 4/30/11
This! We also left multiple pacis in his cubby box and brought in diaper cream and sunscreen. We leave everything in his cubby (they send home any outfits that get soiled and we replace the next day), and bring home his nap blanket to wash weekly.
I didn't have a diaper bag for daycare- I just got a small, soft lunch cooler to transport bottles to/from school.
If DC doesn't have a cubby/box for storing changes of clothes and extra supplies, then maybe use one of the free diaper bags you get from the hospital for this.
They should tell you what is required to keep there and our DC gave us a Tote bag to use. We leave it in her cubby and they put dirty clothes and bottles in it. We take it home at the end of the day, return in the morning.
We keep diapers, wipes (in a container), butt cream, a lot of onesies (she blows out a lot) and two pacifiers. We bring in pre-mixed bottles that they keep in the fridge and warm. No outside toys or blankets are allowed in our DC.
I think everyone covered the necessities above but one thing hat I've found to be an awesome investment for daycare are those orbit labels from Inchbug. They're basically customized rubber bands that go around the bottles and the kid's name is etched in. You never have to label the bottles with the name again and they also work great for sippy cups and even regular sized cups (I tried one just to see if it worked). It makes getting the bottles ready so much faster because the band never has to come off and they seem like they'll last a really long time. They aren't super cheap but they've been we'll worth the money for us.
https://www.inchbug.com/bumpyname-orbit-labels-custom-orbit-labels.html
My son didn't start DC until he was 16 months, but when I packed him up for a day of babysitting, I'd pack diapers, wipes, 2 pacifiers, diaper rash cream, enough bottles of pumped milk for the day plus one extra, Tylenol, food when he was on solids, 2 extra outfits, and a couple toys.
Now that he is older, I pack a backpack at the beginning on the week with one extra outfit, a blanket, and a lovey. His DC provides diapers and wipes but we use cloth, so I sent a wet bag and 4 diapers every day (he's only there for 6 hours). I usually don't send cream unless he has a rash already. They also provide food and milk so I don't worry about snacks or beverages, either.
One thing I didn't think about until after we started daycare was name labels, you'll want to label everything that you ever want back (and some things are required to be labeled). I'm sure that there are a ton of great labels out there (or a sharpie will do) but I got some from www.namebubbles.com that I have absolutely loved. I got a combo pack for around $30, and it came with these little round labels that you can put on clothing tags and never come off in the wash, bigger ones for bottles and lids, little foot ones for inside of his shoes, and three or four other kinds (and they're all super cute). I've been using them for 6+ months and I'm not even through half of them so I feel good about the investment.