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September 2015 Moms
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Daycare preparation tips?

New@thisNew@this member
in September 2015 Moms
LO is starting daycare in a couple of weeks. Any advice regarding how to prepare, things to bring, what to ask the teachers to do, etc? For example, I already ordered labels for all his pacifiers and bottles....I'm guessing those will come in handy. Any other tips and things to consider will be most helpful! Thanks!
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Re: Daycare preparation tips?

  • keggenkeggen member
    edited May 2016
    Make sure to write down details about feelings including how much and when.

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  • aharders89aharders89 member
    Our daycare had a very detailed packet that we were to fill out ahead of time regarding LOs current routine, her likes/dislikes, and just general info about us and our parenting style. They should also give you a list of stuff they require.

    I would plan to make a trip a few days before you take your LO and take their diapers, wipes, and extra clothes so it's one less thing you have to worry about the day of your first drop off. 

    As as far as labeling things goes, our daycare does a color-coded painters tape system to help identify bottles. We just put a strip of tape down her bottles and write the dates for the week and just mark them off every day. The tape stays on just fine when we wash bottles and it keeps us from having to re-write everything each day. 

    Try to do as much as you can to prep the night before. We pre-make her bottles the night before and just stick them in a plastic bag in the fridge and grab them in the morning before we leave. If we have to bring in extra clothes the next day I'll just stick the clothes in the bag too. I work night shift and my husband has to do drop offs so I try to make it as painless as possible. I always lay her clothes out and have him put her in whatever onesie she's going to wear the next day at bedtime. Then when she gets up all he has to do is change her diaper and put her pants on and she's dressed. 

    Youll figure out a routine that works for you! 
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  • wannabeamongoosewannabeamongoose member
    We're starting daycare in a few weeks too (switching from having family care for baby). We already make bottles and pack the diaper bag with extra diapers/clothes the night before, and we have baby sleep in the onesie he'll wear the next day, so I second that advice. One thing we've decided to do, to make the transition a little easier, is to start on a Thursday so that baby won't be in for a full week right at the start. I'm also making the first two days short days (picking baby up around noon and bringing him to work with me the rest of the day). I'm fortunate to have the flexibility, and I think it will help to reduce anxiety for mom and baby.

    **TW**
    Me & DH: 32
    Married 2013
    Kiddo #1: Sept 2015
    BFP: 1/19, EDD: 9/30

    "I'm having fruit salad for dinner. Well, it's mostly just grapes, actually. Ok all grapes. Fermented grapes. Fine, I'm having wine for dinner."
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  • aharders89aharders89 member
    I also forgot to add, mentally prepare yourself for he/she to have a cold for the first several weeks. Our LO had a snotty nose and gunky eyes the whole first month she was there.  It was inconvenient, but it's a necessary evil as they adjust to different germs. Our pedi suggested we add a probiotic to her bottles, so we do. And she hasn't been sick since then. Whether or not that's related, who knows. But it's an option! 
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  • New@thisNew@this member
    edited May 2016
    Wow, love all the advice! The daycare says they will prepare the bottles there. Given this, is there any advantage to bringing them already prepared? Also, @aharders89, what kind of probiotic do you use?
    Thanks so much!
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  • wannabeamongoosewannabeamongoose member
    We prepare bottles ahead because we bf, so we're the only ones who can prepare them. Formula is a different story, as long as it's just straight up formula. If you do anything different than what's listed on the package instructions (like add probiotics, for example) I'd prepare them ahead of time.

    **TW**
    Me & DH: 32
    Married 2013
    Kiddo #1: Sept 2015
    BFP: 1/19, EDD: 9/30

    "I'm having fruit salad for dinner. Well, it's mostly just grapes, actually. Ok all grapes. Fermented grapes. Fine, I'm having wine for dinner."
    Report Reply
  • aharders89aharders89 member
    @eohrsime We use Children's Primadophillus from Whole Foods. Like I said, I don't know if they've helped with her immune system, but she hasn't been sick since we started them. It could be a total coincidence lol. Just an FYI, if you start them, they change the smell of LOs poop. Since we started them her poop smells like a gross form of buttered popcorn. It's the weirdest thing!
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