The transition to daycare/childcare can be difficult on the entire family, not just the children! Read on to discover ways to cope with this transition!

Expect feeling emotional about sending your child to daycare 

So many parents feel emotional about their little one’s beginning daycare! The logistics of finding a childcare provider that you trust can be so cumbersome that you forget to process your own feelings about it!

This results in the weeks/days leading up to your baby beginning daycare feeling extremely distressing for some. It’s often a confusing time. On the one hand you may feel ready to begin to work again and have your own sense of self and on the other, you can’t imagine being away from your baby for that long.

You may be grappling your own personal feelings about returning to work before you feel ready to do and for that, I’m so sorry.

Finding the right daycare center

It’s no secret that finding reliable childcare is extremely time consuming and costly. You’ll want to tour a few different places (albeit virtually at times) and see how you feel about the center. The hope is that you’ll have to interact with your child’s potential lead teacher/caregiver as well.

The more at peace you feel about the center that your child will be attending, the more at peace you will feel about them being under your care.

It takes time to adjust to your child being away from you, there is no way around that. For most parents, each day gets easier! You fall into your own routine and develop your own awareness about the benefits that are taking place for your child!

Remember the benefits of daycare

There are so many benefits to daycare! Our little one’s get the chance to interact with others their age and further and progress their own development in ways that we simply cannot do for them. Childcare also helps our children foster healthy attachment!

Dealing with attachment 

Remember that attachment is assessed by how the child responds to the mother/parent RETURNING, not leaving! Healthy attachment if fostered by our children seeing that we return to them at the end of the day. We are reliable, we love them, and we always come back!

Tears when you are leaving them are to be expected and are quite normal in most situations! Remind your child that you will pick them up at the end of the day, give them a smooch and say good-bye! This doesn’t mean that it isn’t difficult to experience this as a parent! But it DOES get easier!

Finding the daycare option that works for your family 

Now, let’s say that your level of distress around being away from your child is impacting your ability to function and do your job (after a reasonable adjustment period, this can vary but typically give yourself a month or so), then that is an entirely different conversation.

You have options! Many people are working from home. Financially speaking a nanny can be more expensive than daycare in most cases, but it really depends on the number of children you have and a few other factors. An au pair can be a great option as well. It’s typically the most cost effective when you have more than one child.

There is nothing wrong with deciding to take a break from working while your children are young as well. LinkedIn has actually added “stay at home mom” as a recognized job!

Things that can be helpful to reduce stress related to childcare:

• Organize your time so that you are not scrambling in the morning to get your little one out the door
  • This can be done by prepping bottles the night before
  • Organizing their outfits for the week in advance
  • Setting your alarm at least ten minutes earlier than you think you’ll need
  • Write out a pumping schedule if you are nursing and set alarms
  • Focus on the time that you do have with your children as opposed to the time that you are “missing out on”
  • Set aside time for yourself during your work day to engage in self care that you would not otherwise be able to do if your child was home
  • Take your time in selecting a childcare center that really puts you at ease
  • Set expectations with your employer, clientele, i.e. let them know that occasionally there may be childcare center closures beyond your control

All in all remember that you are FAR more resilient than you let yourself believe! It is natural to feel distressed over being away from your child, there is NOTHING wrong with you! An adjustment period is normal and expected but remember that you do have options! You’ve got this!

Other helpful blog posts:

• Essentials for back to work from maternity leave 
• Preparing your child for group care (6 weeks of age through preschool)
• Items to leave at grandparents’, nanny share or second caregiver’s house
• Diaper bag essentials 
• School/daycare lunch box essentials 

 

 

**This post is educational and not meant to take the place of your provider.