Daycare Checklist: Going back to work after baby

Daycare Checklist: Going back to work after baby

It’s time. You just welcomed a baby into the world and you’ve spent a delightful and challenging few weeks together getting accustomed to a brand new life with them. And while transitioning back to the work week can be both stressful and emotional, you’ve chosen a daycare or early education center to care for them until you can get back to cuddlin’ at the end of the day.

We put together this checklist along with a few tips to help you during this transition, but we always encourage you to follow the unique guidelines given to you.

Not searching for a daycare yet? We recommend you start after the first trimester, because waiting lists can get quite long. You essentially have two choices when picking a place to help raise your baby: early education centers and schools that provide care as well as an educational curriculum, or a daycare that provides a safe place and caregivers to watch your child during the day. We encourage you to really explore both options to determine which is right for your family, budget, and child.

• Let’s start with the big stuff: baby gear, particularly car seats. It’s important that everyone in your family who’s dropping off and picking up your little one is fully trained in the installation of your car seat. It makes the staff’s life easier, and it’ll definitely give you peace of mind.

• If you’re a city family and strolling your baby to drop them off, you should consider buying a lightweight and compact stroller. If you’re already familiar with Magic Beans, you know we always recommend grabbing a compact secondary stroller for travel and quick trips to the store. The benefit of bringing a compact stroller to is simply for storage’s sake – they like don’t have the room to store a bunch of full-size beasts!  

• Most early education centers require that babies under 12 months bring nothing with them into the crib, even their favorite Wubbanub, blankie, or lovey. You’ll likely find that the center prefers babies wear a sleep bag that exposes their arms as well.
• Don’t forget to leave your diaper bag there! Pack bottles, food containers, and some extra changes of clothes.
• Shoes are always a tough one. It’s likely preferred that your baby be barefoot over wearing a slippery pair of shoes that might cause them to take a tumble. If you’re bringing shoes along, make sure they’re hard-soled.
• For breastfeeding moms, it’s crucial that you begin the pumping and bottle training process before the week you transition back to work. Breastfeeding is a beautiful and emotional experience that will create a bond stronger than you’d ever imagine. Cutting cold turkey is disruptive for your baby and just plain sad for you. Begin the pumping and bottle training process earlier to make it easier on both of you.

These are just a few of the essentials and, like we mentioned before, you should always check for an official list from your early education center. Congrats and best of luck!

The post Daycare Checklist: Going back to work after baby appeared first on Spilling the Beans - Magic Beans.