Transitioning to a new daycare can be a challenging time for young children. This is especially the case if they have been cared for in their own home or have formed a close bond with another daycare caregiver.
Knowing that changing daycares can be a hard means you can start planning now to make the change go as smoothly as possible. Below are a few basic steps you can take to ensure that your child comes to love their new child care as much as the one they are leaving.
1. Bring a loved item from home.
Making a new child care feel welcoming can sometimes mean making it feel like home. Most children have a few cherished items, maybe a stuffed animal, maybe a blanket, that are warm and comforting to them. Keeping one of these at child care can be a great way to help your child find comfort.
But what to do about conundrum about the fact that you no longer have the cherished lovey at home? Some families find that it helps to buy a second lovey so that you can keep one at home and one at daycare.
Buy the second the lovey prior to the transition. This will help your child to grow attachment to both. Picking out the second lovey also provides a nice opportunity to introduce to them to the idea that this transition is coming soon.
2. Ease into your new schedule.
Many parents find that when they need to change to a new child care they don’t have the luxury to ease into it by going part-time first. If you do find yourself lucky enough to have this option, it can be a great way to grow your child’s confidence and comfort with their new daycare.
Easing into it may mean only going a couple days a week for a few weeks and then adding another day each week.
You could also consider having them go for part of the day and then work up to a full day once they are comfortable with their new schedule. This approach can be especially useful for children who are starting child care after being cared for at home by a parent because it minimizes the time they are away from home.
Over time you can increase their time away once they are comfortable being away from you for short periods.
3. Aim for extra consistency at home.
Your child’s new child care will be a new, exciting, and sometimes scary jumble of new experiences. Many of these experiences will be great! Many children end up overwhelmed by the excitement of trying new things and meeting new children. You may find that extra consistency and calmness at home balances out that excitement.
In the first few weeks and months, aim to have your home life as stable as possible.
Plan for dinner, your nighttime routine, and bedtime to be on a very regular schedule. Hold off on planning too many extra activities during weekday evenings so that your child has time to rest. Focus on spending quality family time during your weekends.
Make sure to continue to talk to your child regularly about how they are feeling about their new child care and what they need to make for a smooth adjustment.
4. Expect tearful days to last longer than you may think.
Most parents expect a few tearful days and weeks when their child starts a new daycare. For some children, tearful drop-offs can last a longer than you may expect.
You many find that even one, two, or three months after the transition that your child still has some tearful days. This is usually normal, as kids have ups and downs just as adults do. Some regressions are to be expected, but if you find the sad days outnumber the happy ones talk to your child’s teacher.
Your child’s teachers are the experts in this and can usually provide you with tips for smoother drop-offs.
However, expect that there may be tears even once your child seems happier and adjusted. It’s still normal for young children to have bad days or go through challenging periods. This is especially true when they are going through developmental leaps.
You may find a few months down the line that it seems like you are back to square one with the transition tears! Don’t fret. Provide extra reassurance and support during this time and happier days are just around the corner.
5. Make daycare as comfy and homey as possible.
There are a few simple ways to help your child acclimate to the new daycare environment. Talk to their teacher in advance to make sure they understand your child’s likes, dislikes, joys and fears. Work together to develop a plan for how your child will be introduced to their new room and the children in it.
Have your child pick out a nice pillow and blanket that reminds them of home to use during nap time. You may go buy a new pillow and blanket rather than bringing one from home. This may help to encourage excitement around starting at a new child care.
This can be a real comfort blanket when they are away from home. Something snuggly and inviting to look forward to that is both calming and reminds them of home.
6. Read books that to help your child prepare for the transition.
Begin talking about the transition in the days and weeks before it happens. You know your children best, of course, so the amount of time they need to understand the change will vary.
Some kids will do well with a lot of time discussing the change before it happens. Others may benefit by only learning of the change very close to the date.
Age plays a factor in this too. Preschoolers will understand more and may benefit from longer notice of the change.
You can help them process the change by reading books that focus on the benefits of new experiences. Here are some resources that will help you talk through the transition:
The Complete Book of First Experiences by Anne Civardi, is a great catch-all that will help your child cope with many life changes and transitions.
Help Your Dragon Deal With Change, by Steve Herman, uses characters from the popular How to Train your Dragon series to illustrate the fun and fears that come with change.
Toddlers and preschoolers will love the penguins Bob and Flo who forge a friendship with shared fears of starting a new school.