Daycare Tips?

We finally got off the wait list for our preferred daycare and DS will start in August.
For daycare moms, what tips / items can you recommend to make life easier?
Do you bring and leave their diaper bag every day or pack a separate bag you leave there in the cubby?
Which kind of cooler (if you use one) do you bring for 3-4 bottles plus food? The one I have now wouldn't fit a whole day's worth.
Any other quick tips for getting baby ready for daycare quickly each day would be great.
I saw some label recco's on here so I will check those out.

Thx!

Re: Daycare Tips?

For my daycare, we left everything there. I brought the diapers, wipes, clothes, bibs, and left it there in a cubby (currently) or drawer (previous daycare). I use a bag to carry his bottles and food in daily, adn it comes and goes with him. I also have a separate bag for tems that need to go in- clothes, sheets, or wahtever.
I pack ds at night this way, i just have to grab it from teh fridge and im done. Makes it easier. on crazy days, i try to get his adn my clothes out of the closet adn ready to go. i shower at night as well. Relax.. you will find your own rhythm that will work for you.

Daycare Tips?

you will leave diapers and extra clothes at the daycare. we also have to bring a new pack of wipes each month. the bottles i prepared the night before and just had a small lunch box/cooler that i transported them in, but they will keep them in the fridge for you and i took that cooler home with empty bottles in each night. i also had a bag that i would put his sheet and blanket in that he used all week. that bag would stay at daycare until friday when it was ready to come home for me to wash.

I'm not sure if you'll use formula or not, but I know people will leave a can at the daycare for them to make the bottles up. I used BM and would leave an extra frozen bag in their freezer just in case!

Daycare Tips?

With my daycare we leave diapers, wipes, any diaper creams, a blankey, and change of clothes there. So daily, I just have to send in her food and milk/water. Label everything. Lots of parents send in diapers and wipes each week. I send in a huge box of each that lasts a few weeks. I prepare everything the night before so in the morning I just have to get DD ready and out the door we go.

Re: Daycare Tips?

as everyone mentioned you typically leave things at daycare. diapers & wipes always stay there. on fridays they require you take home the crib sheet and bring in a clean one so i take home the crib sheet, blanket, and bibs. they keep 2 changes of clothing there so if dd ends up coming home in a change of clothing i just replace that the next day.

something i do that has helped me is dressing DD in her outfit the night before. shes only 3 months so she is in sleep and plays or a onsie and pants. if its a onsie and pants i put her to bed in the onsie so all i have to do it put on her pants after a diaper change in the morning. i find it helps with the morning bc there are days (like today) that she didnt wake up before we had to leave...i did a diaper change and attempted to feed her but she was just too tired. if i had to dress her she probably would have screamed.

i also have DH make the bottles for me (our daycare will not prepare them). and i make sure to shower while DH is still home in case dd wakes up early. it stinks bc i could probably get another 30 minutes of sleep, but id rather know he is there to watch her and i can at least enjoy my morning shower.

Daycare Tips?

We leave everything at daycare. He has a cabinet for the diapers/wipes/cremes etc.

When I had to brign in bottles I had a cooler bag that held 3 bottles but we squished a 4th in there. We live less than 2 mins fromour daycare so I never worried about them staying cool. We never had to bring sheets or bibs (they provided that) so at night I would premake the bottles and pack up his bag with extra clothes if they were needed refill on any supplies etc so that in the mornign DH could grab and go.

Re: Daycare Tips?

Posted by BBin2012

We finally got off the wait list for our preferred daycare and DS will start in August.
For daycare moms, what tips / items can you recommend to make life easier?
Do you bring and leave their diaper bag every day or pack a separate bag you leave there in the cubby?
Which kind of cooler (if you use one) do you bring for 3-4 bottles plus food? The one I have now wouldn't fit a whole day's worth.
Any other quick tips for getting baby ready for daycare quickly each day would be great.
I saw some label recco's on here so I will check those out.

Thx!

Daycare Tips?

My biggest tip is to prep the night before. For the start of the week I bring in DD's clean sheet, blanket, bibs. I bring in her bottles/food daily. I don't use a separate cooler for it because I throw it all in the bag before we're out the door. It's about a 7 minute drive for us.

Make sure you label everything. I got labels from namebubbles.com and used them on all her bottles, food containers, etc. I wrote her name in a sharpie on the tags of her sheets and blankets.

Since you're starting in August, drop off the packs of wipes, diapers, extra clothes, etc. the week before. Label each package with a sharpie too. This will make your first day of drop off easier. Give yourself some extra time the first week so you get used to the routine.

Re: Daycare Tips?

we bring a sheet, blanket and his boppy in the beginning of the week and leave it there until friday when we pick him up. We also leave extra clothes in his bin. if i come home with dirty clothes, I will bring more the next day if i need.

we leave a canister of formula, diapers, wipes and diaper cream there. they let us know when we are running low on those items.

everynight we put gas drops in the bottles and fill them with water and put them in a bag near his car seat so we don't forget them. DS eats his formula at room temp so it makes that real easy. They just mix the formula there.

Re: Daycare Tips?

the only thing we take home daily is our sons sippy cups. I wish they would wash and reuse like our old daycare, but I can't complain