So, you’ve just had your first baby. Well, to be fair, that’s not entirely accurate. You recently had your first baby, but sadly it is time to head back to work. As if heading back to work after maternity leave isn’t stressful enough, your main priority is surely how your little one is going to adapt to being away from momma for a full third of each day.

At Jaycees Early Learning Center, we understand how challenging that can be because we see it all the time, not to mention the fact that many of us have had to do the exact same thing at one point or another in our own lives. Even the strongest of us are riddled with some degree of doubt and anxiety; you can see it on the parents’ faces when dropping off their baby for the first time.

If you are looking for some good news as you face the prospect of being (temporarily) separated with your baby boy or girl, we can’t do much about the big-nature of things. But, for our part, we are able to provide a Fort Washington Daycare that has a special focus on quality child care and early education. At the end of today’s blog, we’ll take the opportunity to highlight what sets us apart from other daycares in Fort Washington, MD. But for the time being, we’ll offer up some practical advice for our readers — here are a few things to remember while you are preparing for baby’s first day of daycare!

Bottle Service

This is a different kind of bottle service than you might have first thought of (surprise, surprise). But it’s one of the most important items to remember when dropping your baby off at daycare for the first time. The rule of thumb here is, if you think you are well prepared with enough bottles, you could probably use a few more. The absolute last thing you want would be to get a call that your baby has run out of food while you’ve been away. Naturally, you’ll want to have some extra (rainy day) food around the house for your little one, so it’s never a bad call to pump a bit more than you normally would during this transitional period.

Diapers

What goes in, must come out. Of course, you are fully aware of this concept well before you take your child to our (fingers crossed) Fort Washington daycare for the first time, but the point here is that you will probably go through a full pack of diapers every week. Now, some parents elect to go with a diaper delivery service which automatically renews the supply on a weekly basis. If you go this route, you’ll never need to stress about having enough diapers at your local daycare again! But even if you’d rather save some cash, you’ll need to figure out how to remind yourself to replenish the diaper supply on what typically is a weekly basis.

Doubled Blankets

Your little one is precious, and precious things ought to be kept cozy and snug at all times. It’s the rule, after all. More seriously, we recommend bringing your own blanket from home so that your baby is afforded a consistent environment while being apart from mom for what is likely to be the first time.

It’s your child’s first time experiencing a foreign, social environment, after all, and such a novel setting can be somewhat unsettling to babies. Giving them something which reminds them of the comfort of home will go a long way toward alleviating this potential shock. That’s why we recommend buying two of your favorite blanket and set of sheets!

Mark Your Territory

Make sure nothing gets misplaced by clearly labeling everything that could possibly be labeled (sans the baby, people). Feel free to hand-label everything with a marker or go the whole-nine-yards with a fancy label-maker. Either way, it makes our lives easier at our daycare while you better protect your possessions!

Get To Know Your Teachers

Some first-time parents tend to feel a bit sheepish about how often they can stop by to check up on their children and chat with their daycare’s staff. We can’t speak for the industry as a whole, but our certified and credentialed teachers and caregivers at Jaycees Early Learning Center genuinely love it when we get the chance to chat with parents. We actually like getting to know you, really! We aren’t too busy or too stressed at our Fort Washington, MD, daycare. On the contrary, we are eager to discuss how our unique approach to childcare is specifically impacting your child on cognitive, emotional, physical, and social levels. So don’t be afraid to pop in and say hi from time to time!

Talk To Other Parents

This is good advice whether you have decided on a Fort Washington daycare or are still looking for the right one. The reason is fairly obvious; you should hear from folks who share the exact same hopes and concerns as you: what kind of credentials do the daycare teachers have? What are the facilities like in terms of safety and play opportunity? Is there an educational focus and curriculum to go along with it? What is the cost?

Additionally, this is a great chance for your little one (who will soon become a toddler, yikes!) to have a few playdate options for when the time comes. Sure, you might not be thinking about it now, but getting to know some other parents for the odd playdate (or babysitting duty) is never a bad idea.

Give Yourself A Time Buffer

Today’s final tip has to do with *gasp* your time management ability! You might be the most punctual individual in the universe, and if so, congrats; the following paragraph probably doesn’t apply to you. But if you are like most of us, you’ll want to give yourself a buffer while you are establishing your new routine. That means adding a minimum of 15 minutes to both your drop-off and pick-up travel times. And while that might seem a bit like overkill, trust us — you’ll far prefer arriving early than showing up late to pick you baby up!

Visit Us At Jaycees Early Learning Center!

We are passionate about improving access to high-quality daycare and early education so that every child in the Fort Washington area is able to experience the many benefits of childcare. With a childcare focus focused on applying research-supported curriculum to promote the holistic growth of your children, it’s easy to see why many choose us to be their Fort Washington daycare for each of their kids. Sign your children up today!