Kids & Company Blog

Back to Work: Timing

We asked moms and dads what they want to know about returning to work after a leave with little ones and they delivered! We broke all the questions we received into themes and have addressed them in this 11-part blog series on Back to Work in partnership with Mama Coach.

Part 9/11: Timing for starting childcare

Themes: Do toddlers adjust better to daycare than infants? Would you recommend delaying daycare until 18 months if that’s an option? Are there cases where daycare is not a good fit? My child is having a very hard time with transition and we are not sure how long adjustment should last.

Kids & Company: There is no need to overly stress on timing for child care. We have worked with infants as new as six weeks old and have also welcomed school-age children into our programs who have never before been in structured child care – we work closely with families to help transition in and rarely have a child who cannot adjust given enough time and support. Toddlers and older infants (16 to 24 months) generally require the most amount of adjustment time as this is a time of life where they are very connected to their primary caregiver and also aware of separation. We find that a full-time child adapts to their child care provider after a period lasting one week to one month, and part-time children may need up to two months. If the adjustment seems very intense or long, it is best to work collaboratively with your child care provider on a plan to ease things along. Some things that can help: sharing comfort things from home, aligning a connected teacher to work with the child, and establishing a short and sweet drop-off.

Check out our other topics!
Part 1: Transition
Part 2: Illness
Part 3: Sleep and routine
Part 4: Adjusting
Part 5: Eating
Part 6: Friends and bullies
Part 7: Multiple children
Part 8: Guilt
Part 9: Timing
Part 10: Separation anxiety
Part 11: Weaning

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About Mama Coach

The Mama Coach is a team of Registered Nurses who are committed to making motherhood easier. As Registered Nurses, we have the skills and the training to give your family the quality care that you deserve. We are all Mamas too. We have been in your shoes and want to share our knowledge and want to make you feel incredibly supported. Our programs are based on science + empathy and support. We are Registered Nurses, infant and child sleep coaches, lactation counsellors, Prenatal Educators as well as CPR instructors. All packages include lactation counselling and intensive support. We offer a variety of services to help families transition into parenting which include: In home/group prenatal classes, Postpartum visits, Healthy beginnings to help support you and your newborn, sleep coaching from 3 months and up, allergy navigation and CPR.

Posted on: Monday October 1st, 2018

Posted by: Melissa Sawatzky