Essential Tips for Families Before Your Child's First Day of Childcare

You’ve toured the childcare centre, accepted your enrolment offer, and organised your child’s start date… Now what? If this is your family’s first childcare experience, it’s natural to have a lot of questions. This comprehensive guide provides expert tips to ensure your family's smooth transition into childcare, helping both you and your child feel confident and prepared for the adventure ahead!

Organise a Stay and Play session

Before your child’s first day at childcare, we recommend attending several short Stay and Play sessions. These introductory visits are specifically designed to help your child become familiar with their new environment, meet their early childhood educators, and interact with future peers - all while having a trusted family member present for support.

Talk to your centre’s director to organise the most suitable times to visit. These sessions are also a great time to ask the educators any questions you may have.

Share your child’s important information

To ensure the best possible care for your child, providing detailed information about their needs, preferences, and routines is essential. This communication helps educators deliver personalised care from day one. Important information to share includes:

• Your child’s routine. Share nap times, feeding schedules, and any cues. If your child has no strict routine, let the team know that you are happy for them to follow your child’s cues.
• Health information such as allergies, medical conditions, disabilities, or developmental delays so that any Medical Authorisation Forms (or similar) can be prepared.
• Food experiences. For babies, share what foods they've tried, feeding method (purees/mash/finger foods), and allergen introductions.
• Toileting information. Share where your child is in their toilet training journey so that educators can support home strategies.
• Likes and dislikes. For example, if your child needs a comfort toy to go to sleep, or hates getting messy, let educators know so that they can accommodate them as best they can.
• Your child’s abilities and interests. Share what they enjoy (drawing, building, etc.) so that educators can incorporate these into their programming.

Know what to pack

Your director will provide a list of what you need to pack in your child’s bag, as this can vary from centre to centre. However, a general guide:

• A wide-brimmed hat, with no chin straps (a C&K hat is included in your enrolment)
• Bottles of expressed milk or formula (if required)
• Change of clothes (play is messy!)
• Wet bag for dirty clothes
• Water bottle
• Comfort items

Label belongings for easy identification

Please ensure that all belongings are labelled. Labelling your child’s belongings gives any misplaced items the best chance of finding their way back to you. Plus, our educators will thank you!

Some options for labelling items include:

• Permanent markers
• Waterproof stickers
• Iron-on labels
• Name stamps
• Keyrings

Labels with fun designs are a great way to help young children recognise their belongings even before they can read their name.

Medications must be labelled with a pharmacy label, including the child’s name and directions for use. This also applies to non-prescription items such as sunscreen and nappy cream.

Make a plan for breastfeeding or bottle feeding (if applicable)

If your baby or toddler is still breastfeeding or bottle feeding, you will need to think about how they receive their milk or formula. All of our childcare centres welcome breastfeeding mothers to come and feed their children during the day – please let your centre know if this is your intention so that they can ensure that there is a calm, quiet space for you.

If your child will be taking a bottle, you will need to provide bottles of milk or formula. Provide the number of individual bottles that your child will need each day. For example, if your child takes one bottle in the morning and one in the afternoon, you will need to provide two bottles. All bottles must be signed in when you drop your child off each day. Your director or educators will explain the process.

If your child is usually breastfed but will be taking a bottle at childcare, it is important to make sure that they are comfortable with the bottle. Not all babies take to a bottle straight away – and that’s ok. It’s a good idea to practice at home beforehand. A few tricks to try if baby is refusing:

• Trial different bottles, and teat shapes and/or flow rates
• Try feeding in different positions
• Ensure that the milk or formula is the correct temperature
• Let someone other than mum offer the bottle

Calculating how much breastmilk your child will require can initially involve some trial and error – after all, it’s impossible to know exactly how much they drink from the breast! Our educators will record how much your child drinks each feed and will work together with you during those initial weeks to determine the ideal amount.

Start with shorter days for an easier transition

Many children benefit from the flexibility of attending for a few hours on their first day, building up to a full day over the course of a week or two as they become more comfortable and form attachments with their educators. This gradual approach reduces separation anxiety for both children and parents, and allows children to build confidence in the new environment.

Remember – you can always call the centre to see how your child is doing and decide when to pick them up as the day progresses.

If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to the director of your childcare centre. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience about child development and successful childcare transitions. Your child's educators and the rest of the team at C&K will be on hand to support you and ensure that your family's transition to childcare is a calm, welcoming, and positive one. Good luck, we’ll see you soon!