5 Tips for Transitioning to Daycare

Making the transition to daycare can feel overwhelming when you’ve been working on sleep training at home—but it doesn’t have to be!⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Let’s talk about what we can do to help our babies transition smoothly. *If you are looking for tailored, 1:1 help, schedule a virtual consultation with me!

Making a Smooth Transition

1. Write out and communicate your plan to the providers. This is so important! They have no idea what your baby’s schedule is like or the fact that you are working on good sleep habits. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

2. Bring whatever they’ll allow you to bring — sleep sack, swaddle, portable sound machine (some don’t let you but it’s worth asking!). These will act as sleep triggers for your baby to let them know it’s time to nap. ⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

3. Understand that short naps at daycare are totally normal! If your baby is taking short naps at daycare, you can offer a power nap on the way home. No matter what, plan for an early bedtime to make up for the lack of day sleep. ⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

4. Continue to practice good sleep habits and long naps at home when possible. This means blacked out room, sound machine, the works. Your baby is so smart and knows when he’s home and when he’s not. He can still nap great at home, even if daycare naps are short.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

5. Know that this is temporary and the older your baby gets, the better they will adjust and will likely be taking long naps at daycare before you know it.

you can do this!

Jessalyn