Ok, well Maggie has finally got 1 day per week care, so of course I am all paranoid and wondering what is the best way to deal with all the things she needs for it, so I need some advice.
Clothes - do you have specific clothes just for care? I assume it would be easier considering they probably need to be labeled. Also is it better to just buy cheap or find 2nd hand. Is 1 change of clothing also enough, or is it best to have 2?
Shoes - do shoes ever go missing? Maggie only has 1 pair of very good shoes and I don't want to lose them. Am I better off finding another pair, but cheaper?
Labels - are the fancy labels really worth it or just a gimmick? Whats the most economical option?
I think that is it for now, if I have any more I will post again - thanks in advance.
What I've found is old clothes either cheap ones on special or hand me downs etc are best as they paint and do other stuff that wrecks their clothes and yep I have specific day care clothes for sure.
Buy a cheap pair of shoes to as shoes always go missing or into wrong bags and you'll find(or I have found) people rarely hand them back in if their not theirs!
I don't have labels(have been meaning to) but instead I use a permanent marker pen and write on all her clothes on the labels as they are only day care clothes. Same with bottles etc I write in permanent marker on them.
I find old clothes are best - she usually wears track top and pants or something like that. As Kirsty said they do activities that get pretty messy - also I find her grandma (who is her FDC mum) doesn't worry so much about getting food on her clothes so they often come home stained as well. So yeah she has specific clothes for daycare that I wouldn't let her be seen in with me LOL. I usually send one spare set of clothes, very rare that she needs it though.
I dont' label her clothes because there's only three other kids there, but I do have sticky labels (the ones you can order with your name) on her cups and plastic containers that she takes her lunch in.
Shoes - I would buy her a pair of sneakers or sandals when the weather warms up. Don't send her good shoes if they dont' get lost they'll get wrecked.
Oh yeh forgot to add I put in at least 2 changes of clothes and probably 5 nappies for the day(shes in from about 9.30-3.30). You even have to label things like nappy rash cream too.
I just use her normal clothes (just 1 spare set) and label the inside with a laundry marker. I label her bottles of EBM with a permanent texta too. She's only there 1 day per week and not old enough for shoes.
The girls seem to have covered everthing....the only other things I would add would be a sippy cup with her name on it (in permanant texter or a sticky label) that you can leave at childcare, plus a hat for outside play......
i also sent along my own baby wipes as the ones they were using seemed cheap and giving him a rash, i always sent a huggies bag of nappies & they just let me know when they were low.
Thanks for the info, atleast I was on the right track. I go there tomorrow, so hopefully they will advise me of anything specific. My biggest concern is that Maggie gets rashy quite easily, so I am hoping they are happy to use any nappy rash cream I give them. They supply the nappies apparently, so I hope they work well with her.
Ummmm, be careful with their nappies......I sent Olivia with her own, as theirs were el cheapos and gave Olivia nappy rash, so I sent her along with a stack of Huggies........
Nick used to go to daycare 2x per week when i was expecting Ryan, i always sent him with a couple of changes of old clothes and cheap shoes
The problem we had with sending our own huggies nappies though were they would use their cheap ones on him, which gave him a rash, an keep the huggies
I would send 4/5 huggies and not get any back, he was only there for 3/4 hours and i knew he didn't go through that many nappies, so just be very careful
I went there today to find out what goes on and to get Maggie used to the place. They suggest atleast 3 changes of clothes and that we leave a hat there. So off to the op shop I think. They supply sippy cups, bibs etc. So it is really just the clothes and shoes I need.
Wow, everyone seems to have such different experiences. At Jack's daycare they supply the nappies and we have had no problems. I send him in his normal clothes (with 2 spare sets that he rarely needs but occassionally does). He wears his one pair of expensive shoes and they have never gotten lost. The girls are very good at knowing who comes with what and we haven't lost a thing. Also, when they paint and stuff, they supply T-shirts for that (which are washed after every use) so our clothes have never been damaged.
With regard to labels, we bought a label maker that prints labels on plastic for cups etc and also iron-on ones for clothes. This is a bigger one off expensive but seems to pay for itself fairly quickly as we go through a lot of labels. We can of course also use it for other things too - like I sent food to a friend who had a very premmie baby and used the labels to name the containers (so she knew who to give them back to) and also with what was in them.
Good luck. Jack loves day care, I hope your lo does too!
Regarding nappies: you'll find that some centres have specific times to change nappies and will change your child's nappy even though it might only be slightly wet... this is why they go through a lot more nappies in daycare than they would at home where you can change them when they need it. Most centres have a whiteboard where they document nappy changes so this might help you keep track. When I worked in a creche some parents would constantly forget to supply enough nappies so we would be forced to use another child's... we'd try to keep track but some staff weren't as diligent. My advice would be to find the cheapest nappy that suits your child and supply that. Huggies are great and very absorbant but you'll be wasting your money with the frequent nappy changes in daycare and taking the risk that staff will use your nappies for other children... although you could try writing the child's name on each nappy! That sometimes acts as a deterent. I can see both sides though... parents shouldn't have to deal with "stolen" nappies but then staff often have no choice if their centre won't supply "emergency" ones. I'd recommend Aldi brand nappies: very cheap, very absorbant and i've never heard of any bad skin reactions. Good luck!
Our daycare doesnt supply nappies, but I do label each of Aidyns nappies individually with a texta anyway... not that I mind if they need to use them for someone else in an emergency, but I wouldnt want it to become a habit, so I label them just so everyone 'knows' they are his
He uses the Mamia brand at daycare and I also have had no probs with them!
I also pack 2 sets of spare clothes for him, usually just daggy ones.
As for shoes, he takes his Robeez shoes to daycare, they are great cause I know he will be comfy wearing them inside as well in case someone forgets to take them off him. And they are still fine for outside playground wear.
I also get paranoid about whether they will not think to take his jumper off inside, as it is quite warm in there, so I always remind them about it, and he always wears a little jacket, as its easier to unzip and have open so he wont be so hot.
Anyway, thats just me... hehe... maybe a tad neurotic, but I just know that no one knows what my child needs as well as I do!
I send Kaitlyn to daycare in trackies and things like that as they just come home SOOOOO dirty!. I also send her with her favourite teddy and dummy for bed time.
What stuff do you have for childcare?
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