3 Ways to Stay Connected With Your Baby When They Start Daycare

Going back to work after having a baby can bring up a lot of emotions.

“Is it worth me going back to work?”

“I feel so guilty for wanting a career and a mom.”

“I didn’t put my other kids in daycare, but I can’t afford to be a stay at home mom”

“Will my baby remember me being gone?”

For many parents, one of the hardest thoughts isn’t actually leaving their baby at childcare. It’s wondering what leaving might mean for their relationship.

Those are very real worries.

Starting childcare in Colorado Springs doesn’t mean giving up your bond with your baby. Quite the opposite, when parents and caregivers work together, childcare, preschool and daycare (whichever option you pick for your family) can become another part of the support system surrounding your brand new baby— its not  meant to be something to worry about- working parents in Colorado Springs have enough to stress on!

Here are three simple ways to stay connected with your baby while they’re attending childcare.

1. Create Little Rituals That Belong to YOU

Babies thrive on repetition and familiarity, and your routines together can become powerful points of connection.

It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate either!

It could mean your first 20 minutes when you get home from work is just for skin to skin! (We also recommend skin to skin moments for children all the way from birth to age six!)

You can create a great car routine and your way home from us- eye spy,  or a fun song you know they’ll wiggle to- even in their car seat!

You can have a special phrase you say every morning at drop-off- or even take some extra time at  drop off to rock or nurse your baby!

At the end of the day, bath time is  also an opportunity for uninterrupted time together. Enjoy them being little and heading to the bath without a fit!

Even something as simple as slowing down for a few minutes when you get home—putting the phone away, getting on the floor, making eye contact and letting your baby reconnect with you—can become part of your family’s rhythm.

Your baby doesn’t need every hour of your day to build a strong relationship with you. They need consistent, loving interactions that teach them, again and again, “You are safe with me. I come back. I’m here.”

2. Let Your Childcare Provider Be Your Partner

Infant care works best when it isn’t divided into “home” and “daycare.”

It should be a partnership.

Tell your baby’s teachers what happened the night before. Let them know if your baby slept differently, tried a new food, started making a new sound or suddenly seems determined to roll over.

And your childcare provider should be communicating with you, too!

At Young Scholars Academy, we want parents to know about the little things that happen during the day—not just whether your baby ate and slept. Did they have two blowouts before you left the house and they’re rocking their third outfit as they walk in the door?

Those tiny details help connect the hours you’re apart.

When parents and teachers communicate about feeding, sleeping, development, temperament and new milestones, your baby’s day becomes much more consistent. Instead of two separate worlds, your baby has a team of adults working together to understand and support them.

And remember: your baby’s teacher isn’t replacing you.

They’re joining your village.

3. Make the Time You Have Together Count

There can be a lot of pressure on working parents to “make up” for being away from their baby.

You don’t have to.

You don’t need an elaborate activity every evening or an entire weekend planned around entertaining your child.

Babies connect through incredibly ordinary moments.

Hold them while you give them their bottle. Talk to them while you’re changing their diaper. Let them watch your face while you sing. Read the same book for the hundredth time. Sit together on the floor before bedtime.

Those seemingly small interactions are doing a lot of work.

Your voice, smell, touch and face are deeply familiar to your baby. Coming back together at the end of the day reinforces that relationship over and over again.

Childcare Should Add to Your Baby’s World, Not Take Away From Yours

Choosing infant care can feel enormous—especially when you’re leaving your baby with someone outside your family for the first time.

A quality infant program should understand that.

We aren’t just building a relationship with your baby. We’re building one with you, too.

At Young Scholars Academy, we believe parents should feel like they are part of their child’s day, even when they can’t physically be here. Communication, consistency and trust between families and teachers are a huge part of providing great infant care.

Because ultimately, we’re working toward the exact same thing:

A baby who feels safe, loved, understood and surrounded by people who care about them.

You will always be your baby’s parent. Childcare doesn’t change that.

It simply gives you a few more people in your corner.