daycare

Hi,

My twins will be starting daycare in two weeks. They will be 5 months old at that point. I wanted to know if any of you have your twins in daycare. If so, when did they start? How long are they in daycare? How did they adjust? Basically, I want to know some of your experiences.

Thanks so much!!!

 

My twinkies have been in daycare since they were about five weeks old. I know that is young, but I had no more maternity leave (I teach school) and it would have been a nightmare to get everything ready for a sub for a few more weeks. I have had the same at home daycare provider since my five year old was six weeks old. They love her. She is an extension of our family. They are so good at her house and her daughters have really taken to the twins. I am very comfortable with my kids there and they are very well adjusted. I keep them going about twice a week in the summer so that they stay in routine and so that she still has some income from us over the summer. Good luck, I am sure your twins will do fine.

 

My guys are starting in 2 weeks preschool/daycare. I am curious to hear your responses to this thread as well, thanks for starting it.

 

We started daycare when the twinkies were 12 weeks old. I work 2-3 days a week - so they are not there full time. They love my daycare provider! For a while, Allison would only smile for Debbie - kind of made me sad that she didn't smile for me. I have a good realtionship with my provider - we have had the two older kids there for almost five years (my daughter was 8 weeks when I started my job and Debbie has been my only provider)

My biggest suggestion is this - have everything ready that you need to take the night before. We still have a hard time getting all four kids out the door in the morning and making sure we have everything done ahead of time is a big thing.

Good luck!
Angel

 

I work part time, and have my kids in day while I am work. I have a great center thay will help get them to and from the car. It's crazy in the morning, and when we come home from school, but my 3 year old complains the days she doesn't get to go because she likes it so much. Keep as much stuff at daycare as they will let you (diapers, extra clothes, extra wipes.) I actually have 2 diaper bags - one for going out places with the girls, and one set up for daycare days that I repack with the tings I need to take to school.

I would suggest you take a day and do a dry run of getting everyone ready on time before you have to start them in daycare. It always take longer than I think it should or will, but we're getting much better. Let's just say the first day I had to drop everyone off, I got up about 4 to be at work by 7:30, and I live 15 minutes from daycare, and daycare is 6 minutes from work. We're much better on time now.

The one thing no one warned me about was how hard emotionally it was going to be to leave them. They started at 8 weeks. I think I called back 3 times the first day to check on them. The girls all did better than I did, I think. They all love it now.

IF that doesn't help, or you have specific questions, just let me know.
Emily

 

QUOTE(EKM @ Jul 21 2007, 02:36 PM) [snapback]339870[/snapback]
I work part time, and have my kids in day while I am work. I have a great center thay will help get them to and from the car. It's crazy in the morning, and when we come home from school, but my 3 year old complains the days she doesn't get to go because she likes it so much. Keep as much stuff at daycare as they will let you (diapers, extra clothes, extra wipes.) I actually have 2 diaper bags - one for going out places with the girls, and one set up for daycare days that I repack with the tings I need to take to school.

I would suggest you take a day and do a dry run of getting everyone ready on time before you have to start them in daycare. It always take longer than I think it should or will, but we're getting much better. Let's just say the first day I had to drop everyone off, I got up about 4 to be at work by 7:30, and I live 15 minutes from daycare, and daycare is 6 minutes from work. We're much better on time now.

The one thing no one warned me about was how hard emotionally it was going to be to leave them. They started at 8 weeks. I think I called back 3 times the first day to check on them. The girls all did better than I did, I think. They all love it now.

IF that doesn't help, or you have specific questions, just let me know.
Emily



I totally agree with Emily about keeping things there at the daycare! My provider tells me when she is getting low on diapers/wipes/breastmilk/ etc. and I just send a stockpile there (as well as leaving a couple of outfits there at all times for when there are accidents.) This makes the morning so much easier - we just have to get all the kids ready and out the door (sometimes easier said than done!)

I hope all goes well!

 

QUOTE(dan&gab2007 @ Jul 20 2007, 09:04 PM) [snapback]339522[/snapback]
Hi,

My twins will be starting daycare in two weeks. They will be 5 months old at that point. I wanted to know if any of you have your twins in daycare. If so, when did they start? How long are they in daycare? How did they adjust? Basically, I want to know some of your experiences.

Thanks so much!!!


My girls just started daycare two weeks ago at 4 months old. They've done so well! They love watching the other kids and we are getting into a nice nap schedule too. Plus I think they were getting bored at home. Of course after 4 days we all got a cold, but I figure they will build up their immune systems now so when they start school they will never get sick!

All in all, its been a positive for us... after two weeks I'm very happy with our decision on this center. And I think starting them now before they go into the whole 'stranger anxiety' phase is a good idea too. Good luck! -Leighann

 

We put them in daycare at 3 months and a few days. I was wrapping up my maternity leave, so we slowly 'built' their day from a few hours to a full day. They are in a family daycare (mixed ages). We loved the place and they were doing well. Unfortunately Jake got a cold in may that was pretty bad, and another cold in July that landed him in the hopsital. He's fine, but we have to pull them out. Our pedi recommended we give him another year to build up his lungs.

We loved the daycare, it's just with Jake being so little when he was born, he is vulnerable. Becca got the same cold and we didn't even keep her home.

I'm really upset about it, because i loved the stimulation they got at daycare, I just don't know if a nanny will be the same. Plus everyone loved them, they were the only infants.

We always made a big batch of formula the night before and we would drop off wipes once a week and big loads of diapers. We also left clothes there. We had to provide stuff (double stroller, pack n play) which was a pain, but overall it was great!

Miriam

 

We have had the boys in a daycare center since they were 12 weeks old (when maternity leave ended). We have been sick a lot but the boys LOVE their school. And, the great thing is that the teachers LOVE the boys. They have joked all along that they didn't want the boys to crawl until they were two so that they could stay in the same class forever. And honestly now that they are crawling I'm really sad about having to move them up to the next room.

If you treat your daycare as an extension of your care (i.e. talk to them about what the babies are doing during the day, call and check on them, enjoy the fact that your babies have some other special people in their lives, and remember that the babies love Mommy and Daddy the most), you will not regret your decision. It's hard at first and it's hard if they get sick, but I know it was a good decision for our family and I think it is beneficial to give them that time out. They get a decent amount of stimulation during the day and they get a good bit of one on one time...which at home I always felt like they were only getting half of me all day, ya know?

I too recommend packing your bag the night before. Keep as much stuff at the daycare as possible. Some daycares provide a lot of things for you. Our daycare provides bibs, wipes (unless they are allergic), spoons and bowls. Talk to the daycare about helping you to and from your car. Or make a plan to take your stroller in and out (which is what I do everyday).

Other minor things...send along a few disposable cameras so the teachers can capture cute moments for you. This will also help ease your mind tremendously when you see in the pictures that your kids are having a great time. I also recommend ordering these cute rubber bands from bumpyname.com (or some other kind of labels that stay put). It will help keep your kids bottles separate from all others and they never come off. Dishwasher safe too.

I really hope that helps and you and the kids adjust quickly. Shannon