The long lazy days of summer are almost behind us and yet another school year appears on the horizon. While there’s a little bit of time left for backyard barbeques, beach days, and blueberry cobblers, it’s best to start preparing your little ones to go back to daycare.
Daycare is a place where your child spends a large portion of their day, so it’s important to send them with all the things they’ll need to be comfortable–and will help the daycare teachers and staff keep everything in order among the children.
So what are those daycare must-haves for your child? Check out this list of essentials!
Silicone Bibs with Catch Pouch
For the youngest daycare attendees, packing bibs is a no-brainer. But the best kind of bib to send your child to daycare with are the silicone bibs with the little pouch in front. Not only are these bibs super easy to clean, requiring only a wipe with a cloth, they are also great at containing mealtime messes, thanks to the food-catching pouch. Plus, these bibs can pull double duty during crafts and activity time!
Washable Name Labels
Labels, labels, labels. Seriously, put a label with your child’s name on everything that belongs to your little one, from bottles and diaper bags to shoes and clothes. And to ensure the labels last for a long time, purchase labels that can be washed in the washing machine and the dishwasher. Some companies even offer name stamps as options, so you can easily stamp your child’s name on clothes. A word of advise - if it detaches, label it! That mean bottle necks, Bottles itself, Bottle caps etc...
Clips
The clips we often think about are the mini workhorses of the home—the ones that seal bags of chips tight and hold stray hairs in place. So what type of clips should you put in your child’s daycare supply kit? The ones that ensure pacifiers, winter gloves, and other items that can easily be dropped, misplaced, or lost ultimately stay connected to their little owner.
Bottles & Diapers
For infants, sending along bottles of breast milk or formula is necessary. Be sure to ask the daycare if they’d like to receive the breast milk thawed or frozen—this will depend on what they have for available storage in their facilities. If you feed your baby formula, you can pre-prepare the bottles in the way that the daycare prefers, whether with formula only added to the bottles (so water can be added later) or with water only added to the bottles (so formula can be added later). Don’t forget to label every bottle that belongs to your child!
In addition, you’ll want to send enough diapers, wipes, and other related items with your child for each day.
Extra Clothes
It’s inevitable that your child will soil an outfit every now and again, whether because of diaper blowouts, mealtime spills, muddy outdoor play, or a host of other situations. So it’s important to pack extra clothes for your child to bring to daycare. For babies, send two or three extra sets of pajamas, and for toddlers, two or three extra outfits should suffice. Be mindful of the changing seasons and daily weather when you pack clothes. And don’t forget to send an extra pair of shoes!
Start Your Child’s Daycare Education Off Right at Cresthill Academy
We get it. Choosing a daycare for your child is no easy matter. But when you’ve chosen the daycare center that meets the needs of your family, you can rest assured that your little one—and every blankie and bottle and bib you send with them—is in good hands.
Cresthill Academy is that daycare center for many families throughout New Jersey. Our locations, which include Harrison, Hoboken Uptown, Hoboken Downtown, East Hanover, and Lyndhurst, New Jersey, are convenient and centrally located. As a premier daycare, we offer:
A well-balanced and innovative educational curriculum for multiple ages
Chef-created, 100% organic meals and snacks
A robust enrichment program to introduce children to dance, soccer, sports and more
Holistic and chemical-free cleaning approaches to address contaminants, bacteria, and viruses, including COVID-19
To learn more about us, contact Cresthill Academy today and schedule a tour. We’re New Jersey’s visionary child day care and preschool and offer a variety of day care programs for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.