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This week's topic is Day Care for the First-time Parent, with advice and opinions courtesy of Cindy Woodward, mother and Senior Producer for ParentsTalk and Circle 1 Network. Check back in the Experts' Advice collection of articles for parts two and three of her article.
Day Care for the First-time Parent
Putting your tiny new baby in day care for the first time can be a traumatic and emotional experience. Not only must you separate yourself from this wonderful child that you've come to love more and more each day over the last several weeks, you also have to adjust to strangers caring for him or her.
It seems that just as you've figured everything out, an entirely new set of questions pops up as that first day at day care closes in. Can I continue to breast feed if my baby is in day care all day? What type of formula is best? Powdered? Concentrated? What if I want to continue with cloth diapers? All these questions can cause sleepless nights.
I would recommend talking with the teachers or caregivers, asking what they prefer. They often will tell you to do what is easiest for you (because you are the customer – that's what they're supposed to say). But if you probe and ask what is easiest for them – what makes their days go smoother – the hope is that the end result will be more efficient care for your child.
Below I've outlined a few things that I learned during the first year of having my daughter in day care.
Feeding
Breast feeding
The decision to breast feed is difficult. It seems that by the time you've made the decision and become comfortable with the whole process, maternity leave is over and you have to decide if you want to continue after returning to work.
It is possible to continue to breast feed when returning to work.
If you work close to your day care facility and can schedule your lunch hour around feeding time, do it. I did this the first six months. I felt better that my baby had mommy close halfway through the day (OK... it was me being selfish for baby time).
If you don't work close to your day care center, but want to continue feeding your baby breast milk, pump and provide the milk to the center.
Note: There are a number of breast pumps on market and many pharmacies and hospitals rent the hospital-grade pumps for a monthly fee.
I would suggest that you take just enough milk for the day. In a busy day with lots of babies, it's easy to grab milk from the supply and you can't be guaranteed that they will use milk in the order you prefer. This could result in breast milk being tossed because the recommended freshness date has passed.
If you don't want the milk microwaved (experts recommend that breast milk never be microwaved), tell them that. Even if you have to put a note on the microwave that will be used for warming milk, do it. My center had daily sheets that were attached to a bulletin board for recording feeding/diapering/napping times – I used that sheet to record my own notes and daily requests.
Remember: Date everything.
Breast- or bottle-feeding during the day gives you the opportunity to get to know the staff at day care. After watching a couple of the caregivers working during the hour I was there, I felt more comfortable going back to work in the afternoon. I observed their work habits, their skills and, most importantly, their emotional attitude toward the babies. The attention given and interaction between the caregivers and the babies was very encouraging. (I was so impressed with one caregiver that I hired her for a much-needed night out with my husband. Not having any family members living in the state, we had gone four months without a night to ourselves.)
Bottle feeding
If your baby is on formula, you still can take your lunch hour and feed your baby a bottle in the middle of the day. Dads, you can go to day care for bottle feedings, too.
Whether you visit the center in the middle of the day or not, you should decide if you will provide the formula in an "add water" or "ready to serve" format. If you are using formula that needs water added and want to ensure that the mixture is the perfect ratio, mix it at home and provide it daily. I was at the center one day as they were mixing a bottle for my baby from powdered formula. I use 4-ounce bottles with 4-ounce plastic bag inserts, so I was concerned that the ratio might not be right. It's very difficult to get those bags to open perfectly every time and I felt better just providing the formula premixed and saving myself the worry.
Remember: Date everything.
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