Working Mom Planning Series: Choosing and Preparing for Daycare

When your maternity leave inevitably ends, working moms have to find some type of childcare during the weekdays (or any workday) to take over until you’re home.

I chose to go with a well-known daycare facility in my area. This post will outline the various childcare options, my selection and research process, and the steps to prepare your child for daycare.

I highly recommend that you get on a few waitlists as soon as you can. The best time is now! I went on the waitlist for my first daughter when I was 5 months pregnant and managed to get into the daycare I wanted by taking the first offered timeslot. I was then able to change her schedule and get full-time after she’s been going to daycare for a few months.

There’s a Daycare Research Bundle freebie below to help you in your search for the right daycare for your child.

The Importance of Choosing Quality Childcare

The first 3 years (or some say the first 1000 days from conception) is a crucial time to lay the foundation for your child’s lifelong health and wellness. The brain grows to 80% of an adult’s brain by age 3, and 90% of adult brain size by age 5. This is also the exact period your child will be needing childcare before entering kindergarten.

Finding a quality daycare and childcare is important for so many reasons, but most of all, the cognitive and socio-emotional development in your baby.

If you are planning to keep your baby home for the first 3 years or have a grandparent to provide the sole childcare replacement (like many families do for cultural reasons), I urge you to think again for all of the reasons outlined above.

Please note for the purposes of my daycare selection process and research below, I am going by my daughter’s needs which are neurotypical, and without any special needs or medical concerns.

Types of Childcare Available

While all of these childcare options offer “part-time” or “full-time“, you’ll need to understand the parameters around the operating hours for each option you’re considering.

• Daycare Facility: most daycare facilities are run like a school with extended hours. Drop-offs can start anywhere from 7am with pick-ups before 5:30pm. Some facilities are play-based, some have specified curriculums, and others follow certain principles like Montessori.
• In-home Daycare: in-home daycares are often run by stay at home moms out of their own homes. This means that they will set the hours and the day can be shorter than the typical daycare facility hours of operation.
• Nanny: if you are looking for 1 on 1 care for your little one, this is the way to go. It will be the least cost effective if you only have one child, but it will provide that quality of care (assuming they have their accreditations, experience and CPR license) you’ll probably want for your child.
• Nanny Share: you can find a family near by who can “share” your nanny by having the nanny look after both of your children.
• Au Pairs: this is for families that have an extra room and they can host someone abroad who will be living with the family to learn their language in exchange for childcare. There is a huge variation in the quality of au pairs you’ll find, as well as other important guidelines you must follow for them to qualify as an au pair.
• Babysitter / Mother’s helper: this would be ideal for a working mom who is perhaps working from home and have a flexible schedule, and just need someone to supervise and care for the child. This would not be the most conducive to facilitate learning in your child, but it will be a cost effective way to provide part-time care while you work.
• Family (usually a grandparent): a grandmother (usually) who will provide part-time or full-time care for your baby. While having a family member care for your child is wonderful for bonding, most grandparents don’t have the knowledge or tools to help facilitate early childhood learning or provide an environment for socio-emotional development.

Grandparent or Daycare?

I will start by saying I have the privilege of having both my parents and my husband’s parents available to help. Yet, I chose to enroll both of my daughters in the same full-time daycare facility.

My 3 main reasons for choosing daycare over grandparent’s care:

1. Caring for a toddler as an elderly person is hard work. Heck, it’s hard work even when you’re in your 20s or 30s running around after a toddler all day. So many grandparents resort to screens because of sheer exhaustion. I wanted our parents to enjoy the grandkids with their good health intact. Instead, I ask each grandma to help with 1 pick-up a week.
2. One (or two) grandparent(s) cannot provide peer group socio-emotional development. Toddlers and young children need to learn how to socialize in their own peer group and with other adults outside of their immediate family. It is especially to have children properly socialized before age 4 so they can really swim like fish in water when they inevitably go to kindergarten and further schooling. Young children will also learn from other young children (good or bad) and be motivated to be more self-sufficient earlier.
3. Grandparents are not trained to be early childhood educators. Yes, they raised you and your sibling(s) but that was over two decades ago in a different…dare I say, world? They also lack the tools and the knowledge to truly enrich the rapidly developing baby’s brains. You’ll be surprised how much your child can learn from a quality daycare.

Choosing a Quality Daycare

If you start your search by typing in “daycare near me” into Google, you’ll have a whole list of options at your fingertips. However, reading the Google reviews will not suffice since many may not even have reviews. You’ll need to dig much deeper.

Top questions and considerations when choosing a daycare:

Daycare Research Bundle – *FREE DOWNLOAD*

As my gift to you, I have created the ultimate Daycare Research Bundle for you to download for free. You can also *click* the image below to get your bundle.

In this all-in-one bundle, you will get:

1. My top tips to get into a daycare,
2. My Daycare Research one-pager that has everything you need on what to look for in a daycare
3. Sample page on how I fill out the research one-pager,
4. Additional questions to ask your daycare provider to REALLY dig in deep,
5. A page for all of your additional notes when you go on a tour or get on a call with the daycare provider.

Print it or save it to your computer/iPad! 🙂

My (pandemic) gradual entry for my daughter for part-time 3 days:

• Day 1: Drop off in the morning (parents were recommended to leave immediately so children cannot see them lingering). Breakfast and some playtime. Total 2 hours.
• Day 2: Drop off in the morning. Breakfast, play time and lunch. Total 3.5 hours.
• Day 3: Drop off in the morning. Breakfast, play time and lunch, attempt one nap. Total 5 hours.
• Day 4 (aka week 2): If all went well for the first 3 days, full day.

Thankfully my daughter transitioned well and I did not receive any calls during the gradual entry period to do any early pick-ups.

Note that under “normal” circumstances, parents are allowed in the classroom on the first day or two to help ease the transition for young babies.

I was worried and I definitely lingered around the window since her classroom had a window to the outside. The first 2 days were brutal and a huge cry-fest. It broke everyone’s hearts and many moms were seen with wet eyes outside.

Tips to make transitioning easier for both you and your child:

• If you are doing part-time daycare, try to get consecutive days (assuming this is an option). This will help your child understand that this is part of the routine.
• If you are debating between 2 or 3 days daycare, opt for 3 days so it is easier to get used to the new environment, teachers and students.
• Drop off your child, hug and kiss good-bye, tell her you will be back to pick them up and leave as they watch you go. Don’t linger!
• Pick-up your child yourself (instead of getting family or other help) during the first month for the transition. Tell them that mommy or daddy will always come back.
• Talk about the teachers and the students (using their names) at home. If the school sends photos/updates, make sure to mention it so they know you’re “with” them even when you aren’t physically there.

How to Get into Daycare in British Columbia, Canada

Updated April 2023

Finding quality childcare of any kind in the lower mainland is difficult to say the least. The well-known daycare facilities as well as any popular in-home daycare options have long waitlists. Most are 18 months or more.

I mentioned above that one of the most important considerations for applying for daycare is that the daycare itself is licensed and registered. This is starting April 2022, we have our new “$10 a Day” campaign in B.C. where the government is beginning to implement quality, affordable, universal child care.

$10 a Day Childcare is only for those facilities that are approved. This requires them to be licensed and registered with the government. Parents need NOT apply themselves.

Eligibility to get reduced child care fees:

1. Your child is enrolled in a licensed child care facility that is participating in the national child care program
2. You child is under the age of 6
3. You are paying more than $12 a day for child care

If you are on the waitlist for a quality daycare centre, they will have likely already applied. If they cannot get approval for $10 a Day, it is likely they have lowered their fees through the existing Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI) and Affordable Child Care Benefit (ACCB) programs.

My day care is not currently qualified for $10 a day, but through the CCFRI program, I have seen a reduction of $500 for the full-time daycare program. That’s a LOT of savings!

This is why it is so crucial to be on the waitlist for your desired daycare ASAP because more parents are likely applying to the daycares that previously were not accessible due to cost.

Tips to Get Into Daycare:

• Go on waitlist as soon as you find out you are in the safe zone (12 weeks pregnant).
• Sign up for daycare even if you do not have a name or time of when you might want to go back to work in mind. Fill in “TBA” for name, and pick the time for when your child turns 1 (Note: some daycares have an enrollment month like September).
• Once you’re on a waitlist, contact the daycare at least once every 6 months to check in and let them know you’re still interested!
• Take the first offered spot even if it’s not within your exact desired days. It’s always easier to switch or change afterwards.

Download my ultimate Daycare Research Bundle for free and have everything in one place!

If you did not get into your desired child care centre:

I highly recommend you take action, find and join local groups to get real time information on child care options near you.

• Facebook groups: local mommy groups, child care groups, nanny & nanny share groups.
• Reddit groups: local reddit forums.
• Local community centres: go in-person and see the bulletin boards.

This post was all about choosing and preparing for daycare for your infant and toddler.

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