Daycare drop-off and pickups are never easy, especially for moms working full time. There is so much hustle involved in preparing the baby daily in the morning as well as the actual drop-offs and pick-ups at the daycare.
Tips for Easy Daycare Drop-offs and Pick-ups
The main challenge for full-time working moms is the amount of time and effort that daycare drop-offs and pickups take. To make daycare drop-off and picks ups easier and more convenient, do the following;
1. Laying out Clothes the Previous Night
To save time the following morning, lay out your baby’s clothes(and your clothes too) the previous night ready for the morning. In the morning all you do is dress.
You are saving a lot of time otherwise used in finding and sorting the clothes in the morning. You will then manage to drop off the baby to daycare in time.
2. Pre-dress the Baby the Previous Night
Alternatively, you can dress the baby in the daycare clothes before they sleep. Dressing your baby in the morning that can take up a lot of time, especially if the baby is fussy. Pre-dressing eliminates the need to change from night clothes into fresh clothes for daycare in the morning, making the drop off in time.
3. Pre-pack the Daycare Bag Night Before
Ensure that you pack your baby’s daycare bag the night before. Include all the necessities needed, even lunch bag the night before rather than in the morning.
In the morning all you have to do is just pick the bag and leave. It saves you time and you are unlikely to forget necessary items in the morning rush.
4. Wake up Early
To avoid the rush of preparing for daycare and the drop off, ensure that you are waking up early. It will give you enough time for the drop-off and office hours in time without rushing.
If you need to leave home for daycare say from 6am, you need to be up by 4am so that you have an hour for preparation. If you prep for everything the night before, you may save up to 45 minutes and needs to be up by 0545hrs.
However to manage this you need to push your bedtime earlier to have adequate sleep.
Read: Things you Need to Know Before Starting Daycare
5. Select a Daycare Close to your Home or Office
A large part of making daycare drop-offs and pick-ups easy and convenient depends on the daycare the baby is enrolled in. Enroll your baby in a daycare that is close to you home or office. It reduces time spent commuting from home to daycare to office in the morning.
A daycare that is a long way out of your home or office will end up using too much commute time. It is a great advantage if your workplace offers daycare services. You will simply travel with your baby to work and from work.
6. Request for Favorable Daycare Operating Hours
What happens when you are late to pick up your baby, you are considered to be failing on your parental obligations by the daycare and they will issue a fine or penalty for this.When you are too late to pick up your child from daycare, your daycare may charge you for the extra time they remain open waiting for you.
Equally if you take your child to daycare too early you find them closed. If the daycare has to open early for you so that you can drop off your child, you will need to pay for this.
As such to avoid all these inconveniences when you need to drop in your child early or pick them up late, you need to request for favorable operating hours from your daycare. You need a daycare offering you early drop-offs and late pickups when you need them as your work may demand odd hours.
Some daycares may offer drop-off services. Often the drop-off point is a mall or another designated area agreed by the parents and the daycare.
Even if additional charges may apply, such favorable terms allows you more convenience and makes daycare easier and convenient for you. You can plan your daycare trips in a way that does not interfere with your work.
Read: Questions to ask During Daycare Tour
7. Delegate Daycare Drop offs and Picks offs
If you live with your partner, you can delegate/share these responsibilities between the two of you. Consider both your work schedules and convenience while coming up with a plan on dual daycare pick up and drop-offs so that it is convenient for both of you.
For instance, you can do the morning drops offs and your partner can do evening pickups. It becomes easier and less demanding than handling both daycare drop-offs in the morning and pickups in the evening.
Also, you can alternate with your partner on different days. That means you handle both drop-offs and picks up on some days and your partner handles the same on the others.
It may not necessarily be your partner. It can be any other family member or a friend helping you out.
Read: How to Get your Spouse to Help with Chores
8. Outsource Daycare Drop offs and Pickup Service
If you have the funds, consider hiring someone to help with daycare errands. The trade off in time saving and convenience is paramount for full time working moms. It is especially important if your daycare location and operating hours are not convenient with your work schedule.
In this case, you can hire someone to do the daycare drop offs and pick ups for you. Find a daycare pick-up and drop-off service near you. It may be a parent in your neighborhood with a child at the same daycare, an individual operating travel services, or any other agent offering daycare drop off and pick up services.
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