https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 28 May 2026 00:34:09 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2517543 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:36:09 +0000 CakeLady 2517543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. We used to just feed LO dinner - leftovers, really simple stuff (cottage cheese, apple sauce, cucumber cut up, frozen sausages) - and eat later. Recently we moved his bedtime back so we could eat together. It took about a month but now he is able to wait a little longer. We often try and get him involved in cooking, it distracts him and he will eat a little bit of what we are cutting up.</p> <p>2. We sometimes don't - we also only have one lovely and one favorite blanket - or we try and do it first thing in the morning on the weekends so it is ready by nap time. I prioritize DS sleeping well over having clean stuff. Maybe I'm just gross :silly: </p> <p>3. We run in to this too. I think full-day day care is pretty stimulating for him so it is nice for him just to have downtime on the weekends. We try to talk about the fun things we are going to do when we go out and build up some anticipation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2517526 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:08:32 +0000 daniellemybelle 2517526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: When LO was in daycare, she usually had a snack on the ride home. We also considered getting a duplicate of her lovey but ended up just washing it on the weekends. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2517512 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:48:30 +0000 mediagirl 2517512@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. How on earth do you manage to survive the 15-30 minutes it takes to get food on the table with hangry overtired children?!? For the love....<br /> --Snacks. Veggies and fruit. Applesauce pouches. Activities for them to do. </p> <p>2. How do you manage to ever wash blankets/loveys that go to school? I feel like there is never enough time that I am actually home to do a full load of laundry without someone needing to sleep and needing their lovey!<br /> --We wash everything once a week. I bring it all home on Friday and it all gets washed sometime over the weekend. </p> <p>3. Did anyone else's kids never want to leave the house after starting daycare? My 3 year old loves his school and doesn't mind going to school, but when we are not at school he just wants to be home all.the.time. I totally get that he wants the downtime (we do too) but this is a huge change in his personality/preferences. Before starting daycare he always wanted to go places! Does this change over time or should we just embrace it?<br /> --It could just be a big change for him so now he's really loving spending time in his own space. He rules the roost here, not so much at daycare. Embrace it for now. Encourage him to try other things, though. </p> <p>Sounds like things are going well otherwise! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2517360 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 13:39:56 +0000 Ajsmommy 2517360@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. Snacks, snacks and snacks. Luckily daycare does an afternoon snack so when I pick up DD and we get home I offer her a drink and snack. Sometimes she's really hungry and sometimes she's not at all</p> <p>2. This is tough for us!!! When she was younger we interchanged her soft/fuzzy blankets with ease. She didn't care.. UNTIL she got a little older and then BAM she got attached to one, and only one. We have two that are identical except for color (one is pink and one is yellow) but she won't interchange them it's ONLY THE YELLOW one and it's a nightmare. I hate to admit that sometimes it goes too long without being washed but my tactics are to snatch it early in the morning and do laundry really quickly. So on Saturday morning we can distract her long enough with making breakfast or playing that I can snatch it and wash it. Sometimes if we are running a load in the morning during the week before she goes to daycare we can throw it in then too. </p> <p>3. no. DD is an outdoor kid. Always wants to go to the playground etc. So I have no advice on this... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516989 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 10:07:53 +0000 Mrs D 2516989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: I only have input on 1 and 2...</p> <p>1) I make a casserole on Sunday that DD can eat and likes. This way...if she is melting down, over tired, needs food immediately I can just microwave it and she is happy. Usually a pasta or rice casserole which I know she loves. It helps on nights where she just cant wait to eat with us or does not want what we have!</p> <p>2) We dont have this issue bc DD never took to any blanket/lovey in particular. But my sister has this issue..."silky" being gone is a life or death situation. So they bought a back up for when "silky needs a bath"...so they have a duplicate silky. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516882 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 09:10:25 +0000 dagret 2516882@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion:<br /> 1. car snacks! The car and their seats are a mess but I don't have hangry meltdowns on the way home. I pick them up by 5 and give them a small car snack, and then sometimes another small snack before dinner (we eat at 6:30.) something like chunks of cheese for DS, 3, or frozen peas for DD, 13 months, so i don't feel like they totally sabotage their dinner.<br /> 2. doubles! I'm lucky though, DS doesn't need a lovey at night<br /> 3. He might be getting used to leaving the house every day - i would give him some time and start with just little events - personally *I* feel like this every weekend and DH wants to DO BIG FAMILY THINGS and it's exhausting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516840 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:46:01 +0000 Littlebit 2516840@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do appetizers while dinner is getting ready. </p> <p>So fruit that I've already pre-cut (strawberries, pineapples, apples). Or raisins, whole grain pretzels, cheerios. Something that will take the edge off but that wont be something that makes him want to ignore dinner for (fig newtons, fruit snacks, peanut butter crackers). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516822 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:37:05 +0000 gingerbebe 2516822@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: I forgot to mention we have a 20 minute ride home from daycare during which DS gets a sippy of water and a rice cake. We get either cinnamon apple ones or those rice rollers from Costco. It looks sizeable to him but it's mostly puffed air and it takes him a while to eat one (19 months). If he's in dad's car he gets 1-2 graham crackers, which is a little more filling and we can push dinner a few more minutes then and I don't worry about his carb intake at dinner. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516817 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:31:43 +0000 Anagram 2516817@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: </p> <p>1) my LO is pretty used to the schedule at this point, so she has a snack at school around 3 (or at home with the nanny on those days), and then she eats dinner at 6. She doesn't really need anything in between that.</p> <p>2) We have triples of everything and we wash each weekend. Then the blanket/lovey for school stays at school all week.</p> <p>3) she's still happy to leave the house for errands or to go to the park with me </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516796 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:18:53 +0000 nana87 2516796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. LO is a big snacker. She barely eats that much for dinner but that doesn't bother me. She eats a lot of the dinner components while dh is cooking dinner (she watches from a step stool and asks for things he's preppign)</p> <p>2. daycare blankets stay at school and they wash them. She doesn't actually have a lovey...</p> <p>3. she still always wants to go places. maybe it's a transition thing for your lo? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516785 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:13:23 +0000 snowjewelz 2516785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can only answer #2, since DD only goes part-time so #1 doesn't apply and #3 doesn't really apply either.</p> <p>Her crib sheet, blanket and lovey for daycare are only for daycare so we wash it over the weekend and bring it back the next week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516773 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:01:09 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2516773@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. We just try for a healthy snack on the way home. Cheese stick or raisins or something like that. Now that they are older, its easier to let them snack in the car, play when they get home, and hope they are hungry again when dinner is ready. We got stuck if we try to have them sit for a snack when they get home because then its too close to dinner. </p> <p>2. We just wash blankets on the weekends. No loveys here. </p> <p>3. Weekend mornings are usually our home time. By mid morning/afternoon they are usually ready to head out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516768 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 07:55:36 +0000 looch 2516768@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: What do you mean, that he doesn't want to go places, like on the weekends? </p> <p>I noticed my son became like this when he started going to daycare as well. He started at age 2, I went back to work, so on the weekends he likes to be with us. As time has gone on, he's learned that when we say we're going somewhere on the weekend, it means we're staying with him, as opposed to leaving him there, so we're able now to venture out a tiny bit more than we used to. </p> <p>My husband is a total homebody though. It's difficult in the winter when we have no where to go. In the summer, we're at the pool, so that helps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516760 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 07:43:48 +0000 Adira 2516760@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. Pouches!! If the kids are starving to death, I give them each a pouch while I go ahead and make dinner. Or sometimes even just a cup of milk works.</p> <p>2. Loveys x2! Both my kids have a lovey that goes to daycare with them and one (or multiple) that stay home. Everything gets washed on the weekend after nap so that they can have their home lovey back before bedtime.</p> <p>3. No advice on this one. We're homebodies, so the kids wanting to stay home works for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516728 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 07:12:03 +0000 Mamaof2 2516728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. give her a snack at pick up to eat in the car<br /> 2. As soon as you walk in the door Friday afternoon throw the nap mat and blanket/lovey into the wash - the lovey will be clean and dry before bed<br /> 3. no advice there </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516680 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 05:17:03 +0000 Pumuckl 2516680@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. Ugh, this is the bane of my existence. For me it's either tough it out or get them something small to snack on. But when doing the later they don't always eat properly at dinner so I try not to do that all the time. I try to teach my 3 year old that it is actually ok to be hungry shortly before dinner. But the whining...</p> <p>2. We have a seperate daycare lovey. Maybe he could choose something to bring to daycare that he will accept? The blankets come home every two weeks on the weekend and they either get laundert then or we bring a different one the following monday.</p> <p>3. We usually go home after daycare but will either play outside or inside depending on weather and what they feel up to. When dad does pick up they often go run errands. My toddler has said before that he wants to go home because he wants to play with his toys. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516615 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 22:27:04 +0000 gingerbebe 2516615@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. I basically cook on the weekends and just reheat during the week. I portion smaller bits and pieces of stuff into tupperwares for DS and I can get him a meal in under 5 minutes. I keep steamed carrots, frozen peas and corn, cut up sausages, and portions of leftovers like pasta or spaghetti or rice and throw it on his EZPZ mat with a sippy of milk. Freezer always has meatballs, nuggets, and turkey corn dogs as backup and I also keep chopped fruit to throw on there as dessert. I can then quickly nuke our leftovers and join him at the table while DH sits with a glass of water and hangs out with him.</p> <p>2. We have like 20 loveys, no joke, because DS chews on them before falling asleep. So he gets a fresh one every night and every day in his daycare bag. He also has 4 sets of his blanket/pillow set - one for crib, one for daycare, and then the other two as backups if they get gross midweek. </p> <p>3. DS isn't a homebody per se but he is introverted and wants to be with both DH and I on the weekends - he's always happiest then. If we do go out, it's either church on Sunday or the park behind our house so I guess he sees it as a routine place that is okay with him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516543 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:37:49 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2516543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds like I'm going to need a lot more loveys! :) Thank you everyone for the tips! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516536 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:33:00 +0000 catomd00 2516536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. Small snack on car ride home. Meal prep as much as possible in advance.</p> <p>2. We have 3 loveys. One stayed at daycare all week. On Friday when we brought her sheet home, they'd both get washed and brought back Monday.</p> <p>3 haven't experienced this, but it seems natural that kids who are away from home during the week would wAnt to relax in their own environment and play with their own toys on the weekend, especially if they're more introverted! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516526 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:25:51 +0000 catlady 2516526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. We literally don't cook after daycare. Everything is made beforehand (usually the night before) and then we reheat it. It limits what we can eat but logistically, doing it this way has saved our sanity. We make more interesting meals on the weekends when we have more time. I also give LO a snack on the way home because she is always hungry as soon as I pick her up (usually cheese and raw veggies). </p> <p>2. I pick up her sheets and blanket on Friday, wash them over the weekend, and bring them back in on Monday. I couldn't even wash them more frequently because the teachers keep the stuff inside the classroom during the week and only put them back in her cubby on Friday afternoon.</p> <p>3. No idea about this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516523 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:22:42 +0000 Mae 2516523@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. I don't know... she isn't that hungry after school? I guess I'd maybe hand her some crackers or something? ETA: We eat dinner a little later (630ish, we get home from daycare at 515) and I always send extra food to school to give LO with her afternoon snack because I figure she needs a big snack to tide her over until dinner... it seems to work.</p> <p>2. Backups! We have 3 crib sheets, 3 sleep sacks, and 3 loveys. One of each goes to school and one is used at home with one in her closet in case something gets dirty. Everything comes home from daycare on Friday and I pack the stuff from the closet and wash the stuff from daycare then that gets recycled to LO's room and the stuff that was in her room gets washed and moved to the closet. Her lovey is a stuffed bunny and once she got attached to it I just bought extras and I rotate them frequently so they are wearing the same and she doesn't seem to realize that there is more than one lol. </p> <p>3. She doesn't "never want to leave" but she is happier at home! I'm embracing it because I'm tired. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516519 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:19:27 +0000 lovehoneybee 2516519@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1) Small snack in the car on the way home (a few pretzels, usually), lots of meal planning and prep.<br /> 2) Doubles! I bring them home and wash them on the weekend! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516518 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:16:45 +0000 peachykeen 2516518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. Same as @Smurfette: about giving her leftovers and eating later. If I finish cooking before bedtime she will sometimes have a few bites of what we are eating too. </p> <p>2. Our daycare doesn't want LO bringing loveys and luckily they launder nap blankets there. If I have to wash her jacket or back up clothes, I just run a load as soon as we get home and it's ready by bedtime/morning.</p> <p>3. LO has been in daycare since she was 11 weeks old, so I don't have an answer for this one - she's actually started begging to go to the park on the way home every day. I would guess maybe he just needs some time to get used to the new normal? Hope it gets better! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516506 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:58:06 +0000 shortcake 2516506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Perhaps daycare can give him a snack before the end of the day. Or you can give him something small right away after pick up, like raisins, Apple slices, a cracker or cheese stick. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516495 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:40:56 +0000 Smurfette 2516495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We eat after she goes to bed so she gets leftovers from the night before. But when DH travels I will eat with her but it is easy stuff since the two of us and she is so picky. </p> <p>We bring her a new blanket every Monday, uses it all week, and the take home on Friday. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516494 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:38:13 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2516494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: oh definitely not daily! They only get washed...monthly?? before daycare. But now I feel bad sending them to school gross haha. I guess I just need to stay more on top of my weekend laundry so we don't miss naptime ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516493 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:37:59 +0000 Canoli 2516493@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ah I love #1! This is by far our biggest struggle. We usually don't get home until around 6pm and we start bath time routine at 7pm so this hour is just complete and utter chaos and I wish we had it figured out. Some days my kids have snacks for dinner and other days they manage to eat dinner. Honestly it's a shit show for us right now and I keep telling myself it will pass and it will get better. This is one of the things I dislike about being a working parent! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516491 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:33:27 +0000 yoursilverlining 2516491@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. LO's daycare feeds a snack around 4:30. She also usually has a small snack (Dixie cup of cereal) on the car ride home<br /> 2. I hope you are not trying to wash it everyday! Ain't nobody got time for that! :silly: if it needs to be washed midweek, I run laundry either as soon as we get home (which wouldn't help if they need lovey for bedtime), so your other option is to snag it as soon as they fall asleep and then run laundry late. :bummed:<br /> 3. My LO is a homebody - but she's been in daycare since she was an infant so I have no idea if daycare impacts this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516490 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:32:19 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2516490@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: when my so. Is hungry before dinner he gets some veggies to snack on! I don't mind if he fills up on those! </p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-noobie-questions#post-2516485 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:24:13 +0000 yellowbird 2516485@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: sometimes I will give my son tiny bits of dinner before everything is prepared so he's snacking, but it's what he's going to eat anyway so it works out. Like if I'm making pasta with veggies and the veggies are done I'll give him a few, or cut up some cucumber I'm putting in a salad </p>