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We started daycare at 13 months and she did great! She's usually very cautious, but warmed up right away (new toys! exciting!) and has only cried at drop off one week when she was teething and not sleeping well). We did a week of transition though, so it wasn't a shock to either of our systems!

Hope you have a similar experience - and you're right, kids are really adaptable.

We started L at 12 months and he was upset the first few drop offs, but when we picked him up he was happy as a clam. It's been 6 months and there are good drop offs and bad drop offs and I think that will be the way it is for the entirety of his Daycare experience.

@gilmoregirl: a lot of daycares will let you do a "transition" at least one day (sometimes more) in advance.

I started back to work on a Monday, but the week before I had two days that I went to the daycare with LO. The first day, we went together and she just "met" her teachers and I explained her eating/sleeping schedule and they even had me feed her a bottle in front of them, just so they could see how LO interacts. The second day, I dropped her off for just 3 hours and then picked her up.

Then the next Monday, I dropped her off for the full day and she was there while I went to work for the first time since having her.

LO started just about at the same age as your LO. He has never had issues with being away from me though so his transition was easy also over here (we're abroad) there's a transition period where one parent stays with LO in the beginning. Maybe something like that would help your LO transition more easierly.

@gilmoregirl: For the week leading up to our start date, we visited. The first day, we were there 30-45 minutes (I stayed with her), the second day we were there an hour, the third day I left her for an hour or so, the fourth day I left her for a couple of hours, and then on the last day, she had lunch there with the kids. I took her in later than usual on her first official day too.

We started at 10 months and it was really, really rough. She was at the height of separation anxiety and had never been left anywhere (we had babysitters but always at home). We had also just moved too so it was a lot of change. Oh, and she only went 2 days per week which made it harder. We temporarily went 3 days per week which helped a lot. Eventually she stopped crying all day and now she loves it! She was the worst case any of the teachers and directors had seen, but after a month it was ancient history, so I'm confident you will get through it!

@gilmoregirl: For us, it was rough as well, but E started at 17 months after a couple months of daddy daycare. It was a tough 2.5 weeks where he cried with drop-off and pickup. (He would cling to us while we gathered his stuff like we were going to leave him again. ) But they do so many activities and the teachers are so involved and engaging that he slowly warmed up to it, and now he's excited to go! I despaired that the crying would last, but it just took time.

My son was 2 when he started. It wasn't easy. He would cry every day for 3 weeks when it was time to go. The first week I stayed several hours every day (but he was only there half days anyway). Once he got used to it, he really blossomed and liked going.

My DD is actually starting daycare tomorrow at 13 months. She has had a regular sitter since she was 4 months though, so at least she is used to being away from me. Hopefully it will be a smoother transition for her.