Crying at drop-off is not failure — it's attachment working exactly as designed. Our child life specialist Dr. Osei has guided 2,000+ first weeks, and her data is reassuring: with the right ritual, 9 out of 10 children settle within four days.
Start with a trial morning
Every enrollment includes a half-day observation with you on-site or nearby. Your child explores the rooms, meets their nurse, and learns that you always come back — before the first real goodbye ever happens.
Build a 90-second goodbye
Long farewells raise anxiety; crisp ones lower it. We help families design a ritual — same hug, same phrase, same window wave — and then we take it from there. Most tears stop within six minutes of the door closing (we time it, kindly).
Let the nurse be the bridge
Children who arrive needing medication or monitoring bond fastest: the nurse becomes “their” person within a day. Ask us to assign a primary nurse for week one — familiarity beats everything.
What to do at home
Talk about the center warmly, never sneak out, and avoid “big reward” bribes that frame daycare as something to endure. A simple “I'll pick you up after snack time” beats a toy promise every time.