After-School to All-Day Care: Helping Kids Adjust to More Time with a Sitter

As the school year starts to come to an end, it’s a great time to start the transition from after-school to all-day care. Spending more time with a sitter can be daunting for kids, especially if they are used to solely after-school care for just a couple of hours until you come home from work.

Even when your kids and your sitters get along great, it’s weird when they’re suddenly spending all day with their sitter, even if they’re aware of the upcoming change. Knowing about it and actually experiencing it are very different, especially if your kids don’t have a previous concept or knowledge of spending all day with their sitter. Luckily, before and during this transition period, your actions can further help your kids adjust to spending more time with a sitter.

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Communicate with your Kids

The best way to help your kids adjust to more time with a sitter is to tell them ahead of time what to expect. Tell your kids that as schedules change, they will be in the hands of their sitter all day. This isn’t something you should keep as a surprise or just assume your kids know–by telling them what will happen, they can start to prepare for this adjustment themselves. They know what is coming and will not be blindsided or bamboozled when all-day care arrives.

Listen to your children if they have any concerns about all-day care. While it’s not the easiest time to find a full-time sitter, if they wouldn’t feel comfortable with your current sitter all day, you may need to make some adjustments.

Gradual Transition

Utilizing a gradual transition will definitely help kids adjust to more time with a sitter. Look at a calendar to see how much time you have until you plan to make the switch to all-day care and map out your transition goals. You can slowly give your sitter extra time to spend with your kids, whether it increases by fifteen or thirty minutes or even a full hour. The time you increase depends on how long you have until you need to fully transition into all-day care.

A gradual transition like this can help your kids get used to spending more time with your sitter than just after school and set them up for success in the summer or in upcoming all-day care. Sometimes, it can be so gradual that they don’t even notice it until you’re fully there!

Show Excitement

Your kids are going to act according to how they see you act. If you look sad when you say goodbye to your children in the morning, they’re going to be sad! But if you show excitement and reassure your kids that they’re going to have a great time with your sitter today, they will feel much more confident and safe throughout the day.

This will help your kids adjust to more time with a sitter because they will see that it’s nothing to fear. In fact, they’ll see it’s a great thing to spend more time with your sitter!

In addition to this, keep goodbyes short in the morning. The longer you linger around before your sitter comes over to take over all-day care, your children’s adjustment may be slower and more difficult.

Keep Routines Consistent

Children thrive on a nice and consistent routine. Now that there is no set structure of school, it’s up to you and your sitter to set and enforce that consistent routine. You can start by leaving at the same time each day. Even if your child is upset and begs you to stay, staying for even an extra hour can end up throwing them off. They might start to expect you to stay that extra time every day and become more confused if you don’t. While you and your children will miss each other, routine is going to help them adjust more quickly.

A good routine includes consistent hours for your sitter, designated snack and lunch times, play times, and, if applicable, time to work on their summer assignments to prepare for the next school year. Work together with your sitter to establish a good schedule that will help your children throughout the day, and allot time for what you want. Playing together can help your kids and babysitter bond even further, so it can be a good idea to plan fun activities for them to do. If you want to give a little bit of screen time each day, make sure it remains consistent so your kids don’t get too confused.

When your children know what to expect each day, it makes the transition and adjustment much easier.

By following these steps, you can truly help your kids adjust to more time with a sitter when changing from after-school to all-day care. It can be scary for your children, but you need to help them by setting them up for success and easing into the change together.