And we all know are nice little angelic daycare children are so not going to behave for an entire day.

I do a five day transition. All arrivals are at the time that mom would normally drop off so they can get into the routine themselves and I encourage them to continue driving on to work one of the days just to be sure since traffic patterns may have changed while they were on mat leave.

Day one mom and child come and stay no more than 2 hours -ie baby usually is fussy and goes home for nap. Day two they come and mom stays no more than 20 minutes and leaves child for an hour. Day three, mom stays up to 15 minutes only if she absolutely must and child stays till noon but is picked up before lunch so has a snack and morning nap at my place. Day 4 mom doesn't stay at all and child stays till after lunch but before afternoon nap. Day 5 child is dropped off and stays as if a normal day although mom is encouraged to pick up right after nap/snack so there is no risk of child being the last one in care - ie they are the first ones to leave.

I only do this if the parents insist. Otherwise cold turkey works just fine. Mom has to understand that she is turning the child's reality upside down and has to expect complaint. The child needs to learn right from the beginning that this is just how it is going to be. If mom stays then it confuses the child into thinking this is playgroup. It is also not fair for the other kids in care who are not allowed to bring mommy to daycare for a day. I can see it now - bring your mommy to daycare day - only fair if we have take your kid to work day don't you think - NOT!