I like to have the Mom come for the first morning and spend an hour or two with us to make sure she is comfortable and the child is feeling a bit at home with us.

I had one Mom and daughter who had such severe separation anxiety I let the Mom stay every morning for a couple of hours. This is also why I like to start children 1-2 days/week the month before the Mom goes back to work.

Once I had a Mom stay all the way until after lunch and until her son was tucked into bed. It was because we were getting along so well and I loved having her company for the morning. She turned out to be my favourite client.

My advice is to do what is best for you as we all do, no matter what advice we give to each other. For me, it depends on the parent, the child, the entire situation. My newest boy started cold turkey full-time because his Mom is already back to work and he's working out fine too.