Toddler Daycare Essentials: Our Daycare Packing List & Must-Haves

Recently, we transitioned our newly minted toddler into a full-time daycare program. Starting daycare comes with its own set of nuances – from packing lists to supplies, to things that just make household logistics easier during this busy period.

Here are the exact items that have worked well for us, a simple get-ready-for-daycare list.

Labels, labels, labels

• For food containers, bottles and even his pacifier – Mabel’s Labels small clothing labels (multi-purpose)! We’ve had no issues with these labels coming off after months of washing.
  • If your little one is primarily on bottles, they also have bottle label packs with larger labels so you can write down exact contents + amounts for each one
  • We also use this handy little labelmaker to differentiate the exact meals on the containers as well – for example, “lunch” vs “morning snack”. These stick on pretty well, but I wouldn’t expect them to last through a dishwasher as well as the Mabel’s Labels
  • For his pacifier, we trimmed down the label to just his first name, and it managed to barely just fit.
• For clothing, we primarily use this stamp, also from Mabel’s. So far, it has lasted many washes per clothing, most are standard cotton material.
  • Otherwise, we will use the clothing labels mentioned above if there’s no good surface to stamp, or if it’s a darker piece of clothing
• For his lunch bag / daily bag, we bought this cute personalized hang tag from Mabel’s Labels. But realistically, any type of tag (even a disposable airline tag) could work, as it’s not handled too much.

Mealtime

Our daycare does not provide food, so there’s a lot we’ve prepped in this category as well.

• Lunch bag, we simply use a 99 Ranch mini tote (similar to that Trader Joe’s mini tote)
  • This is mostly to transport his food containers to school – once we get there, we move his food into the fridge / storage
  • This bag fits his lunch box, two snack boxes, a yogurt pouch, 4oz milk bottle, and 10oz water bottle with a little room to spare
• Lunchbox, his “lunch” is currently really just a “big snack” and so we use the Planetbox Shuttle box. It’s just the right size to fit a full light sandwich (cut up into smaller pieces) in the main compartment, and several pieces of fruit in the side compartment
• Snack boxes, we use these small stainless steel containers. They’re great for dry snacks or sliced fruit, which we prepare the morning of
• Water bottles, we use Olababy valve-less straw cups at home, when we’re on the go we use the Nuk straw bottles since they are spillproof and have a cap. So that’s what we initially started sending in with him. However, he drinks less water with a valved straw – so we ended up switching to a Simple Modern plastic straw bottle. This also comes in insulated metal if your school allows!

Naptime

• For naptime, we bring a fresh, regular sized crib sheet at the start of the week. Any crib sheet will do, but we like these cotton muslin ones
• We also supply a blanket, and alternate between an extra fuzzy one (his comfort blanket) and a more midweight cotton option. These are technically a baby blanket size, but we find it works well since their napping cots are also quite small

Playtime & More

• Since we started in summer, sunscreen was a must!
  • We tried to stick with mineral sunscreen for as long as we could – and of them, Thinkbaby was the best in terms of “least sticky”
  • But eventually, swapped to Supergoop’s PLAY sunscreen which is $$$ but feels so much nicer to the touch
• For 💩 shenanigans, we provided the same supplies we use at home: Freestyle diapers, Boogie diaper spray and Kirkland Signature wipes
• Lastly, we stocked up on a few more clothes, t-shirts in particular, knowing that bib-free mealtimes and all the activities would likely mean more laundry. Our favorites are:
  • H&M – surprisingly, many of their baby and kids clothing are made from 100% organic cotton. But watch for sizing, it runs hilariously large. At 1 year, our 30th percentile little one was still wearing size 6-9mo
  • Old Navy – most (though not all) of their toddler tees are made from 100% cotton. Always a ton of great sales, too
  • Primary – big fans of their jogger pants, which have held up well through all the crawling stage and truly lasts us the full 6-month size range

Last but not least – we also have two of these dry erase magnets on our fridge.

• One has the daily, weekly daycare packing lists + any upcoming events at our center
• The other is a current-week view with any notable events (eg. I’m traveling for work), grocery list, and any other household to-dos (eg. call a plumber). This helps keep my husband and I on aligned on who’s responsible for what, each day of the week

Hope this list helps with a smooth sailing transition into toddler daycare!

Partnership Disclosure: This blog post was not sponsored by any of the brands listed above. As always, all opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, in which I earn a commission on purchases.