What your baby needs for the first day at daycare

The first daycare drop-off goes better when the bag was packed the night before and everything in it has a name on it. Most crèches ask for roughly the same set of supplies. What trips up even organised parents is the detail: how many spare outfits, which bottle, what to label and how to keep restocking it every week for two years. The list below covers it, and a good part of it can go on a baby registry for family who want to help.

What goes in the bag every day

Start with a sturdy backpack the staff can open and search in ten seconds. Pack three changes of clothes in a labelled zip bag, including a warmer layer, because spills, leaks and a puddle in the playground happen more often than you expect. Two is never enough on the bad days.

Add one comfort item for naptime: a small cloth animal or a muslin that smells of home. Most daycares allow one, and it makes a difference in the first fortnight. If your child needs medication, include it with written instructions and the dose, and check what the staff are allowed to give before you assume.

Feeding supplies

If the daycare provides meals, you may need very little. Otherwise, pack:

• Bottles or a sippy cup, labelled with the child's name
• Two bibs, the silicone kind with a pocket
• The spoon your child will actually accept, if there is one
• Formula in a pre-measured dispenser, or any special dietary items
• A small insulated lunch box if you are sending food

If you are breastfeeding, agree with the staff before day one on how they will store and warm the milk, and have enough expressed and frozen to cover the first week, with the transport containers to match.

Hygiene items daycares actually ask for

Send a full pack of nappies and wipes to keep at the crèche, and top it up every Friday. Even a child who is mostly toilet trained needs pull-ups for naps and the odd accident.

A tube of nappy cream, a small pot of any skin cream your child uses, and tissues finish the basics. If your child has eczema or an allergy, tell the staff in person and hand over the treatment; a note in the bag gets read three days later.

Add sunscreen in summer and an extra layer plus a hat in winter. Most daycares take the children outside every day whatever the weather, which is good for them and bad for the parent who forgot the coat.

Comfort items and craft supplies for the day

A small soft toy, a laminated family photo or a favourite board book helps at a rough moment around four o'clock. Keep these simple. Nothing valuable, nothing with small parts, nothing you would mind never seeing again.

Some daycares ask families to chip in supplies for group activities: crayons, coloured paper, a box of Duplo. Ask whether yours does, and put it on the registry, because it is exactly the kind of thing a godparent likes to buy.

Labelling and staying organised

Label everything with your child's name. Bottles, socks, both shoes, the muslin. Labelled things come home; unlabelled things end up in a bin of orphaned socks in the corridor. Dishwasher-proof labels outlast stickers by a year, and a stamp with the name on it does the clothes in one evening.

Keep a checklist taped inside a kitchen cupboard, so nothing is forgotten in the 7.40 rush out of the door.

Set up a "daycare box" at home with spare clothes, nappies and wipes, so restocking the bag takes two minutes at the sink and no drawer-hunting on a Sunday night.

Talk to the daycare before day one

Every crèche has slightly different rules about what they supply and what they expect from you. A ten-minute conversation before the first drop-off saves weeks of bringing things they already have and forgetting things they do not.

Most of this kit comes in duplicates, one set for home and one for daycare, which is why it belongs on a list. You can create a baby registry with the daycare section on it, share it with the grandparents who want to help, and use it as your own checklist until the bag packs itself.