A child-centred transition to early years settings is possible

It is seldom talked about, but it can be really tough for single parents and your little ones to start daycare. Chances are you have spent so much time together until that point — more time, in many cases, than two-parent families where one parent has been working throughout. The bond is intense. The separation is real.

And yet the system treats the transition to early years settings as an administrative event. A date is set. A place is offered. You are expected to be grateful and get on with it.

What a child-centred transition actually looks like

Good early years settings know that transitions take time. They offer settling-in sessions — short visits, with the parent present, gradually extended over days or weeks. They pay attention to the child's cues. They communicate with parents about how the child is doing, not just whether they attended.

This is not a luxury. It is what the evidence says works. Children who transition gradually into early years settings show better outcomes — lower cortisol levels, better attachment to key workers, smoother integration into the group.

Why single parents often do not get this

The pressure to start work — or to demonstrate that you are looking for work — does not pause for a settling-in period. If your child starts at a setting on a Monday, the expectation is that you are available for work from that Monday. The idea that you might need to be present at the setting for the first two weeks, or that your child might not be ready to stay for a full session, is not built into the system's calculations.

This is a design failure. It treats childcare as a switch that is either on or off, rather than a process that takes time and requires support.

What needs to change

Work coaches should be trained to understand that transitions to early years settings are not instantaneous. There should be a recognised settling-in period — a period during which conditionality requirements are paused or reduced — so that parents can support their children through the transition without being penalised for it.

This is not asking for special treatment. It is asking for a system that understands how children actually work.