Prior to Brie's three-year-old son starting kindergarten, he had never been in the care of anyone other than his parents.

"Any new environment, or environment without us, obviously impacted him greatly," says the 44-year-old from Geelong**/**Djilang, who asked we keep her real name private.

Knowing her son's temperament and needs, she worked with the kindergarten on how best to transition him.

"We met with the kindergarten initially and asked if we could stay for as long as we wanted.

"They did say 'yes, that's definitely an option', and that they have kids in this situation [who might struggle with adjusting] all the time."

The transition, as Brie and her husband had expected, was hard to begin with.

The pair took turns staying at the service with their son, sometimes up to five hours each day. They did that for six weeks.

It's natural to feel nervous about transitioning your baby or child into early childhood education, explains Nesha Hutchinson, vice president at the Australia Childcare Alliance.

"It's a really normal response and this is why childcare centres have their own processes they know work for their particular community."

Knowing some settling techniques, as well as what you can advocate for on behalf of your child, can help their transition.

Get to know the centre

It's important to spend as much time at the centre as possible in the lead up to starting there, says Ms Hutchinson, such as attending orientations.

If you feel your child needs more time to adjust, you can request more orientations or "stay and plays" than what is offered, she says.

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Ms Hutchinson recommends attending the centre at different times too, so you can get to know all the educators employed there. Some may only be there at drop-off times, but not pick-ups, for example.

Ask questions about the routines, such as where children will be sleeping, at what times of day, and where they will eat lunch.

"Get to know that routine … and talk about it positively with your child," Ms Hutchinson says.

With babies, she says you may be able to stay in the centre to put them to sleep and be there when they wake up. Then transition to putting them to sleep, but allowing an educator to wake them while you are in the room. And next time be present while an educator does both.

"All those sorts of things can be really helpful," Ms Hutchinson says.

Children will follow your lead

Sheila Degotardi is a professor and director of the Macquarie University Early Childhood Education Research Centre.

She says families spending time at the service helps prepare the child for days without a caregiver or parents present, rather than "leaving them without warning", which can raise their anxiety and distress.