This volume collects chapters on the history of educational and childcare services in various European countries since the period following World War II, with the aim of shedding light on legislative reforms and the change in educational methods that affect children up to three years of age. From a comparative point of view, the different chapters - written by fifteen authors (Catherine Bouve, Janet De Vigne, Diana Franke-Meyer, Noémi Janek, Eleni Kainourgiou, Tora Korsvold, Claudine Marissal, Eleni Mousena, Aggné Veronika Pirka, Tiziana Pironi, David Salomoni, Carmen Sanchidrián Blanco, Simona Salustri, and Johannes Westberg) - describe the history of the day nurseries in France and Belgium, Sweden and Norway, Germany and Scotland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, Greece, Hungary, and the Soviet Union, paying particular attention to the important process of transformation from welfare institutions to educational services for children from birth to three years of age.