As the awareness is rising in the global community about the fact that inequalities are to a large extent established long before a child enters a primary school, arguments have been put forward to examine more closely what happens to a child in his or her early years (Waller, 2009). This study explores early childhood education and care in the Kyrgyz Republic in a historical comparative perspective using a theoretical framework underpinned by social construction theories. The primary concern of the research is to study dominant social constructions of childhood and the child as reflected in policy documents and how these may change over time. This will be done through an historical analysis of Kyrgyzstan during two periods: the Soviet period (1980-1990); and the time after Independence (1991-2011). In order to understand the rationale behind promoting certain constructions over others, the analysis is situated in the wider social and economic context of the country during the two time periods. The study concludes that although there are differences and variance in the social constructions of childhood and the child represented in policy rhetoric in the two periods, the model of ECCE institutions has undergone little change. Policy makers and practitioners revealed constructions that were not dominant in policy documents, but which had played a key role in shaping the ECCE institutions both in the Soviet time and after Independence in Kyrgyzstan.