Little child left in stranger's care after time (7)
I believe the answer is:
toddler
'little child' is the definition.
(a toddler is a young child)
'in stranger's care after time' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'stranger' becomes 'odder' (more odd).
'care' becomes 'l' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'odder' placed around 'l' is 'oddler'.
'oddler' put after 't' is 'TODDLER'.
'left' is the link.
This may not be right. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for toddler that I've seen before include "Child starting to walk" , "Child just walking" , "Child just learning to walk" , "Little one" , "Infant" .)