Reply to Your <6 Month Old Infant in Daycare

Forum Index » Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers

Reply to "Your <6 Month Old Infant in Daycare"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DD started at five months and in September. It was a big center in Manhattan before we moved down here. I will second 18:29 in a lot of ways. DD had a rough transition mainly because of separation anxiety, at least that's what we all speculated even though she was a bit on the young side for it. The first two weeks were rough and they kept me updated, and one of the administrators took to wearing her all day in the Ergo because it seemed to help. Towards the end of the second week, they sent me a picture of her smiling to tell me that things were finally turning around!

They were also incredibly supportive when she got reflux a few months later, again at an odd age for that to happen. She was throwing up almost every day, which was obviously a huge mess for them to deal with, but what really came through in their emails and phone calls to me was concern that she was all right. She lost half a pound and was getting quite small before we figured out what the problem was and got her on medication that worked, and I really feel like they worked with me the whole time.

Sadly, we left them behind when we moved (and they made her a collage as a goodbye present!) and I'm frankly not as enthralled with our current daycare, but I figured I would share because you should know that the big centers can and often are every bit as caring as something ostensibly more personal.

Class size was eight newborns, if I remember right. Two teachers. I do feel like they gave her plenty of one-on-one.

She was sick a lot. We were sick a lot. One cold in particular knocked me flat for a week, and turned into pneumonia for DH. It was pretty brutal, I will not lie. Things turned the corner in the spring and she's been remarkably healthy ever since. The last time she was legitimately sick with more than a light sniffle was August 2013. She did have an eye infection a couple months ago.

Also like 18:29, I was ready to get back to work, so the separation wasn't that hard for me. (Also a lawyer too!) I honestly don't have the patience or the attitude that many daycare workers or nannies do, and I'm more than happy to leave DD in their capable hands. I think it's good for her too. She really does seem happy. She's 2.5 now.

The one thing about transition that I wasn't ready for was how exhausting it would be. Maybe you're used to your schedule already, but I was not. I had to get up slightly earlier once back at work, but really the whole thing, from getting ready in the morning to working all day to getting her home at night and fed and bathed and to bed, was incredibly exhausting. I was falling asleep on the couch at 9pm for six months.

Good luck, OP. It's emotional but it will pass and you'll hardly remember how much you agonized b/c you'll find a great set up with a thriving DC.
[/quote]

Thank you -- much appreciated. And we are not on a true schedule yet but maybe I will try to start gradually adding more formality to the routine to better prepare.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics