Daycare Adjustment Period?
My DD is 15 months old and just started at a daycare center. Before she was home with a nanny due to her premature birth. Needless to say the adjustment isn't going all that well.
She screams bloody murder when we drop her off in the mornings and although they tell me she has a good day, she's sleeping about 1/3 less than she did at home. That means I pick up an overly tired girl every night who is tough to deal with. I've been putting her to bed about an hour earlier than normal which I know is good for her, but it makes me sad.
I used to cherish our evenings together and now I dread them. I feel like her over tiredness is cutting into my quality time with my child. Bottom line, I'm frustrated.
Everyone keeps telling me it will get better, but when? And how do I know this isn't really affecting her?
I just want my happy baby back!
Re: Daycare Adjustment Period?
We switched from one daycare center to another around 15 months. It took about 2 weeks to adjust pretty well, and about a month until he was off running to get to "school" in the morning.
It took my DD about 2 weeks to adjust to the 1 year old room from the baby room. She has huge separation anxiety right now. I made my DH drop her off a couple mornings a week, because the screaming would break my hear (even though I know it stops within minutes of me being out of sight-I know from waiting in the hall and through seeing it with kids i've taught and their parents :-p) But that doesn't make it easier!
I think having DH drop off a few times a week helped. Plus, she gets a snack when she gets there, so I plop her at a table with her back facing the door-so she gets engrossed in her snack when I leave. The last 2 drop-offs have been tear free!!!
I heard another boy in her class took a month to adjust. He'd cry whenever his mom turned toward the 1 year room, but stop if she turned toward the baby room!
(hugs) GL!
I'm convinced she hates it.
Picked her up last night and once again she was just playing by herself on the playground. She came running to me right away. I asked the teacher about her day and why she's always playing by herself on the playground and they said she's a "loner"....likes to spend most of her time with the teachers rather than the kids. Really, why does her sheet say "Happy, Verbal, Content, Social" every single day then?
She then had an absolute meltdown when I tried to get her in the car seat. She didn't want me to let her go. I basically had to shove her in and then she cried the whole way home. Once we got home, she was a complete mess. She just cried and flailed her arms/legs. She wouldn't sit in her highchair to eat dinner, she wouldn't go in the bathtub for a bath....nothing....just crying and screaming. We just put her to bed at 6:15pm and she fell right to sleep.
This morning it was the same thing....she wasn't happy at all...even at our house. They only time she wasn't crying was when she was eating breakfast. Of course when I dropped her off she started crying the second we walked inside. I asked the teacher how long she typically cries for and they said 5 minutes....that the drop off is the worst part of her day.
My husband just called. He stopped by mid-morning and they were headed outside. The rest of the kids were lined up all excited to go and DD was behind....just kicking her legs into the floor like she didn't want to go. He took her outside and tried to get her to play, but she just wanted to be held. And then of course she cried bloody murder when he went to leave.
It's day 13 and she's getting worse instead of better. I don't even recognize her....not my happy baby at all. Instead she just seems to hate her life.
And now I'm at work just crying at my desk. This might be worse than the NICU and that is saying a lot.
I am so sorry you are going through this.
When we moved DD to a new daycare, she adjusted to the schedule pretty quickly and was napping pretty well by the second week there. She has only recently started really playing with any other kids there though, and she has been there since the first of February.