Adjusting to the toddler room at DC

Sep5Bride · May 2014

DD just recently moved up to the toddler room at DC. She's had no problem adjusting, but it's definitely going to take some getting used to for me. For one thing, they have all the kids on the same 2-nap schedule, which is fine with me, but it's way later than DD is used to which means bed time and wake time are getting pushed back too. She used to go to bed pretty much right away after dinner around 6:30, but now she is wild and crazy hyper when she gets home, and won't fall asleep until well after 7:30. This mama is having a hard time keeping up with her!

Also, it seems like all the other kids in her class take the snacks and lunch provided by the center, and they seem to want DD to do this too. I would love to do this because it would save me a lot of time, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. DH and I are vegetarians, and the DC lunch is always a lot of meat and cheese. I don't mind DD having some of these foods, but I'm not crazy about it being every day. The snacks are usually graham crackers, animal crackers, etc. Again, I don't mind her having these snacks sometimes, but I feel like she's going to miss out on a lot of fruits and vegetables and take in a lot more sugar if we make the switch. DH is completely against her eating the DC food, but since I'm the one who actually prepares it all, I'm torn.

There have been good things about the room change too, though. For example, today DD took a nap without her pacifier for the first time ever!! Hopefully being around some older kids will help her outgrow her love of the paci a little bit.

No real questions here, just sharing. For those of you who have LOs that have made the move to a new DC classroom, how are they doing with the adjustment?

Sep5Bride · May 2014

Thanks for your responses, ladies. I may try doing a couple days of DC food and a couple days of preparing food as PP suggested. I have the menu so I can see ahead of time what they'll be serving. The teachers are willing to give her what we provide, but I think the reason it's different in the toddler room is that they all eat at little tables at the same time as one another, instead of in high chairs and in shifts like they did in the infant room. DD sees all the other kids eating something and she wants it too.

Sep5Bride · May 2014

I was surprised about the 2 naps too. DD just recently started to drop her second nap though, so she seems to have gone back to 2 naps without any trouble. I think it helps that they're all on the same schedule so the room is quiet and dark. I just wish the second nap were a little earlier than 3:30-4:30! But @PrivacyWanted, that's a good point that her bedtime would probably start getting later anyway.

For the food, I wish they had some vegetarian options, so the kids would be exposed to other forms of protein besides just meat.

Overall it is a great DC center though with excellent teachers, so I really just need to give myself time to adjust.

ReeceFamily · May 2014

I have a similar issue with our daycare food - snacks tend to be things like yogurt and animal crackers. Really? Maybe raisins or apples instead of animal crackers? In any case, I have her eat daycare food because the main meals tend to be pretty healthy (and I'm trying to save time and money). I try to make up for the lame snacks by having her eat extra healthy at home.

ReeceFamily · May 2014

PrivacyWanted said:

A lot of the lame DC food is because of dumb Government regulations.

Like @Reecefamily I'd bet money the carb is animal crackers instead of raisins or apples because they are required to serve a certain amount of grains, both through the childcare regulations, and also the USDA subsidies if they offer school lunch to subsidized students.
It's lame and needs to be changed for sure

Seriously? Lame for sure.

Want a personalized experience?

Adjusting to the toddler room at DC

Re: Adjusting to the toddler room at DC

Choose Another Board

Search Boards