Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
Zelly72
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Daycare Advice - to switch or not to switch?
Zelly72
member
Hi! My son is 20 months old. He had been at the same home daycare from 3 months - 19 months. We decided to switch him because his favorite thing to do is to be outside, and she wasn't taking the kids outside at all. He only went out a few times the whole time he was there. I loved her dearly - she took great care of him - but he needs his outside time. So we switched to a different home daycare that we had found back before he was born - someone I knew let the kids go outside a lot. Well, he is on his 4th week there and he still cries every morning. He stops pretty quick after I leave, but I never had this issue at the previous day care (I know that is most likely because he basically grew up with her). At the new daycare, he is outside almost the entire day - which tires him out, but he comes home filthy, with lots of bruises, crusty nose, etc. And they aren't paying attention for over-heating. When I picked him up yesterday, it had been hot out, and his cheeks were bright red. He drank a whole cup of water when we got in the car. They are good people - just a little spacey sometimes. And I do feel he is getting better in the mornings at drop off - I just didn't think he'd be crying at all at this point.
So - we now have the opportunity to do a trial week at a Goddard School by our home. I would need to do the trial next week. My fear is that: 1) he still will probably cry in the mornings - probably even worse since it's a new place, and 2) if he doesn't do well there, and we leave him there for the week, only to bring him back to his current daycare the week after that, is that going to mess him up even more??
I have read so much about this and I just don't know what the right thing to do is. We would keep him at Goddard if he does well, but if we don't see any difference, we would most likely take him back to the home daycare because there is a significant cost difference. I don't want to lose any gains we've made at the home daycare by taking him out for a week - but my other thought is that if he does good at Goddard, maybe there is just something he doesn't like at the home daycare.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to mess up my kid already, and I don't know how much something like this could affect him long term.
Thank you!!
So - we now have the opportunity to do a trial week at a Goddard School by our home. I would need to do the trial next week. My fear is that: 1) he still will probably cry in the mornings - probably even worse since it's a new place, and 2) if he doesn't do well there, and we leave him there for the week, only to bring him back to his current daycare the week after that, is that going to mess him up even more??
I have read so much about this and I just don't know what the right thing to do is. We would keep him at Goddard if he does well, but if we don't see any difference, we would most likely take him back to the home daycare because there is a significant cost difference. I don't want to lose any gains we've made at the home daycare by taking him out for a week - but my other thought is that if he does good at Goddard, maybe there is just something he doesn't like at the home daycare.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to mess up my kid already, and I don't know how much something like this could affect him long term.
Thank you!!
Re: Daycare Advice - to switch or not to switch?
Geez. Tough spot to be in and I'd be worrying about all those things too! First off I think he's crying in the morning because this is a big change for him. That's pretty normal.
Sounds like his current situation isn't ideal and I wouldn't be very happy with "spacey" caregivers that keep the kids outside ALL day and don't pay attention to overheating. Have you sat that caregiver down and talked about this issue? If not, that's the first thing I would do. Maybe they don't even realize you are unhappy with what's going on.
IMO some fancy expensive school isn't necessary for a 20 month old and at that age I would prefer to keep my childcare costs as low as possible. If you can afford Goddard school then great, but I'm not sure what type of changes you'd like to see in your child in order to keep him there but I wouldn't enroll him then take him back out. You would need to make a decision and stick with it because in the long run I'm sure you would see positive changes at that school.
I'm not sure what sorts of changes you are looking for in your 20 month old, but you really need to take a look at priorities. Bouncing your kid around like this isn't good.
If your main concern with his current situation is lack of oversight, it probably does make sense to pay a little more for your own peace of mind. (Assuming that it is not way out of your budget to do so.).
If your main concern with the current location is that he cries when you leave, I'd proabaly stick with where he is. As long as he's playing and happy throughout the day, and only crying for a short time at drop off, I wouldn't be that concerned about it. As he gets more used to the teacher and the new location, it should get better. There's a great book called "goodbye rituals" that you could check out. Basically, if you have a fun sweet way you consistently say goodbye to eachother, he can begin to focus on that in place of being so upset when you leave.