Is My Daughter Not Happy with Her Daycare?

K.,
Have you thought of trying an in-home daycare? I run one in my home and the kids feel so safe and loved. I don't have openings in my own daycare, but you can always contact Daycare Connections or I may be able to refer you to someone. It is not normal for your daughter to be feeling so isolated in her evironment where she is expected to spend the greater part of her days for the school year. She is still very young and from my experience with hearing friends talk, the "centers" are better suited for when your little one is ready to start more of a preschool routine. Right now, the most important thing your daughter needs is lots of love and plenty of opportunity for play. I will say that my neighbor that lives behind me keeps only teachers children and is WONDERFUL!!!! I would let her watch my kids in a heartbeat if I needed care. I am not sure what her position is right now in regard to openings, but I would love to pass this info on to you and you could contact her. Good luck and remember to always follow your mommy instincts...you won't go wrong!! My number is ###-###-####. Take care, A.

My friend was having a similar problem. Her boys had gone to a in-home daycare for a few years. The oldest one cried for a week and a 1/2. He stayed right by the teachers side and wouldn't socialize. He came home one day and said that he had no friends. Finally one day he socialized with the other kids and then the crying stopped. I think it sounds similar so maybe there is a need to work on getting her to meet some friends and get her to socialize with the other kids. I think for them it was hard since they had been with the same kids at the inhome daycare for 3 years and then go into a school with lots of kids. He just didn't know how to make friends.

Good luck.

M.

K.,
It sounds like it is an unstable environment. Stability is so important to babies that age. She needs to be able to get use to one person that she knows will be there the whole day. I know it can be more expensive, but if you are interested I would love to talk to you about hiring a nanny. I own a nanny agency and I have 4 great nannies right now looking for jobs. Our placement fees are 30% less than the average in K.C. I am a mom and a nanny myself, I bring my baby to work, so I can relate to both sides of things. If this ends up not being an affordable option for you, my mom is actually starting a mother's day out at her home in Leawood on Tuesdays and Thursdays, although it sounds like you need m-f help. Most importantly listen to your intuition, if you at all think there is something not right about this daycare, then I would find something else that will work.
Good Luck.

Your daughter is not happy with her daycare. The best daycare in the world can't replace mommy!
Have you thought about being a substitute teacher? That way you can spend more time w/ her, and the one on the way. Kids need their parents, so when your kids start school, then you can start full time again and work the same hours they are in school. Just a thought!

K. i'm not going to tell you that no daycare is good enough for your child and you should put your career on hold to stay home with her more. obviously you feel strongly about teaching or you'd be doing it less and staying home more. but i do feel very strongly from what you've said that the atmosphere at the current center is NOT compatible with your daughter. i would get her out of it asap. just having three caregivers throughout the day (none for more than a couple hours) would be enough for me to seriously question keeping my child there. put that with her obviously being unhappy (it's not normal for separation anxiety to last more than a few minutes, you know that), and i would be really uncomfortable keeping her there. i have an inhome provider who i LOVE, unfortunately she doesn't have openings, but i am more comfortable with that situation myself, because i do feel like bigger centers are a little more impersonal. my son came home talking about "mommy-sherry" the other day and i was delighted. he absolutely loves her. just my two cents, but it sounds like you already have your mind made up in a way. GOOD LUCK! hope your little girl is back to normal soon!