Daycare Nighmares Perhaps??

I just attended a Child Development seminar last evening and here is what they had to say about this subject. When a child that is older than a newborn starts childcare after being primarily with Mom the stranger anxiety can go on for weeks. You are comfortable with the caregiver now that you've known this person for a little while, that comfort is slower in coming for a toddler. They didn't really talk about how to handle this except comforting that Mom will always come back.

Good Luck,

M.

They take naps on a cot. He realizes he's a big boy now.

With my years in child care I know that moving a child to a toddler bed between 12 months and 15 months is the best thing to do because if they go to child care they are transitioning to cots there too.

It's a natural time to do it. They don't have the idea it's play time, it's simply time to lay down and go to sleep.

So each of my grand kids were put in a toddler bed around 15 months and all were sleeping on them by 18 months full time, then moved to a big kids bed while they were still 2.

That said. Your child is sleeping on a cot in child care. They need to be in a big bed now at home too. I would buy a twin or full size bed and set it up at home and get the baby bed out of the room. He's a pre-school age child both age and developmentally. He's too old for a baby bed and a toddler bed is too young for him too. It's too late for a toddler bed.

Changes of any kind can be hard on kiddos, even if they are happy with the change for the most part. And it usually affects bedtime - for us, at least! Give him some time to adjust to daycare. Spend some extra mommy-time with him before bed.

I would not put him in a big boy bed yet; that would be yet another change to adjust to. Just my opinion...we waited until after my son's 3rd birthday to move to a big bed - kind of made it part of the birthday falderal.

I wouldn't try to read more into this than there is.
What Michelle G said below is perfect. He's trying to get some 'make up' time with you.

What you should also know is that kids take a lot longer to adjust to new situations than adults might. When I was a nanny, it *always* took quite a bit of time for the kids to adjust to me because I was a new caregiver. Even kids that had previous caregivers... it took one or two months before things seemed "down pat" between all of us. When I worked with a toddler group for a while, I noticed that kids coming into our group from the younger toddler group needed about a month or so to get comfortable. One child in particular came to our toddler group never having been in group care before-- we had a rough few months with her, especially during drop-offs. But, with the family's support, things will get better.

And please, I strongly caution you on this: don't ask him a lot of questions about daycare. Kids are not always reliable, even as much as we love them and want to trust them. Instead, if you are really worried, try to go and observe (from a window or some place unobtrusive) during an activity time. You might see enough to reassure you. If not-- then do find a care situation you trust.

He is adjusting to daycare. It may take a bit of time but he will get used to it. Have you considered getting a big boy bed for him? You may want to shop for one now so he is super excited about it and you can get him back into his bed.---Take him shopping for his own bedding, new stuffed animal etc. Good luck!

E., he's growing up! He's ready to get out of that baby crib! He doesn't understand that he wants a big boy bed, but that's what you need to get.

Yes, it's nice to sleep on mommy's chest, but enough of that! You need some sleep! Yes, he throws fits and cries like crazy because doing that gets what he wants!

Put his crib mattress on the floor in his room. Put him in it and tell him he has to stay in his bed. Sit on the floor with your back to the wall beside his mattress (you might want to sit on a pillow to make it easier on you) with the light off and don't talk to him. Everytime he gets up and tries to crawl onto you, put him back onto the bed and sit back down. Don't talk. Don't sit on the bed with him. Don't try to appease him. Let him cry. The ONLY way to fix this is to be hard and not allow him to crawl onto you.

You won't get much sleep for the first week. But if you are 100% consistent, he'll finally give up trying to crawl on you. Instead of hours being spent putting him back in his bed, it will be minutes.

After you get this fixed (and you will), go shopping for a real bed for him. Decide on a couple of choices for bedding. Take him to the store and give him a couple of previewed choices (what you would be fine with) and let him have the final choice. That way he has some pride in his big boy room.

This is the Supernanny approach for kids who won't stay in their rooms. I really think you should employ this, and you need to take the crib away. He is SO done with that crib, and it's time!

Sending you strength - you can do it!

Dawn

Try spending some time at night cuddling and in the morning. We always got our son up a bit on the earlier side but we get to spend time together. We also put a sleeping bag on the floor in our bedroom, sometimes my son will fall asleep in his bag which he has grown to love.