I have had a home daycare since before DS was ever born, so talk about a reversal of roles: next year I will only be doing daycare part-time (TU/TH) so I have enrolled my son in a Parent's Day Out (PDO) program for MWF so that I will be able to take a class and finish my degree. He will most likely just be at PDO up until lunchtime each day.
Here's the deal: I need help figuring out how to help my DS make this transition. He has NEVER been away from me, other than time with Daddy every now and then while I run to the store.
He's never stayed with Grandma.
I've never been able to successfully leave him in the church's nursery despite many attempts.
He's never been with a sitter.
I've tried leaving him with a neighbor who he ADORES and she has a son his age, but he cried so hard that he vomited within the first few minutes.
From doing daycare myself, I know that a lot of young kids cry when their parent leaves, but they're usually okay within a few minutes. Unfortunately, this is not the case with my DS. We once left him with a relative when he was an infant and he was hysterical the entire time we were gone. Finally my aunt called and said that we needed to come home and get him. All in all, he was with her for about 1.5 hours and was truly terrified the entire time. He never once stopped crying, and we're not just talking a little fussing. This was full-out, non-stop, panic stricken wailing.
This same scene has played itself out time and time again every time I've ever left his sight. The only exception was when he went with one of my little daycare girls and her mom to music class last month- I couldn't go because of a medical appointment. He was tearful, but not hysterical. I'm not sure what was different about that time, but for whatever reason he was okay (not happy, but at least okay, LOL).
Anyhow, I'm just not sure how to best approach this fall given his previous track record with not being with Mommy. The childcare director said that they don't allow the children to cry all day (thank goodness!) so if he's still crying after about 30 minutes they'll call me to come pick him up for the day. My only fear is that it could take a LONG time for him to make this adjustment and I may have to pick him up early a lot at the beginning. This would be disastrous since I'll be taking a university course and can't miss class without falling behind, and God forbid I miss a test or something- I'd automatically fail.
PDO is closed for the summer right now and won't open again until August- one week before the university starts back up. So, it isn't like I can really use this summer to get a head start on this whole process. I've only got ONE week.
Any suggestions?
(oh, and he'll be 23 months old when this begins in August)
Here's the deal: I need help figuring out how to help my DS make this transition. He has NEVER been away from me, other than time with Daddy every now and then while I run to the store.
He's never stayed with Grandma.
I've never been able to successfully leave him in the church's nursery despite many attempts.
He's never been with a sitter.
I've tried leaving him with a neighbor who he ADORES and she has a son his age, but he cried so hard that he vomited within the first few minutes.
From doing daycare myself, I know that a lot of young kids cry when their parent leaves, but they're usually okay within a few minutes. Unfortunately, this is not the case with my DS. We once left him with a relative when he was an infant and he was hysterical the entire time we were gone. Finally my aunt called and said that we needed to come home and get him. All in all, he was with her for about 1.5 hours and was truly terrified the entire time. He never once stopped crying, and we're not just talking a little fussing. This was full-out, non-stop, panic stricken wailing.
This same scene has played itself out time and time again every time I've ever left his sight. The only exception was when he went with one of my little daycare girls and her mom to music class last month- I couldn't go because of a medical appointment. He was tearful, but not hysterical. I'm not sure what was different about that time, but for whatever reason he was okay (not happy, but at least okay, LOL).
Anyhow, I'm just not sure how to best approach this fall given his previous track record with not being with Mommy. The childcare director said that they don't allow the children to cry all day (thank goodness!) so if he's still crying after about 30 minutes they'll call me to come pick him up for the day. My only fear is that it could take a LONG time for him to make this adjustment and I may have to pick him up early a lot at the beginning. This would be disastrous since I'll be taking a university course and can't miss class without falling behind, and God forbid I miss a test or something- I'd automatically fail.
PDO is closed for the summer right now and won't open again until August- one week before the university starts back up. So, it isn't like I can really use this summer to get a head start on this whole process. I've only got ONE week.
Any suggestions?
(oh, and he'll be 23 months old when this begins in August)
