took DD to daycare today!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-27-2007
took DD to daycare today!!
2
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 1:46pm

Well, it was Ellie's first day being dropped off at daycare! I haven't really left her much since she was born, mostly because I just didn't have reason to...it was easy to tote her along when she was tiny and as she got bigger, DH or I just traded off. (he was still in law school then) Well, DH is working now and the closest family is a 2 hour drive and she is too big to take with me everywhere...and so if you remember, I registered her last month at the corporate daycare center. It's completely free for employee's children (nice perk, huh?), the place was beautiful (picture Pottery Barn Kids meets ToysRUs), staff was wonderful (they require at least a bachelor's degree to work there), ratio for 1-3 year olds is 2 kids=1 caretaker (DD is 17 months)...seriously couldn't ask for more.

So I had a dentist appointment, she was there for just under 3 hours. I went early and stayed and played with her for about 20 minutes. I got up to go and she gets up too...I wave goodbye and she turns and waves at everyone too...like it just never crossed her mind that I would be leaving without her :( At that point the caregiver walks over and Ellie starts to panic all of the sudden...I picked her up and hugged and kissed her and then 'attempted' to hand her over to the caregiver, but she clutched onto me with this deathgrip and had to be pried off. UGH! She was screaming and throwing a fit as I exited, I tried to leave swiftly and stay smiling and upbeat. I got to the car and BAWLED, lol. UGHHHHH!! It was horrible, I felt horrible. It's just the WORST age to leave them! She's too old to just be oblivious (when she was a newborn I could leave and she didn't even notice!) and she's too young for me to reason with her at all. She doesn't understand the phrase "I'm coming back, don't be scared, I'll call you on the phone and say hi in a little bit". For all she knows, this is it and I've decided to leave her there forever. Poor girl was so upset :(

I got back and she was just standing in the middle of the room asking for her blanky and her monkey, she's all pitiful and saying "kies...kies..." and I see there are some plastic toy keys laying near her. She burst into tears when she saw me, she was so relieved...she started yelling "KIES...KIES..." and I got her the blanky and monkey from her bin (they had put them away because she tossed them on the floor when I left...and of course they didn't know what she meant when she started asking for them again). She wouldn't take a cup or bottle or snack or lunch. The caregiver admitted that she was "a little anxious since it was her first time". Another little sweetheart, about age 3 or so, said to me "Ellie wouldn't eat and she wouldn't play and she didn't drink her bottle either!"

She came home and ate 4oz yogurt and a whole snackbag of mini-rice cakes and string cheese and wheat crackers and a whole 8oz bottle of whole milk! And then she let out a huge belch and laid against me clutching her monkey and blanky and fell fast asleep. Poor thing, it wasn't the best morning :( I'm going to try it two more times this month and see if it gets easier for her...and if it doesn't, then I'm going to look for a private nanny to come to my home a few days a month. This daycare is beautiful and well-staffed (and of course free) and I will definitely use it...but if Ellie is still unhappy there after a few times, then I'll just do something else for now and wait until she's a little bit older before I drop her off there again. I don't know, what do you guys think?? (my husband is going to have a cow if I tell him I'm hiring a private nanny...he won't stop me and we could easily afford it...but he'll have a cow none-the-less, ugh) Do you think 3 visits there is enough time to expect her adjust before I try something else??

Krista
DD 17 months

Krista_edited-1.gif picture by baybreeze01
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2007
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 3:58pm

Hugs to Ellie!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-11-2005
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 5:00pm

Awwww Krista!! (((((HUGS))))) I imagine that was very hard on you and her.

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