Francine 04:21 AM 11-01-2011
I have a 7 month old little guy, he has been here since August, 3 days per week. The three days that he is here are always 3 days in a row, usually W-F and then he is with Mom and Dad for the weekend and then Grandma Monday and Tuesday. Mom and Dad are both teachers so they were home with him all of last summer. When he first started he was taking a morning nap of about 45 minutes and an after noon nap of an hour or two. It took a while and a lot of CIO but I finally got him to take two good (2 hr) naps per day. There was a schedule change for one week which put him at home or with Grandma for 6 days, that was the end of it! The last two weeks have been a nightmare and not only with naps, he is just not a content kid. He is not content to play on the floor for more than a minute or two, same with the saucer or jumper. He wants someone to sit with him and entertain him all the time, if he isn't getting it he screams.....blood curdleing, no tears screams. He is also now back to taking short 1/2 hr naps, but yet he isn't ready to get up because if I get him up he is ready to go back down a half hour to 45 minutes later. To let him CIO, he will scream ,again with no tears ( just mad) for as long as I leave him in bed. I wouldn't mind getting him up before nap time was over if he were happy but he isn't so he then ends up waking everybody else up. He is fine as long as I am doing HIM but the minute I put him down he starts screaming. I don't want to term this little guy, he has the potential of being a great daycare child but right now I am dreading when he comes through the door tomorrow. I hate feeling like that towards any of my kids.
Sorry this is so long but I'm hoping that somebody has some suggestions as to how to stop the screaming and help him to become more content.
cheerfuldom 06:40 AM 11-01-2011
the only suggestion is to only offer full time care for him (no more grandma) or term him. part time infants are the hardest kids to take care, no doubt about that. he is never going to "get" the rules at your house unless he is there more. the only other option is to put up with it until he gets older but it may be a long 6 months or more of the same thing, day after day.
small_steps 10:08 AM 11-01-2011
I agree. Offer her full time care and maybe tell her that once you get him into the routine here, a few days away makes you have to start all over and those first few days are always hard.
I have a one year old like that. Except she is here full time. I'm not sure what her deal is but I'm trying to figure something out with her before I have to term. I really don't want to term her because she's sweet when she is in a good mood and not screaming lol...plus she has a baby brother coming January. And also they are my neighbors, and with both being so young it's job security because I could possibly have them the next several years. It's so hard though.
Good luck with your 7 month old. Maybe also write down your schedule and have them give to grandma. Maybe she can follow it at home to keep the routine going.