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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>How Long For A DCK To Adjust???
Little Star75 04:51 PM 02-12-2013
How long does it take a child to adjust to a daycare? Is it normal for a 2-yr old child to come 2 weeks in a row and won't stop crying all day long? I had to break a contract during the our trial period. This dcg on her first day was fine during the couple of hours then later on when she started missing her parents (I think) she started crying and never ever stopped. Every single day she would cry and all day long. I have a lot of patience with children this is why I do this job, but because I have other children in my care I couldn't keep her. My other dck wouldn't sleep due to her crying all day long so my dck were going through the day without napping
Did I do the right thing?
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blandino 05:14 PM 02-12-2013
Our rule of thumb is 2 weeks to adjust. I will say we have had some kids around that age take up to 1 month to adjust. One particular girl took 2 months at age 2.

However, that doesn't mean you didnt do the right thing. It can be totally draining - and I wouldn't blame you one bit for terming if you didn't sense it was getting better.
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rmc20021 05:51 PM 02-12-2013
My experience has been about 2 weeks also...as long as they are coming every day. I've noticed part timers just do not adjust as well.
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cheerfuldom 06:45 PM 02-12-2013
I do 2 weeks as well.

You did what felt right at the moment. She might have had a miraculous turnaround on the 3rd week but the vast majority of the time, if you have not seen ANY improvement in the first two weeks, then it is not going to happen anytime soon. I understand kids need time to adjust, some kids need more than others. BUT that doesnt mean that you have to let an excessive cryer disrupt on your program in an effort to help her adjust. It could have been a LOOONG time for her to come around, it could have been just a few more days....nobody knows. But you do know that you didnt feel comfortable making anyone wait any longer to find out. Thats perfectly within your right as a provider. Besides, the decision is made. Just let it go and move on. We have to make decisions based on what we know, not based on the million possibilities out there.

How did the parents take it?
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Little Star75 12:27 PM 02-13-2013
thanks for your responses, well since I have a 10-day probationary period i let her go on the 10th day otherwise I would of had to give her a 2-week notice. i honestly sensed that it wasn't going to work out for me.
The mom was ok but the dad seems upset, oh well. Like I told dcp if i didn't have other children under my care I wouldn't mind her crying.
The minute the DCG would walk in the house she would start crying, she would be fine sitting down but the minute I asked to get up for either activities, lunch, snack, and go outside she would start crying. So it was non stop all day long. My concern was that she wouldn't eat, i informed the parents but they said it was ok??? lol
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Tags:crying - all day, normal
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