Parents - Day Care Problems (Long)

[The Mystery Machine]

If my child said someone "poked her" on the bottom I would not have had her back until the teacher & director explained what is going on.

 

[Chicago526]

Wow! What a hassle a lot of you have had with day care centers! I'm staying home with my (future) kids no mater what! I'm not judging those that have to or choose to work, it's just that personally, this all seems more trouble than it's worth to me!

 

[castlegazer]

It can be frustrating at times - its not you taking care of your child - that is frustrating. But please remember that there are a lot of good things, in my opinion, about day care.

My son loves his center and loves going. Any toddler is prone to be upset at a change in care - stability is a very major issue for them at this point.

Here are some things that I love about him going to day care:

* He has a curriculum that I am sure I would not be as creative coming up with that changes monthly.

* He does artwork daily and they have wonderful facilities for him to express everything from artistic talents to exploring dressing up and performing to tactile sensations.

* He watches a half hour of Sesame Street in the morning and then that is it. He never asks to watch TV, never even thinks of it. Its not something he has become accustomed to.

* He has best friends the same age as he is that he chose now - not those from friends of mine.

* I have an objective eye telling me about my son. i.e. he is very intelligent with puzzles in comparison to others his age. Not something I would have known, or known how to foster further. He now has tinkertoys and buliding sets at home to help him develop his love if this.

These are only a few of the benefits in my mind. It is a very personal and ofetn times economic decision. But it is not a one way is bad situation at all.

My husband sits on the board of directors for our center so we are able to be more involved with his care also. We chose the type of center we send him to - a non-for-profit and studied very hard what each type of center/care would mean.

I don't want you to get the wrong impression. You are still the primary care giver. I feel that it is just a head start on early childhood education for my son and study after study has proved that this is crucial to children.

 

[Nette]

Just a quick update...

DD is at home with DH today (his day off).

We took her to the pedi yesterday and he said she doesn't have any *physical* signs of any wrongdoing.

We are looking at a new center today.

Jeannette

 

[karebear1]

What a relief! I was thinking about you all day yesterday. Thansk for letting us know everything is ok. Good luck finding a new daycare!

 

[LindaR]

BTW, lots of toddlers are scared of potty training. It is very scary (to them) to "see" something that has exited their body. They don't understand that this is "waste" material and not actually a body part!

When my dd was very young, she got scared of going potty (she had not been feeling well, didn't have a BM for a couple of days, when she did...it was large and hurt) and thus she created a cycle of problems! Had to end up giving her mineral oil every day to ensure that her stools did not get too hard/large and hurt on the way out.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Thanks for the update, Nette. I'm glad the doctor didn't find anything physically wrong.

Good luck finding a new center.

 

[QueenTrident]

Just my $.02 after reading this thread:

With my DD4, if something happens just once, she continually remembers it as if it happened again and again. For instance, when my MIL was putting her in the car one day (about a year ago), she accidentally hit DD's head. Now, she won't go in the car with MIL, without crying or warning her grandmother not to hurt her again.

DD is also just starting to differentiate between what happened yesterday with what happened a week or month ago. For the longest time, she kept thinking we went on our cruise, "yesterday" or that Santa came "yesterday."

So, while a 2 yo may not be overtly manipulative, there may be some gaps in understanding. So, if Miss xxx accidentally poked her arm whild your DD was sitting on the chair, it may have had enough of an impact to keep her thinking about it and making a much bigger deal of it in her mind. Also, if you or your DH had a very distinct and overt reaction to it (good or bad), she could be remembering it more vividly than other things that happen during the day.

That being said, it's good you wen to your Dr and removed your daughter from the school - it'll give you greater peace of mind.