day care ~ room transition

my ds transitioned up to a new toddler room at his day care this week. i swear this has been harder on me than it has been him.

he is 13 months old. should he be only getting the 1 daily nap? sleeping on the mat (no more crib)? i also dont know how i feel about the teacher allowing him to try to feed himself. is he too young to have these things forced upon him?

he seems to be doing fine these past few days BUT i fear he is losing the opportunity to be a BABY. im not sure if its my own insecurities or if he should be doing these things at this stage.

ALSO - they put him in a brand new class which consists of only 5 children. he isnt with the larger group of kids that used to be in his infant class. that class is full (approx 15) today when i dropped ds off there was only one little girl (out of the 5) and she was screaming her head off because she is new to the school. would you let it ride a little longer and see how many kids show up daily? or would you already ask the director to somehow put him with the mass pop of toddlers?
i felt terrible leaving him play alone while the one teacher tended to the crying child.

opnions please... tia

Message edited 10/27/2011 1:15:32 PM.

Re: day care ~ room transition

DD was put in that kind of room at 12 months.
Yes, they sleep on low cots...about and inche or 2 off the ground. She does ok with it- but she was never a big napper at daycare.
Yes, 1 nap a day. Normally she won't take it - somedays we get 30-34 min if they are lucky

Feeding themselves has been going on since she was around 9-10 months evne in the other room. That is fine at his age...they do watch them closely

In terms of the smaller class, i'd like that better actually. More one on one time with the teachers.

Message edited 10/27/2011 12:55:47 PM.

Re: day care ~ room transition

The one nap thing is odd - DS was still in a crib and taking 2 naps at 13 months at daycare. He weaned himself to one nap at 16-17 months and was moved up to the 18-24 month room then (I had to request it because I was annoyed that most of the kids weren't even 12 months and DS was the only one walking - and had been walking for 6 months at that point so he was pretty stable).

As for the feeding themselves thing - I think that's pretty common amongst daycares at that age.

I would mention that you would like him to be with more kids - either they can work on moving him to the larger class or they can split the classes more evenly (I'm sure that's a staffing issue).

Re: day care ~ room transition

I totally understand your fears and frustrations on this issue. I feel the same way you do, that is why I did not choose to put my baby in daycare (He just turned 1) The daycare has to implement these changes so it is easier on them. If you feel strongly about having him moved back to the old room even if its only for a few more months I would voice my opinion. You are your child's best advocate and you know whats best for him/her. I agree with you 13 months is still a baby in my eyes.

Re: day care ~ room transition

Re: day care ~ room transition

I remember this like it was yesterday (ds is now 2 1/2). I was so upset. The cot, the one nap at a set time, eating by himself (ok, wasn't really worried about the eating). But one week after he was in the toddler room, he was walking. The three 20/ 30 minutes of sleeping he use to get was now one three hour nap. He was sleeping longer and much more rested when I picked him up. He did great. They let him sleep in the crib for a few weeks before going to the cot. But absolutely no issue. I totally agree it's so much harder on you then your child.

Re: day care ~ room transition

Re: day care ~ room transition

Re: day care ~ room transition

I could have written this word for word. DS just moved over to the toddler room, he's 13 months old.
Dropping the second nap was hard.. the first week they had to put him down later in the afternoon because he went ballistic. It does get better!
Last week DH had to drop something off at daycare and sent me a pic of DS napping on his mat with all of his friends.. so sweet.
We follow the same schedule at home if we can to keep things consistent! Don't worry, it will be fine in the end!

Re: day care ~ room transition

I panicked a little the day DS moved up to the toddler room but he did AWESOME! I would just trust that they know what's in the best interests of babies/toddlers at this age and just go with it. You'll look back one day and laugh at how paranoid you are. It'll be fine! Relax!

Re: day care ~ room transition

Re: day care ~ room transition

I felt the same way when DS transitions from the infant to the "young toddler" room.

At 12 mths they transition, sleeping on nap mats, eating by themselves, etc.
I too prefer the smaller class setting to get the one on one attention.

Now that DS is 2 he has his best buddies who he grew up with in daycare - talks about them all the time at home. Loves his teachers - current & older ones, that he goes in to visit & get hugs & kisses from. I feel that if he wasn't in a smaller class setting he wouldn't have formed those bonds.

Re: day care ~ room transition

Message edited 10/27/2011 3:04:59 PM.

Re: day care ~ room transition

They moved my DS to the toddler room 2 weeks after his first birthday and I didn't think he was ready. I cried the first day.. his teacher from the infant room had to console me I was so ridiculous.

I asked them to give him 2 naps because they totally effffed up his sleep schedule with the 1 nap thing, but he adjusted to that in about 2 weeks.

He cried and cried and cried when I dropped him off - absolutely hated the teacher for the first 5 weeks. It was torture leaving for work every day, listening to him cry as I left the building.

But then one day just like that it was perfect. He was content, he was part of the group and it was fine.

WRT the 5 kids in the class, I actually would prefer my kids to be in smaller groups. This way they get more attention and are exposed to fewer germs.

Re: day care ~ room transition

They moved DS into the toddler room at 12 months old and at the time I didnt even know he would be sleeping on a cot or feeding himself. About 2 weeks into it I realized they had been sleeping on cots and I said to the teacher "oh I didnt realize they were out of cribs in this room...he wont sleep on that mat thing" and she laughed and assured me that for the past 2 weeks he had not only been napping great on his "cot" but he also had been feeding himself, helping clean up the toys, etc.

Don't worry so much - he will get used to the new routine. He's not too young -- they are very adaptable at this age. You'll be surprised how much they can learn to do in a short span of time if we just give them the chance. I realized that I was actually holding DS back a little. I assumed he wasnt ready for certain things so I just didnt try, but if I had attempted them with him, he would have picked it right up!

Re: day care ~ room transition

My twins moved up at 10 months. I thought it was way too young, but they moved the kids up in groups and they are the youngest in their group. (the others were 12-18 months) They have handled all of the changes well, which surprised me. They do not nap there at all though. Maybe 30 minutes max. At home they take 2 naps - 2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. If they were there FT this would be a problem, but they are only there 2 days.
Give it a little time to see how she does.