The Woes of Daycare

Pink Eye and Sore Throats and Bites, oh my! The woes of daycare. My son has been in daycare since I returned to work after maternity leave. He started part time but then moved to full time. I think that was tougher on ME than him.....

Within the first week, he had pink eye, though. He's had it two more times since then. I'm in my late 30s, and I have NEVER had pink eye...how is that possible? A baby less than 1 has pink eye three times compared to a grown adult who has never had it....?

He's also had multiple colds and boog noses. Those are fun....cleaning the dried, crispy snot from around his nose, because they didn't do it at daycare.

Then, there's the biting. He's been bitten 3 or 4 times. The first time it happened, I was given an "incident report" and told what happened. I wasn't told WHO bit my son. I was told this was "normal" for children of this age. Okay.....

The second time it happened, I asked, "Was it the same child....?" Oh no, no.....I was assured it was not the same baby.

The third time it happened I also wasn't given many details. I guess my son went to bear hug another child and got a chomp on his arm. None of these bites broke the skin, and they healed within days. Nick seemed fine, and he wasn't biting or hitting back [good boy! He's been taught some manners!]. Again, we let it go.

By the fourth time, I was really starting to wonder why my son seemed to be a chew toy in his class! I mean, is he so sweet that the like to chew on him???? So, really.....what's the deal? And who was doing the biting?

Well, I sweet talked my way into the answers. The girls who run his room finally admitted to me that one little girl seemed to be the culprit. Ironically, this little toddler was just brought into the room by another caregiver. After I told her how much I liked the flowers on her shoes, I asked her to only kiss and love Nick and not bite him anymore.

Every time I see her, she now comes over and shows me her shoes with the pink flowers. And so far....no more bites from her! Even though she didn't REALLY understand what I was saying, maybe she just understood enough....

Happy Baby = Happy Mom

Yesterday, when I picked my son up at day care, I was told by one of the women who works in the infant room that I have a very happy baby.

A very happy baby. Ah, music to my ears! I mean, I know I have a happy baby, but it's nice to hear that my kid isn't a screaming brat when I'm not around.....

She said she loves to take care of him, because he's so happy and that he was amusing her earlier in the day with his silly laugh.

He does have a silly laugh. It's just so funny to get him going, too! He's cracking up, and then you're cracking up. It's just one of those contagious laughs. Of course, I usually start crying, because he's so cute, and I love him so much, and I am suddenly overwhelmed by that love....but I digress.....

I'm not sure if we just got very, VERY lucky....or if we had something to do with this incredibly happy baby. I mean, I already know we got very, VERY lucky, but it's possible that it wasn't ALL luck....or that luck only played a part of it. Of course, I would LIKE to think he's so happy, because I read tons of baby books and tried to follow any advice that sounded good or made sense! I would like to think that I contributed to this baby's happiness.

For example, I read that you really shouldn't let the baby get too upset and start whaling. Now, maybe that can't always be helped, but I have done my best to make sure that Nicholas isn't throwing a fit before he gets one of his basic needs met. Whatever I read said that this makes for happier, more confident babies.

I think my husband felt like I was "spoiling" Nicholas by soothing him or attending to his needs so quickly. Again, I read something that said you can't really "spoil" the baby until they are 6+ months, because they don't really understand that crying = mommy's attention! Or that you'll come running as soon as they utter a peep.

It's possible that the above behavior on our part has contributed to our sweet, good natured baby. He is very happy, and he rarely cries. In fact, he will lay in his crib in the morning for a good 20-30 minutes, patiently waiting for one of us to come get him while he entertains himself. Lately, he seems to enjoy scraping his fingers against the material of the baby bumpers -- probably because of the "zipff-zipffff" noise it makes. At other times, he will look upward and sing and talk to his fish mobile. The funniest is when he practices his raspberry.

When we do go get him, he greets us with the biggest, brightest smile and proceeds to jabber away and coo. Maybe he's trying to tell us about the wonderful dreams he had the night before of endless formula and mommy kisses. And he will show us how good he's getting at doing a raspberry! He definitely is my little ray of sunshine every morning.

The only time he gets really upset is when he's hungry. Then, his entire little body will shake. He definitely knows when it's "bottle time" and is starting to try and grab or hold the bottle. However, if you take him into the kitchen and show him that you are, indeed, making a bottle, then he will patiently wait for it.....within reason, of course. He might yell out one time to "encourage" you to speed it up, but that's about it.

You know, I also think it's possible that the reason we have such a happy baby is that Nicholas knows he's loved. Maybe he doesn't know-know in any sort of concrete terms, but he knows, and I can't explain it. I see the love in his eyes, the pure happiness in his eyes when he looks at me, and I know he can tell that he's safe and loved, and we'll do our best to give him a good start in life and take care of him and all that mushy, wonderful stuff....

Damn, did I mention we are very, VERY lucky???