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I cried my eyes out

April 13, 2009 by Jessica

Today was Micah’s first day at child care at The Children in the Shoe, and I cried my eyes out! He is now officially a Little Star (I had it wrong before . . . I thought he was going into the Lambs classroom). I always knew he was a superstar!

Our day was crazy (as usual). We went to our playgroup this morning, and we brought a kosher for Passover birthday cake we baked for one of the other moms. Nothing fancy, but it wasn’t bad for a Passover cake.

Micah had a great time at playgroup! He played on the playmat, and his friend Juliet couldn’t stop running her fingers through his hair (okay, more like grabbing a chunk, but at that age, same thing!!) They were even holding hands for a while. I think some of the other women took some photos – I will try and update those later.

We stayed a little too long at playgroup, and I needed to race out of there and get gas for Elliot’s car. We finally made it to the daycare center at 2:00 – about 1/2 hour later than I’d planned. I brought him back to the room, and left him there. As I walked out . . . I started to bawl. I was just so sad to leave him. I was worried he would be afraid with all the strangers, and I didn’t want him to be sad or lonely. I kept thinking they wouldn’t talk to him enough and that he would not get enough stimulation. Crazy, right? It also worries me that many of them speak with an accent, and I worry that hearing poor English will affect his language development. I went to the office and filled out all the paperwork, and then I went back and checked on him. He was sitting in a bouncy seat, playing with a blue stuffed elephant. He wasn’t smiling and chatting like he does at home, but he looked like he was fine, so I ran out of there in a mad race to get to my meeting on time!

My meeting went well – I won’t bore you with the details, but it looks like I have a chance at another contract. After my meeting, I checked in with Elliot, and he was about to pick Micah up from daycare. I raced home and waited for them. When Elliot walked through the door with Micah, he was clearly happy to see me. He couldn’t stop beaming and laughing, and he was just so happy to be with me. I can assure you, the feeling was mutual!

Micah did just fine . . . he enjoyed playing with the blue stuffed elephant while he sat in a bouncy seat, and he took his bottle. They said he was happy and easy the whole time – he even got a wonderful report card to prove it!

All in all, he did really well, but I was a bit frustrated with his caretaker, Aneta. When we arrived, Micah was asleep. We decided to place his car seat in the crib so we did not wake him up (I told her he desperately needed to nap for an hour or two). So, after we placed him in the crib . . . she woke him up to put in his paci “so he would sleep better.” HELLO – how does WAKING A BABY UP help them sleep better? I did my best to bite my frustration back, and I went to the front office. I came back to check on Micah before I left, and he was quietly playing. DH picked him up at 4:30, and he was napping – but he had JUST fallen asleep. According to Aneta, Micah took 5 ounces. I told her he probably shouldn’t need more than 4 – I have a feeling she force-fed him the last ounce instead of taking the bottle away when he was just comfort-sucking. I’ll have to have a discussion with her about not over-feeding him. Needless to say, his belly hurt a bit when we brought him home, and he had a meltdown around 7:30 because he had not gotten enough sleep during the day. We’ll have to work that out.

I had to run out after nursing Micah to attend a viewing – the father of our family friend, Pat, died last week. I made it back a little after 8, and Micah was still in melt-down mode. Elliot managed to get him to sleep for a few minutes, but I needed to nurse him again before he finally drifted off. I guess my little guy just needed a bit more mommy time. He was SOOO over-tired today.

Update. . . . 1:02 am. It has been a rough night. Micah was hysterical at bed time, then woke up again at 8:45 and needed to nurse. He went back to sleep, but Elliot and I have needed to run upstairs MANY times to reinsert the paci. I was getting ready to pump when the fussing started again. I reinserted the paci, but he didn’t seem satisfied, so I picked him up and decided to nurse him again. While I was nursing him, he was making this horrible rattling noise – he was extremely congested. We used that blue nasal squeegey to clear things out (he did NOT like that) and I finished nursing him. He is currently asleep, on his side, but it is a very restless sleep. I think we’re in for a long night and an early morning! Maybe daycare did really throw him off more than we thought.

Filed Under: cake, childcare, daycare

Childcare Update

April 11, 2009 by Jessica

We are still working on figuring out a nanny solution (either a part-time nanny just for us, or a nanny-share situation with friends of ours), but in the interim, we decided to take the spot that opened up at the daycare. They offered us Mondays and Fridays (lousy days) but we decided to take just Mondays. Until May 20, they have openings everyday, so we can take advantage of drop-off days in addition to Mondays. We are going to test this out and see how it goes. If the nanny thing falls through, it gets us in the door at the daycare, and we should be able to work out better days by the Fall. We went back to visit the facility this past Wednesday to see the classroom and meet his primary caretaker (he will be a Little Lamb). I was crying while we were there . . . I know I need to get help so I can get my work done . . . but the thought of someone else caring for my little guy breaks my heart. He is thriving, and I’m so proud of the fact that we did that, and I don’t think anyone can make him grow and thrive the way we can. But I do realize that I can’t do it all myself. I keep thinking I’ll feel more comfortable with daycare when he is older – I can kind of consider it early preschool at that point. I guess we’ll try this out, and it will give me a chance to see how I’m feeling and if this will work for us. We can add more days if necessary, or cancel our spot and switch to a nanny. I really do believe that this facility will be wonderful for Micah as he gets older, but I wish I was ready for him to be in daycare right now. Keep your fingers crossed that we can find a nanny situation!

Filed Under: childcare, nanny

I wasn’t ready for the call

March 13, 2009 by Jessica

I’ve been cranking and complaining for weeks now about how difficult it is to get my work done, and how we need to figure out a childcare solution, and how I wouldn’t mind some free time to just get my life back and focus on my work. We have been on the wait list at 3 different daycare centers since June of last year. Today, one of them called and said they have an opening for us, immediately, for Mondays and Fridays.

After all of that . . . I’m feeling incredibly ambivalent about putting him in daycare. I guess I kind of hoped I could make it to 6 months before we had to put him in daycare. And part of me would really prefer to hire a nanny who will watch him in the house so I can come and go as I please and have him right here. But, the nanny option may not be reasonable, and we haven’t yet called any of the in-home child care centers. We are talking to a few different people about a possible nanny-share option.

So . . . back to the daycare call. I’m feeling ridiculous! We are only talking about maybe putting him there 3-5 hours on Mondays and Fridays to test the waters and see if that works for us. I should be excited, right? And yet . . . I feel kind of sad. I never intended to be a stay at home mom, but part of me is feeling that no one else will teach him and nurture him like I can. I’m so concerned that putting him in daycare this young will somehow stunt his development. I’m sure every mom goes through this. I’ve seen so many kids whose parents put them in daycare thrive – I guess it is just harder to process when it is YOUR baby. I hate the thought of him being ignored – what if they don’t talk to him or play with him enough? What if he doesn’t hear “I love you” enough? Somehow, once they are 6 months old . . . sitting up, playing with stuff, it doesn’t seem to bother me as much. But right now . . . he is still so little!

I wish I could do it all!

Filed Under: childcare

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Eat-Sleep-Love | Maryland DC & Virginia Sleep Coach, Baby Planner, Maternity & Child Consultant

"I was exhausted and out of ideas when I consulted with Jessica.  She gave me all the tools I needed to help my children sleep better. Thank you, Jessica, for making our home a happier one!"

-Kari

Mom to 2 year old quadruplets
Eat-Sleep-Love | Maryland DC & Virginia Sleep Coach, Baby Planner, Maternity & Child Consultant

"I was exhausted and out of ideas when I consulted with Jessica.  She gave me all the tools I needed to help my children sleep better. Thank you, Jessica, for making our home a happier one!"

-Kari

Mom to 2 year old quadruplets
Eat-Sleep-Love | Maryland DC & Virginia Sleep Coach, Baby Planner, Maternity & Child Consultant
"Our son did not know how to fall asleep on his own, sleep through the night or stay in bed past 5:00am. Jessica was there every step of the way, offering advice, suggestions and support. Her step by step plan made for easy transitions and successful milestones. We cannot thank her enough for all her work and support!"
T. and S.

Parents to 2.5 year old boy

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