Day care day 1 = survived

[marydell]

Charlie started day care today.  I was pretty emotional all day, more with worry than with guilt, though.  I don't feel guilty about working but I do feel sad that life requires this choices--I was definitely feeling it as a sacrifice.  But I know that if I was home with him, I'd be feeling the sacrificial quality of THAT.  I got through the day by focusing a whole lot on my ideas about the totality of his life and mine and Mike's --what we want to accomplish, what we want to give Charlie, and so forth.  But still it was tough.

For Charlie, thank goodness, it wasn't tough at all.  After days of (him) hollering and crying because of reflux and other internal misery, we put him on Zantac and some other stuff and he had a good night and a good day at last.  I hate putting him on drugs so young but even the anti-reflux formula wasn't getting him to the point of being really happy.  I don't want "not screaming" to be the best mood my baby can experience...although it suffices for many of us adults!

Anyway, he was good for the folks at day care, and he is a very cute baby so they were excited to have him there--I put him in a really sweet outfit so that even if he was horribly fussy he'd still be cute.  Gotta work the cute, particularly when he's getting to know his new caretakers.  At the end of the day when Mike picked him up, they gave us a log of his day that includes his moods and they'd circled "happy" and triple-circled "adorable" so YAY.   I even got to have some non-cry time with him myself, for the first time in a few days, so DOUBLE YAY.

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

thank you for putting charlie in childcare. being as there is only one of me, ltbnl is definitely going into childcare, unless i find a patron. totally willing to lounge around in my pjs and feed myself and the kid bonbons. but haven't found one yet, so it seems unlikely.

and yes, of course they think he's adorable. :)

[kouredios.livejournal.com]

Man, yeah, that first day is tough.

You get a log of his day? With moods? Excellent daycare you've got there!

Spelling.

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

Well, if he's not coming home crying---and you're getting non-cry time, then maybe this Day Care = not so bad.

[pnkrokhockeymom.livejournal.com]

That's so great! I'm glad he had a good day. I used to work in child care and "new baby" days were the BEST.

Although when I was in the early toddler room, I have to say, very little beats walking in to your job and having twelve small children walk and hobble over to you to hug you and yell "Hi Miss Kim!! Miss Kim! Miss Kim!" So those were good days too.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a great day care programme to me. It sounds to me as if you're dealing very well with the reflux.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's only sorta-kinda an option for one of us to stay home. If he needed full-time hands-on parenting we would manage, but we each make exactly 50% of the family income so it would be a heck of a pinch.

PJs and Bonbons sound good today, though!

[marydell.livejournal.com]

We love this day care - we get a log of diapers, feedings, naps, what they read at story time, what toy or bouncy thing he played on at play time, what mood he was in, and if they're running low on any of his supplies.

They read 2 or 3 books to him every day. *Joy*

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're liking it. We actually feel like they're part of a team with us and everything.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I volunteered at a day care when I was a wee thing (like, 12 years old) and it was a lot of fun.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It seems to be working out well...although a baby is quite the engineering project. Food I/O is complicated!

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. That, ahem, burp reflex...

[marydell.livejournal.com]

And binding agents in the formula help with upstream problems but create downstream problems. Solved by putting more stuff in the formula...which causes upstream problems....

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Have you talked to your paediatrician or paediatric nurse about that? I think there are some solutions. It's been a long time since I bottle-fed a child, so I can't be much help, sorry.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Yeah, with the doctor's help we seem to have hit on a mix that works. The first formula=gas, so we switched to an easy-to-digest formula, which = reflux, so we switched to an anti-reflux formula, which = constipation. So now he's on zantac & anti-reflux formula plus Karo syrup (which is an old-school bottle-feeding trick to help with constipation), and both ends seem to be happy, finally!

Of course, last night he broke out in a rash...but it turns out that's from his lotion, not from any of the other stuff. He's just putting us through our paces. He thought the emergency room was nifty!

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

This all sounds very normal. Believe it or not. Anita (my favourite ex) and I went through all sorts of crises with Roger (our firstborn). He's now a healthy 23, and blowing up stars.