Need Some Advice!

[JennyBear]

Hi everyone!

I'm very new to this site. Another home daycare provider told me about this site and it seems great! It's nice to be able to come to a place and share stories, ideas and support!

I am pretty new to this home daycare thing as I have just opened up a few months ago. I have this one 10 month old boy who has been with me now for almost 3 weeks. All he does is cry, unless I am holding him. As you all know, it's impossible and unfair to hold him all day long but I don't know what to do to stop him from crying. I have tried giving him his soother to help comfort him and calm him down and that doesn't work. He is taking his naps, and sleeps very well...but when he is awake all he wants to do is be either in my arms or on my lap (well, he is okay when he is eating as well).
I will offer him several distractions and several things to play with but unless he is with me, he cries. If I get up to move around or go help out another child he just cries and follows me around and gets very angry.
In the past 1.5 weeks I have just ignored this behavior. I have just carried on with our day and let him cry and that doesn't seem to be doing much either.
I'm starting to wear thin regarding this as it's taking away from the other children's learning and fun...and it's definitely driving me up the wall!

Any advice??
Thanks so much!

[Atroya]

I have/had a baby like that. It drives me crazy. In the summer months it got better because the school aged kids were here to keep him occupied. I have been doing daycare since July 2010. I got a 2 month old baby as one of my first dck. He was ok for a few months, then started becoming really clingy, crying when not held. I tried ignoring it too, didn't work. The older he got, the worse he got. It was to the point where I could not walk away from him or go to another room without him screaming. This dragged on for months. I found this site, and several people suggested putting him in a "baby time out" in another room. When they start screaming and crying for no obvious reason(hunger, diaper change, etc) you put the child in the pack n play and shut the door to the room until they stop crying. If they start crying when you open the door, shut it until they stop again. Even if for no other reason than to give you some sanity back. It did not fully cure my dcb, but he did get a little better. He is now 14 months old, and now that the kids have gone back to school, he is getting clingy again. I noticed that he also is reluctant to play with toys on his own, he expects interaction by someone else. I have a large variety of toys he has access to, but he won't play unless someone plays with him. I have a 2 yr old boy starting soon, so hopefully they will play together. I informed the parents when I decided to start doing this for two reasons, so they would know there was a problem, and so they were fully aware of what I am doing and why. She admitted they hold him a lot, and I also have his older sister here, and she non-stop plays with him and messes around with him, so I would guess that is part of his playing problem. They pretty much spoil him rotten and let him get away with pretty much any and all bad behavior, including hitting. Finding daycare kids is tough right now in my area, so I am just dealing with it and holding on. When he is not having his screaming fits and clingyness, he is pretty happy, has a cute laugh(even laughs at his own farts already) and is a little ham. So there are bright spots here and there. Try the time out thing, and it should work, at least a little. Unfortunately, they get better by the end of the week, and you almost have to start over from square one on Mondays(especially after a 3 or 4 day holiday or vacation weekend) since obviously the parents probably won't do the same thing on weekends, but it at least makes you feel like you have some control, and get back a little sanity. Hope this helps.