I have been looking after a little boy who's 17 months old for almost 2 months now. I've only been having him once a week (this will increase to 2 days next week though). He's not happy at all :( I knew it would take a while for him to settle as he was only with me once a week but I thought he would have got better by now. It doesn't help that the poor little sausage is the kind of child to get one illness after another after another. The last 3 weeks he's not been right.
He cries off and on most of the day, only pausing at mealtimes and at playgroup, which he loves. No kind of distraction at home works - apart from the TV which I obviously only want to use sparingly.
I'm hoping that an extra day a week will help but if it doesn't what then?! I've had a couple of thoughts; trying to meet up with him and his mum for an hour or so at the weekend, somewhere on 'neutral' ground like the park. Asking his mum to put a little photo album together of his family. I've got as much information as I can have about his likes, dislikes and routines and I do my utmost to follow this. Does anyone have any other ideas? I really want this to work...he's a lovely boy (when he's not crying!) and his mum moved him to me from nursery because he wasn't happy there so I would hate to put them through another move to a different childcarer.
If I don't answer on this thread tonight it's cos I've gone to bed - been an exhausting day holding a crying one year old...