Daycare Decisions - (long story, sorry)

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

We are faced with some difficult daycare decisions for . My

heart says one thing, my head another, my husband thinks one

way . . . ly, I am wigging out a little bit, and thought maybe

I would poll the group for some opinions.

I'll try to make a brief explaination . . . For the past year, Matt

has been in a home daycare with about five other kids of various

ages - most close to his age (two next week!) Overall we have been

very pleased, this lady is wonderful to , has a great home,

and has the knack for getting him to eat. About a month ago she let

us know she would be retiring this summer. Because she has a special

spot in her heart for Matt and one other child, she offered to watch

just those two " for as long as it takes " to find another good place.

We began searching, and looked at TutorTime (my best friend's 2 1/2yr

old son is there, and likes it.) Since we had planned to get him

into more of a school environment in the next year or so anyway, we

kind of focused on that. We made arrangements to start him there in

late August.

We waited until August (vs the June enrollment) because we are still

trying to make the transition from jar food to table food, and from a

bottle to a cup. The cup thing is going fairly well - he drinks from

a bottle about half the time, and a cup the other half. The food

thing is another story. He still eats about 3 four oz, and one six

oz jars of baby food a day - that is our guaranteed calories. At

dinner (and also his daycare lady tries at lunch) we try to get him

to eat " real " food: mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, spaghetti,

avocado, etc. It is hit and miss. One night he will eat several

bites of mac & cheese, then nothing for the next three nights.

At TutorTime, there are about 24 kids and 3-4 teachers in the two

year old room. At lunch time, they all sit at their little tables,

and eat the lunch they brought, and are generally expected to eat it

themselves (not be fed.) With this in mind, we were kicking up our

efforts to get him to eat this type of food.

Well, I arrived at the daycare lady's home yesterday to find a For

Sale Sign in the front yard - what a nice surprise. Her husband got

a job offer and they are moving. She told me she will honor her

commitment to me, even if it means staying at her son and daughter-in-

law's (who have a 16 month old and a newborn) home and watching Matt

there. She doesn't think the house will sell by August (I think it

will sell fairly quickly). I don't really feel comfortable with that

set up - and would only want to do it in a pinch for a few weeks, I

think.

Sooo, to keep on with this long story . . . TutorTime DOES still

have an opening for late June. Our options are to put Matt there

then, and hope he does OK. Or wait until August, and take our

chances that the house won't sell, and if it does - what will we do?

In my heart, I don't feel good about putting Matt in TutorTime in a

month, but I don't feel good about this lady living with her kids

just to watch him for a few months either. My husband thinks he has

to make the transition sometime, and a few months sooner shouldn't

hurt, but I don't know. I looked into a few home situations, but

didn't really like them. I hate to cold call off the Children's

Services referral list, and I have exhausted my personal leads. We

also thought since we were looking at a facility down the road, why

move him now, and then again in a year?

Well, knowing the eating issues involved with RSS kids, I was

wondering if you all have any ideas or advice?! To top it off, if we

don't decide soon, there is the possibility we could lose the June

TutorTime spot, and have to wait for August no matter what. Aaarghhh!

Thanks (for even just letting me vent my stressful scenario!)

Sandy - Mom to , just about two, 20 lbs, 32 "