Difficult Infant

[Ac114]

I have a family that I’ve had older sister for going on 2 years now. Mom is going back to work next week. The last 2 weeks I’ve had the baby one day a week for a few hours for doctors appointments etc. the baby is by far the most difficult infant I’ve come across. I’m not seasoned and my babies were all easy babies or at least easy to me because they were mine. She has really bad acid reflux, a very sensitive gag reflux, takes 45mins- 1 hr to eat 3oz and overall just an unhappy baby. Each day I’ve had her it’s been 3-4 hrs max and I’m starting to panic on what our days will look like. She screams the entire time she is here. She wants held, then doesn’t want held, wants to eat, then doesn’t want to eat. How long would you realistically give yourself and the baby to adjust before you say it’s not working out? I’m seriously starting to panic at the thought of her starting full time next week. My morning was pure hell with the added stress of her screaming and puking and wanting held.

[Cat Herder]

For me, I give two weeks of full-time attendance to decide. You may already know, you don't need to feel guilty if this child is simply a bad fit.

Part-time infants are a nightmare the vast majority of the time. :hug:

[rosieteddy]

I also would give 2 weeks full time.Infants are hard and a couple of hours once a week is usually difficult.It is hard for infants to get used to group care.You may be pleasantly surprised.

[MamaG2903]

I had an infant like this for most of last year. It was an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. I held on for 9 long, miserable months because she was family but it absolutely wasn't worth it.

That said, give it at least a full week of care and if you can't handle it, terminate knowing that you tried!

[Mom2Two]

I have had to suck it up and choose a different profession due to medical issues for my child. Don't think that you need to bear all the burdens in the world.

[Blackcat31]

I had an infant like this for most of last year. It was an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. I held on for 9 long, miserable months because she was family but it absolutely wasn't worth it.

That said, give it at least a full week of care and if you can't handle it, terminate knowing that you tried!

The few times I have toughed it out (for various reasons) it was never.ever.ever worth it. NOT once.

The last one I struggled through was the last infant (under 12 months) I have enrolled. Child is now 2.5 and is still a tough kid. If I had to do it (this last situation or even at all) over again, I would have opted not to.

I have had to suck it up and choose a different profession due to medical issues for my child. Don't think that you need to bear all the burdens in the world.

That is why I am a child care provider today.

My "difficult" baby is now 27 and I stuck with the profession but this career was on the very bottom of my choices for "what I wanted to do when I grew up"

But as a parent, you do what you need to do for your child.

[Ariana]

I would ask as many questions as possible to get to the bottom of why this kid is so miserable. How is she sleeping, is her reflux being managed well, is mom holding her 24/7 and then I would let the parents know that her screaming all day is not going to fly so something has to be done. Come up with a plan and then give it a few weeks to improve.

[Gemma]

"what I wanted to do when I grew up"

That would make an interesting OT thread, if we haven't done it yet

As for difficult babies I had one and kept her for 5 yrs!
The thing that helped me, was going from caring for two infants at a time, to just having her, so even if she was (still is) clingy , crying, not napping more than 15 minutes etc, it was less stressful being that she was the only infant

[Ac114]

I would ask as many questions as possible to get to the bottom of why this kid is so miserable. How is she sleeping, is her reflux being managed well, is mom holding her 24/7 and then I would let the parents know that her screaming all day is not going to fly so something has to be done. Come up with a plan and then give it a few weeks to improve.

I know mom holds her all day because she said she screams all day if she’s not held 🙄and they are trying to figure out the right formula for her so she’s always having tummy issues. She’s on an iron fortified formula now and she was constipated when I had her that day but mom didn’t inform me of this. As far as the reflux, they are just propping her up. They don’t feel comfortable putting her on meds if she will just outgrow it by 5/6 months. I don’t know why her gag reflux is so sensitive but she gags on her pacifier and on her bottle and then throws up everything she just ate.

[MamaG2903]

I know mom holds her all day because she said she screams all day if she’s not held 🙄and they are trying to figure out the right formula for her so she’s always having tummy issues. She’s on an iron fortified formula now and she was constipated when I had her that day but mom didn’t inform me of this. As far as the reflux, they are just propping her up. They don’t feel comfortable putting her on meds if she will just outgrow it by 5/6 months. I don’t know why her gag reflux is so sensitive but she gags on her pacifier and on her bottle and then throws up everything she just ate.

Wow this really does sound like my infant from hell 😂 constantly held, moms changed formula practically every week and the baby had a hair-trigger gag reflex, even with pacis.