I've got that kid. 13 mos, only child, parents seem typical of this generation of white-collar American parents--a little too clingy but not over the top.
Infant has been here for two and a half months now, full time, and isn't adjusting one little bit. We have hunger strikes that last 3/4 of the day, swatting the bottle away and flinging the food on the floor. I think feeding is also a challenge because I suspect the parents are feeding "healthy" non-nutritious food that doesn't get shoved away.
Naps last all of 10 minutes, and because this child's default state is to open their eyes and then open their mouth and whine, they keep the other infant awake, too.
It's an hour of fussing, half an hour of cheerful play, an hour of fussing, half an hour of cheerful play . . . every day. Picking this kid up gets me shoved in the chest and swatted at. If I make too much eye contact or get down on the floor with them, the fussing starts.
I've tried my regular method of babywearing to get the kid used to me. That has worked with other kids who just needed to learn I'm a safe, kind of chubby place to cuddle and rest, but this one just shoves continuously. It's a behavior. I've seen the parent bottle-feeding and the kid is shoving the bottle away from the parent, too, but keeps getting fed.
I'm waiting to interview some other folks. The issue is that my big kids all aged out this summer and my other enrolled infant's family is BFFs with this infant's family, so if I term now I'll probably be without any income for a few weeks and that's not ideal right now; we've had a lot of medical bills recently and we're already having to tap my mom for some expenses. So I need to have a few families on my wait list before I terminate, just in case quitting this family also means that I lose the other one.
I'm not in hell. I'm just not enjoying this, and I like enjoying my job. Getting shoved when I offer emotional comfort is making it hard for me to develop the warm fuzzies for this kid. Having somebody's face crumple into a perfect picture of emotional agony every time they look over and remember you exist is not boosting my ego.
Any advice for older infants who shove all the things and all the people? Do you take the shoved food away, or is that not appropriate? When you are shoved, do you put them down and walk away? Sit close to them? (This kid hates when I'm sitting close.) Hold them anyway?
Infant has been here for two and a half months now, full time, and isn't adjusting one little bit. We have hunger strikes that last 3/4 of the day, swatting the bottle away and flinging the food on the floor. I think feeding is also a challenge because I suspect the parents are feeding "healthy" non-nutritious food that doesn't get shoved away.
Naps last all of 10 minutes, and because this child's default state is to open their eyes and then open their mouth and whine, they keep the other infant awake, too.
It's an hour of fussing, half an hour of cheerful play, an hour of fussing, half an hour of cheerful play . . . every day. Picking this kid up gets me shoved in the chest and swatted at. If I make too much eye contact or get down on the floor with them, the fussing starts.
I've tried my regular method of babywearing to get the kid used to me. That has worked with other kids who just needed to learn I'm a safe, kind of chubby place to cuddle and rest, but this one just shoves continuously. It's a behavior. I've seen the parent bottle-feeding and the kid is shoving the bottle away from the parent, too, but keeps getting fed.
I'm waiting to interview some other folks. The issue is that my big kids all aged out this summer and my other enrolled infant's family is BFFs with this infant's family, so if I term now I'll probably be without any income for a few weeks and that's not ideal right now; we've had a lot of medical bills recently and we're already having to tap my mom for some expenses. So I need to have a few families on my wait list before I terminate, just in case quitting this family also means that I lose the other one.
I'm not in hell. I'm just not enjoying this, and I like enjoying my job. Getting shoved when I offer emotional comfort is making it hard for me to develop the warm fuzzies for this kid. Having somebody's face crumple into a perfect picture of emotional agony every time they look over and remember you exist is not boosting my ego.
Any advice for older infants who shove all the things and all the people? Do you take the shoved food away, or is that not appropriate? When you are shoved, do you put them down and walk away? Sit close to them? (This kid hates when I'm sitting close.) Hold them anyway?
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