cfred
08-26-2013, 12:58 PM
I'm having some issues with a 17 month old boy in my care. He's been here for a few months now and has settled in so far as he likes me, plays well and seems to feel at home here. I was warned at signing that he's a difficult child in some ways. My biggest struggles with him are eating and sleeping. In fact, he's driving me a little nuts :woot:
The eating we're working through. This child just doesn't eat....ever. If I put his food in front of him (no matter WHAT it is), he'll just sit and look at it. If I spoon feed him, I can get a little bit into him, but it's still less than 1/2 of what I give others his age. Fair enough, I'll feed him and I'll keep working on this with Mum and Dad.
Sleeping is a big, big, big problem. He started off sleeping 3 hours here, no problem. For 2 weeks now, he might make it 30-40 mins. There's absolutely no way he's not tired...no way! He wakes in the middle of the night for his parents and is often up around 5-5:30am. He yawns all morning, rubs his eyes, etc. By the end of lunch, he's starting to nod off in his chair. I made the dire mistake of allowing him 20 mins of nap in the stroller one morning....that'll never happen again because then he won't sleep even 5 minutes at nap! I've made it clear to Mum that he will not be brought out early. Nap time is non-negotiable and the others need to rest. Unfortunately, there's another little guy down there with him. So far, he's only been woken a couple times as I have the dehumidifier on as a sound blocker. At this point, I've simply stopped going down to put him back under his blankets. He's in a PNP, has diaper changed right before bed (he's never had a dirty or overly wet diaper during these wakeful times). It seems to me that he WANTS me to go down and check on him and that maybe I'm reinforcing this behaviour. I don't know.
Has anyone had experience with this? This is the first time in my ECE history that I've encountered so many issues with one child. I have to say though that termination is not an option I'm willing to look at. I'd rather work through the issues. I really like this family and they're very, very good to me....this is the mum that shows up every morning with a big old coffee for me :) She's on board and wants to help in any way she can, so I'm not facing an obstacle that way. I need some behaviour modification advice.
Anyone??????
The eating we're working through. This child just doesn't eat....ever. If I put his food in front of him (no matter WHAT it is), he'll just sit and look at it. If I spoon feed him, I can get a little bit into him, but it's still less than 1/2 of what I give others his age. Fair enough, I'll feed him and I'll keep working on this with Mum and Dad.
Sleeping is a big, big, big problem. He started off sleeping 3 hours here, no problem. For 2 weeks now, he might make it 30-40 mins. There's absolutely no way he's not tired...no way! He wakes in the middle of the night for his parents and is often up around 5-5:30am. He yawns all morning, rubs his eyes, etc. By the end of lunch, he's starting to nod off in his chair. I made the dire mistake of allowing him 20 mins of nap in the stroller one morning....that'll never happen again because then he won't sleep even 5 minutes at nap! I've made it clear to Mum that he will not be brought out early. Nap time is non-negotiable and the others need to rest. Unfortunately, there's another little guy down there with him. So far, he's only been woken a couple times as I have the dehumidifier on as a sound blocker. At this point, I've simply stopped going down to put him back under his blankets. He's in a PNP, has diaper changed right before bed (he's never had a dirty or overly wet diaper during these wakeful times). It seems to me that he WANTS me to go down and check on him and that maybe I'm reinforcing this behaviour. I don't know.
Has anyone had experience with this? This is the first time in my ECE history that I've encountered so many issues with one child. I have to say though that termination is not an option I'm willing to look at. I'd rather work through the issues. I really like this family and they're very, very good to me....this is the mum that shows up every morning with a big old coffee for me :) She's on board and wants to help in any way she can, so I'm not facing an obstacle that way. I need some behaviour modification advice.
Anyone??????