Eek!

I am transitioning a 12month old right now. Last two days she came for two hours at a time with mom and everything was great.

Today she came and mom left.... SHE WILL NOT STOP CRYING, unless I pick her up and hold her. I do not want to do this as I dont want her to get used to it as it is not realistic. I also do not want to just leave her to cry as then she will not want to come here.

I have been switching between picking her up and telling her everything is ok until she calms down and then put her down to cry. Repeat.

What would you do?

I would def hold her a little to let her know she is ok and you care. and def get down on the floor and play with her as well. sometimes it helps to give a child space too. just depends on her behavior when you try all these things. expect she will cry for the first week or so, but it should taper off as she slowly gets used to you and Mom returning, right now she is very scared and confused, just needs reassurance. things will get better for the both of you. :)

I'm a hugger for the first month at least too with a 12 month old. I want the little child to know they are in a safe place and that I feed them great food and change them when they are uncomfortable and give them a nice place to sleep and calm them when they are upset. However, I won't hold them all day either. I also set them down and make them understand that hugs are special and I'm a super busy person tending to the needs of all the children in the daycare. Hopefully they catch on quickly, because when it drags on for a couple of months I get very irritated.

I'd buy a wrap or a sling. Baby needs reassurance, and the more you give, the more she'll trust you. :)

If she was doing 'well' and took a turn for the worse with crying my first thought would be she is getting 'sick' children new to group childcare often end up with an ear infection or cold of some sort within their first month.

If this is her first time without mom there ~ separation anxiety for sure and in the beginning I am another 'hold them' if they need it while trying to show them its fun on the floor and engaged them ~ so I will do a cuddle and than sit them beside me and see if they will be ok ... than if they are I slowly inch away a bit to see how 'far' I can go with them being ok and so forth. Being new to child care is SCARY for infants and IMO they need that extra 'loving' to feel secure ~ once they are secure than you can work on the expectation that you cannot be holding them so much or sitting with them all the time.