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When they are crying a lot, I find it's because they are overwhelmed by the noise and all the activity around them, so I pop them in the high chair I have in the daycare room. They are higher than everyone else, can watch what's going on without anyone invading their space, and can play with a toy at the same time. This has always worked for me but never even thought of it as something someone else might want to try. I hope it helps!
I personally don't do gradual entry for new starters. In my experience the children adapt quicker by being fully immersed in my daycare for full days and every day. They are never going to start to transition properly IMO and IME until the are experiencing the full day. Generally the shorter days of transition are more to apease the parents but of no great benefit to the child. I can honestly say my most difficult children to transition are those that are either part time, which I'm sure most of us will agree is common and/or the child that on the rare occasion I have agreed to start with a week or so of shorter days or less days.
I agree that it's best to start children full time full days so they learn the routines as quickly as possible. I tried transitioning just a few days a week in the past and it really didn't work out well. But something that I've implemented is to have the new Mom & baby come for visits at least a couple of times for an hour or so the month before the baby starts so they get to know our faces, voices and the activity level in the daycare. Better transitioning is definitely something I've been working on the past few years after having 3 screamers join in a row.
I am the same as bright sparks and mom of 4: Ime, dcks transition much more quickly if they just start ft right away. After a bunch of transitioning issues with part timers, I now only take a part time child over 2. Maybe it's just the two that I have now, but only a few days of crying at drop off and then they were fine. I think it's too hard for babies to only do a few days a week.