How to probe more in interview about...

[Dreamalittledream]

Yes, hoping I don't regret it later. Will try and see how she does with Mom gone. I stressed TRIAL period. Feel free to all say "I told you so" in a few days when I am giving the "what the heck was I thinking" but I honestly know that she will be able to grow a lot here.

[playfelt]

One of the things I find hard in an interview is getting the parents to tell me things like how fine to chop because to them it just makes sense as if I should just know already when in reality I belive the child should just be chewing already. In fairness to the first caregiver she maybe assumed the child was eating table foods and was fine with pieces - although not sure I would have been giving a 9 month old pizza anyways. Also on the choking if I was standing there and any child started choking and there was a trained nurse standing there too I wold automatically expect the nurse - the person with the senior level of training to take command of the situtaion so again the mom may be reading more into what happened.

Children not given a chance to experience texture do not learn to handle it and as a result do choke and gag much longer than other kids do. And you will find as you increase the texture that the child will gag but they will also learn the gag reflex and what to do. Food that is too thin or bottles only don't let them learn this skill so it is one this baby doesn't have. Yes pizza was still a bad choice but baby is still somewhat behind expectatons for the age level.

I agree that a few weeks with you alone without mom will do this child wonders. Just remember the connection between rolling , sitting, trunk control and eating and swallowing abilities so child needs to be worked on from both angles. Even if you only have the child for a few weeks it will still be a positive learning time for the child that they have been denied up till now.

[Dreamalittledream]

I totally agree; one just doesn't know the whole story about the other provider...I can certainly see how this Mom can be intimidating for sure. The nice thing is that in 2 weeks my full time crew will all go to 2 days/week (teachers children) & my older (5 & 8) will start; so she will have some one-on-one time too with me & I won't be stretched quite so thin.

[sunnydays]

Wow! You really are brave! I have in my contract that purees have to be provided by parents until the child is on table foods. I had one who was on puress until about 14 months, btu finally now his parents are letting me feed him real food and I think they are still nervous although he is doing really well. One day they arrived during snacktime and he had little pears pieces on his tray and mom asked if it was apple...I said no of course not as he has hardly any teeth. Next day she packed a banana! This little guy is babied a lot too and didn't crawl until almost a year and is now 15 months and nowehere near walking. His parents carry him a lot or use exersaucer. When I pick him up he is like a limp sack of potatoes. However, he is learning independence and plays quite well now...outside he crawls around (I have parents provide long pants for this) even at the park. Good luck!

[Dreamalittledream]

Great idea about the parents providing puréed, but I really think this child needs to learn? I'm kicking myself for having sold (or mostly given away) all of my 'baby equipment' (excersaucer/jumper oo/bumbo chair)...the little ones starting at 1 year are way too old for that stuff. But in this case, I think she needs to NOT have that stuff.

[Dreamalittledream]

There is a support pillow you can get that baby sort of sits in and it helps support the trunk and provides padding when they fall backwards. Discourage the pillows behind the child due to rolling and suffocating if child is that delayed in movement. The comfortor will provide enough padding considering the child isn't falling down but sort of flopping down from only a foot off the ground .

. This does really concern me; the parents say she just 'flops back'...ouch! I will try the blanket. Any idea where I can find the support pillow? Is that the kind that looks like a tire/inner tube covered in material? So regret giving away my huge breast feeding pillow; that would have worked perfectly!

[playfelt]

What you can do is take the cushions off the couch and arrange them behind her or use large stuffed animals - anything that breaks the fall but you will need to be watching her because as she falls and tries to roll she will get stuck. Just using the blanket she will have a better chance of rolling herself back over.

One of the exercises they did with my own special needs daughter was to lay her on her tummy on a large exercise ball - hold her hands and then push it back and forth, rock it slightly side to side. She will be learning vestibular balance in the way she needs for crawling - and it is fun. Yes the other kids will want a turn too. Later you will put her on the ball and hold her feet and do the same things - rolling it forward and in theory she is supposed to develop the instinct to put her arms out as the balls goes forward - again supporting herself for crawling.

Crawling like a snake is another one done laying the child on her tummy and then moving opposite arms and legs forward then put hand under body (through legs and support tummy) to push body up into position for where the hands now are.

If she hasn't played much arm strength will be an issue. Hold things above her head and encourage her to look up and reach for them. Make them come from the sides to the centre and then to the other side. Take note if she doens't look and follow (track the movement of the object) as this is a sign of issues visual or mental.

It will be nice when you have more time to just play because she will be at the stage where she needs a lot of adult leading - just not adult doing which she may have had in the past or just sitting in the name of play and watching life pass her by which is more likely. I so miss having babies in daycare - enjoy.