Quote Originally Posted by daycarewhisperer View Post
I would tell the parents that the time it takes for them to comfort him at drop off is the amount of time it's going to take for him to quit crying once they leave. So if they do ten minutes of cuddles you will get about ten minutes of cry time when he has to balance out the extra he got that he didn't need.

Once the parents leave I would just have him sit and say "you cry". Don't put any emotions to it... just acknowledge that "you cry". Let him know it's all good and that you aren't going to do anything but let him express his little feelings. He has a right to express himself and he can sit right there and have at it.

When he's done you say "nice job. go play toys".
You're totally right too! Yesterday, they stayed with him for almost 10 minutes, passing him back and forth and cuddling. It took him a WHILE to settle down. Today, he started clinging, but luckily only mom had come to the door. I said "It's okay ***, we're going to do this quick quick." I said it to the child, but mom knew I meant her. She hugged him again, and as she handed him to me, she said "he stops this almost immediately, right?" I felt bad. I know I couldn't do it if it was my child. But today, I held him (usually I put him right down, but I thought today I would try something different). I put him on my lap, facing me, and within 2 minutes, he'd stopped crying. Then i turned him around for maybe a minute and then put him down. Worked well! But mom only cuddled him for like 2 minutes, so it makes sence! Works for me!