What is the longest it has taken for a child to adjust?

[Judy Trickett]

I give them a month. If they aren't transitioned or mostly transitioned by the end of a month's time then I have to seriously consider termination.

I find that kids are actually harder to transition now (12 mth olds). I find most kids are terribly coddled these days. They are never left alone to play or explore. They are run to for every whimper both when they are awake and in bed. And then they get dropped off into a group care situation and can not cope without one-on-one literal attachment.

I have been in the business of daycare for a long time and there is a huge difference in kids since the days when I started and now. It used to be that kids came in and were relatively happy right off the bat and played well, slept well, ate well. Now kids come and scream endlessly for weeks, everyone has a special dietary need and none of the kids know how to go down to nap and self-soothe to sleep and STAY asleep without someone running in to respond to every whimper.

I have absolutely NO patience for parents who do not make their kids "daycare ready". And every single child I have ever accepted into care had a parent who was TOLD what to do and how to do it to make it easier on their child. But, alas, most parents don't do what is required, their child struggles and then they end up terminated.

It would be SO much easier if parents would stop coddling their kids and realize that kids as young as 12 months old are capable of some independence and not needing a parent up in their face 24/7. I really abhor this current philosophy of parenting.