Adjusting to daycare

[kelleyg19]

I started a 18 month old boy last Wednesday and he only comes Wednesday and Friday for 9.5 hours a day. He is having a really hard time adjusting. As soon as him and dad walk into the house the boy starts crying and screaming for a least 15 minutes. When the other kids arrive he starts crying and screaming, which then takes another 30 min to get him settled. All morning all he does is sit at the front door and cry or sits on the playroom floor crying. It makes the rest of the kids on edge and act up.
Tomorrow will be his 4th day coming. Today I had the mom and boy come over for an hour to play to see if that would help, but he really wouldn't leave her side.
What else can I do to try and get him to adjust into daycare (first time being in daycare and away from mom for long periods of time)?
They will be away for two weeks in April so I have given till the beginning of may to see if he will adjust, but don't know if I can handle all full days of crying anymore. Help please?

[mommylove]

I also have this problem or should I say I did.......But now it is much better. It took a good 3 weeks for my 12 month old girl to adjust and she is here full time. Because he is there part time it will probably take longer....the best thing you can do is encourage him to play and ignore him as much as possible, engage with the other kids so there not feeling stress or annoyed he will come around just give it more time and be consistant eventually he will get that he's ok and come around, my 12 month old is happy go lucky so Im glad I stuck it out.

[mlle.coccinelle]

i'm with you on this one. 3 months ago, I started a 16 MO for part time care. he cried non-stop for 2 weeks...

unfortunately, there is no ''magic'' way for him to adjust to daycare... only time will help ( sadly ) after 3 months of care... my little guy is used to the routine and is a happy camper for the majority of the day.
Try finding games that he likes, calmly explane that mommy and daddy will be back later but he has to come and play with his friends for a little while..

[Crayola kiddies]

I rarely take a part time child but I have in the past and what I did was insist the child come full time for the first 4 weeks in order to acclimate the child and get a routine going after that they dropped down to part time. worked like a charm. now I only take full time and only allow part time for an existing family that goes on mat leave.

[daycarewhisperer]

I don't do two days a week because they never adjust.

[Momof4]

I agree, 2 days a week will only work once in a blue moon with an especially happy child. The sooner the child is full-time the better.