Applause and kudos to you Daycarelady because I would do exactly as you are doing. I would be having a talk with the Mom about "No reward for whining, screaming or crying for no reason." As a matter of fact I have had that talk with more than one Mom. A few families were terminated because they asked me to hold the baby all day. How can we possibly cater to one child when we have to treat them all equally. Sure we bond with them when they are new but then the children have to learn to mix in with the others and play and have fun.

The only child excuse doesn'f fly with me. Almost all the children I've had in care have been only children and the ones with good parents have all been well behaved and learn that there are rules and consequences.