Reasons for Termination...

[5 Little Monkeys]

Oh man do I feel for you!! I had a little boy start in September and for the first 2 weeks it was a nonstop cry all day, no exaggeration!!! I thought about terminating a few times because it was just insane, I was at the end of my rope and didn't know what to do. I very rarely drink and I was drinking wine after work a few times!! lol. I had seen what he was like when they came for visits so I knew that he had it in him I just didn't know how long it was going to take to see that boy again. Almost exactly 2 weeks later the crying stopped!! He is now well adjusted and one of my easiest children in this group. He is full time though and part time can take longer. If you don't think you can do it any longer then I would suggest terminating before you burn out! I understand the frustration, devastation, feeling like you are failing, the exhaustion etc that comes with an all day crier so I wouldn't blame you for terminating.

I would suggest sitting on the floor with him or near him but don't allow him on your lap. I would explain to him that crying for no reason is not nice and the other children don't want to hear it. I would ask "do you want to play or do you want to lay down for a bit?". If he says yes, put him in his playpen for a few minutes and give him time to calm down. Once he is calm bring him back out to the playroom. Keep doing this as often as needed. This is what I did with my all day crier and it worked well.

Other than that, I would just tune it out as much as possible and carry on with your day like normal. Once he sees that he won't get a reaction out of you, hopefully he will learn to play with the other children.

Good Luck!!!

[smileyface]

That was an ugly termination! I talked to the mom at pick up and she just went into attack mode. Every chance she got, she'd take another stab at me. I stuck to the facts that this dck was not playing with anyone, would not nap and would wake the others, and spent most of the morning always whining/crying. When I said this dck is only happy when playing one on one with me, mom's response was "Imagine that, actually having to play with (child's name)". So rude! She lectured me on how I should just deal with this behaviour and it's unprofessional for me to terminate, because of a child not integrating and meshing well with the group. Mom also lectured me on how she doesn't think her 20 month old child needs naps. Needless to say, I'm so glad it's over. It's obvious their child rules the house and it wouldn't have gotten any better.