I've had 3 infants start with me with the same situation. Two of them started at 10 months and one at 11 months. It's a self soothing issue. I would leave him/her to play independently for 10 minutes at a time and then I would come back and play with them for 10 minutes and so on throughout the day. Sometimes I would put the others in their highchairs with some music and crayons while I was trying to train to self sooth.

It did help but it took almost one week of doing this throughout the day. It's a lot of work and dedication. They will go to the gate and cry, but they need to realize that you are there and they will be okay by themselves for a few minutes. Some providers might be against this method, however, it really worked for me. Ten minutes can seem like forever when their screaming and crying but just stick to it and he'll learn. It also gives them confidence in themselves. I do the same thing for nap. let them cry it out. Have a set time to give them, for me it was 30 minutes. They usually fall asleep from crying. It a HUGE adjustment, spending a whole year with mom by his side.

My advice is to be careful with mom. They are still emotional (hormonal) and feeling guilty for returning to work at one year. Try not to make her worry, give a positive comment for a negative one. If she feels worried, she will be hesitant at drop off and he will feel it - that will make it a lot harder for you. But you also want to be honest, so I would say that he is crying throughout the day, but you are working on it and maybe something positive (he's eating well or he's happy when he's playing, etc.) Hope that's helpful. I feel like an expert in this department, as I had 3 transitioning in this age group - all at the same time. I was interesting to say the least!