Daycare....Here I come!

Lachlan had his first experience of daycare yesterday!  I don't go back to work until next Tuesday, but I wanted to send him for a few half-days to ease him into it.  We are sending him to a traditional daycare center.  The state requirement is that each teacher can have up to 4 infants at a time.  His room allows for a total of 8 infants...which boggles my mind how 2 people can care for 8 of them at a time!  I can barely handle him just by himself!  I'm not overly worried like some moms about the transition, but my main concern is just that he will be happy there and will be able to sleep.  He gets complete undivided attention from me most days at home and cries if I leave for too long to wash dishes or anything.  So I'm not sure how he'll adjust to not having someone in his face singing Wheels on the Bus 50 times a day.  Also, he always naps at home in his swing or bouncy seat and sometimes takes a little work to get him asleep if I know he's been awake too long.  Daycare of course wants him to nap in a crib, but they will temporarily let him nap other places and gradually work on the transition.

So today Lachlan was up at 6:15 and I gave him a bottle like normal.  We finished that around 7am, so I put him in the swing and went to pump.  Got done with that and he is fast asleep- go figure he goes right back to sleep the one day I don't mind if he stays awake!  So I get dressed, brush teeth and hair, then get bottles and some last minute items together.  We finally get out of the house a little before 8 and get to daycare about 8:15.  Needless to say, taking 2 hours from wakeup to walking into daycare has to improve once I go back to work!  

I was probably at daycare 10-15 minutes getting all of his items setup in the appropriate cubbies and he was as good as could be!  One of the teachers was down on the floor with like 5 babies and somehow had things under control.  She put Lachlan in the bouncy chair and he was all happy chewing on his paws.  I was feeling good about leaving him there!  My plan was to come home and either sleep or get chores done…I felt like I really did neither as my time was spent filling out about 5 forms daycare needed.



I picked Lachlan up a little after noon and I walk in to see one of the teachers holding him and he's just screaming.  I come hold him and talk to him, but he doesn't calm down when he gets this worked up.  It broke my heart to see him so sad and that I wasn’t there for him—I guess at least when he cries at home I know that I am doing every single thing possible to comfort him.  I was so glad though to see a teacher holding him rather than him just laying in a chair crying like that.

He then zonked out immediately in the car for the ride home- I don't even think I got out of the parking lot before he was snoring.  Once home we sang some Wheels on the Bus and played a short while.  Then I gave him a bottle and rocked him in his bouncy seat for a while…but was not falling asleep….so then just held him and he got very sleepy.  I transitioned him to the swing and he slept until shortly after 5!  I guess you could say he was EXHAUSTED!