3 days till D-Day and i am getting nervous again... a few questions

Well monday we are trying DD at family day care (previously was in childcare).

i decided on much advice from girls on BB and others to book her in 2 days a week as she was not good at settling in due to seperation anxiety and shyness.

So i rang FDC today and said i think i want to try 4 hrs a day to start 8-12 then pick her up and bring her home after lunch for her nap (she sleeps 1-5pm at home).

has anyone else done this.... the easing in or do you just drop your baby off cold truky for 9-10 hrs straight?

Also... if she is only there for 4 hours do i only pay for 4 hours (i was too embarressed to ask?)

i didn't do it cold turkey

we use childcare, and worked from half days, adding an hour extra, to work up the hours - in her comfort zone.

my child doesn't sleep for four hours in the afternoon though, so it would be hard to add more hours if that meant interrupting her sleep (to put her in the car).

you're her mum, trust your instincts.

just allow for the first few weeks, getting used to a routine, the FDC and you all getting used to each other.

you can only try. if it doesn't work out, would you try another FDC provider?

as for the payment, whether i use the entire day or only part of it, i still get billed as if she were there for "a long day". so same price for 4 or 7 hours or 11. they open at 7am and shut at 6pm, we get billed as if bilby were there all that time, even though she goes there at 10am and i pick her up at 4pm. FDC might be different.

bilby is about to start in the PreKindy Room. i will monitor how she takes to that change. I stay and breastfeed her until she's ready to stay (in five months of being in the baby room, she has not stopped needing that). if she's not coping, i will come and get her earlier. You know your child, listen to your gut instincts.

i went cold turkey as i had no otehr choice. i had to go back when she was 6 weeks old so it was here you go hunny enjoy..

she handled it well. but then when she was 4 montsh old i had to take her out due to reasons i wont go into. and start ehr at a new centre
well it took me 3 months to find one for teh days i needed so settling in then at 6 months was harder but again cold turkey all day from 8-4. she was fine loved it and enjoyed all the extra attention

Thanks kellz and Gigi.

I did with Nina, and Emily has just started going 2 days a week, but not full days yet. Only a couple of hours each day. She's your child, do as you please, and what's best for the both of you. And good luck.

Well, with DS1 my theory was to ease him into it with me staying for a while and only leaving him for a couple of hours at a time, but it turned out he was so happy there from the first day I was only disrupting him by hanging around. I would play it by ear hun. You don't need to decide now. See how she goes for the morning and make your decision at lunch time. I'm sure the FDC carer will be fine with that. I don't know about payment - with long day care at a centre you pay for the whole day. GL!

With both kids I have started a week or two before they NEED to start just dropping in for a about 15min- 30min sitting and having a chat with the carers and getting up walking in and out of the room so they got used to me leaving. We would then warm up slowly (once we started paying) for about 3-4hrs (before sleep time) for the first week and then picking her up after sleep time. It was as much for my sake as hers :-)

As for paying, we only did FDC for a short time but we did only pay for the hours we used but... if you have booked certin hours I think you have to pay for the booked hrs not the used hours? Does that make sense.

I am going to do the same as you, have DS booked for his 4 days, but in the first week he is only going to go in half days. With my FDC I have to pay a minimum of 9 hrs no matter how many we use, cause he is booked for a day. I would be interested to hear how you both get on with the trial. Good luck with it.