Crèche.... I am terrified :(

I am joining the gym tomorrow. I want to get back into shape and have a friend who does personal training and is going to give me a free session to get me started. She is also in my mothers group and her little boy stays in the crèche while she is there. I am only going for an hour and don't want to organize my mum for that short period, so I am going to put DD in the crèche.

I am so stressed about this one little hour. I have only ever left her with her grandparents up until know and I am making myself sick about it. I honestly don't think she will care, she is pretty confident and will probably crack it when I tell her it is time to leave. I am just so anxious about leaving her with someone I dont know.

And how does it work? They said no food but can I leave her sippy cup? Do I give them some nappies and wipes in case she needs changing? Can I ask them to keep an extra eye on her as it is her first time? I don't want them letting a big kid play rough with her.

I am not even sure what this post is about.... Just needed to put it out there how scared I am :) (and how clueless and spoilt when it comes to having her looked after)


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At the crech I used to take DD too, they didnt change nappies unless absoulutly necessary and they were allowd food only if they could feed themselves. I had a really bad experience with our crech so I didnt take her back, but until then it seemed pretty good.

It is scarey, I was terrified and constantly on the lookout for someone coming to get me coz something had happend :(

Hope it all goes well for you and good luck with the gym!

The first time is going to be the worst time :hug: I didn't end up using the creche at our local pool as I never started the classes whoops but they wanted a nappy, wipes, and a sippy cup too. I have used the creche at church a few times and they are the same, and they have contacted us to collect her early if she's been too upset. Generally the no food rule will be to stop any potential allergic reactions - you might find they have milk arrowroots or something they offer if you okay it.

It is tougher in the sense that it's a wider mix of ages, but they should keep an eye on her, especially being younger and her first time. With all that said, go with your instinct, if everything is telling you not to, don't leave her. Or ask if you can stay and play a few times until you can see how it all works. It's tough, but if it's going to cause you heaps of stress it may not be worth it? The good point is that your friend is familiar with the creche and obviously happy with the service it provides so that is something positive.....

I hope it all works out no matter what you choose :)

Ok. It was awful.

I went thirty mins early. It was packed, probably close to 15 or more kids in there and two carers. I signed her in and noticed she was the youngest by about six months. The girl that greeted me could tell it was my first time and just asked how old she was and if she could walk. I put her down, kissed her and told the girl I would check in five minutes to make sure she was ok. When I left she looked so overwhelmed and was just standing there looking so shocked.

I went back after probably two minutes and she was sitting on the floor bawling her eyes out. I heard the other girl say "she is ok she just fell over" ad the one who greeted me went over and picked her up (after she saw me I think). I went back in and took her off the girl and calmed her down. I asked the girl if any other mums fund it this hard and she said "no most just check through the window and then go away" now I know me going in probably makes her job harder but Tiah is one! And it was our first time!

While I am in there I notice two other kids crying an another just sitting in the corner sucking a pencil??? I put her back down (even though I know at this point I am not leaving her here I just didn't know what to do). She starts crying so hard she doesn't breathe (mums know this cry). The girl picked her up again but that was enough for me

I burst into tears, grabbed her and ran out of the gym. Ah so dramatic :(

After I calmed down I realized what had bothered me the most. They didnt ask me what her name is. How could I even consider leaving my baby with someone who doesn't even want to know her name!?!?!

The image of her crying her heart out in a room full of kids, holding a pretend can of corn will be in my nightmares tonight.

(I know I am overreacting and se probably would have been fine, and other kids go to crèche and daycare and they are fine... But I am just not ready and needed to vent a bit. :( )


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:hug: don't do it to yourself. Or her. Plenty of time to get fit. I was in exactly the same position when dd2 was about 8 months, I went once and left her at the creche, and never went back. It was horrible. After that I'd only go to the gym if dh could watch the girls.
Do you have anyone to watch her at home for an hour while you go? Any other options????

My mum has said she will watch her for an extra few hours so I can go after work.

I just feel a bit silly. All those mums out there that have to work and send their kids to day are and I flip out over one hour.

It just wast right, for us. My sweet, confident, bossy little girl just seemed to shut down the instant we got in there. I know that sounds so dramatic and over the top but I know her and she is still just too little.

DP is so relived. He wasn't keen on the idea. He is teasing me know and asking if we will be home schooling lol


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Well it doesn't sound over the top or dramatic to me. I can totally understand, Everyone is different, maybe you and I are over protective worried mumma bears, but you know what? Its just how I am. I don't 'have' to leave my kids anywhere so I don't if it doesn't feel right. Some people don't have that luxury of choice.
By the time she has to go to kinder, she'll be able to communicate and tell people what she feels and needs. It's so much easier leaving them when they are a little more independent. ( as I am just now discovering. ;) )
Right now you are her world and protector. It's hard to find someone to understand her and care for her in the same way you do.

Gym creche is also completely different to day care in my experience - I left DD at creche when she was prob about 5 months, and that was fine because she was happily asleep in her pushchair, and if she woke up they would come get me, but I knew then I wouldn't be leaving her there when older because people there seemed so inexperienced and it seemed way too chaotic. Daycare she started at about 14 months and completely different experience carers genuinely interested in her, wanted to know as much as possible about her etc. I don't think you sound dramatic, but if at some point you do need to put her in daycare don't let your experience of the creche scare you too much - they are a completely different scenario I think.

It doesnt sound like you over-reacted to me.

Just a question tho, are creche workers trained people in childcare? I never thought about it til now.

[QUOTE=Junglemum;2799293] I don't 'have' to leave my kids anywhere so I don't if it doesn't feel right. QUOTE]

That is exactly it. I thought she would enjoy playing witht he other kids, she is so outgoin at mothers group. But I am there with her and the kids are all her age and she has known them since she was 6 weeks old. This was different.

wysiwyg - You are right, the gym creche only has the kids for 2 hours at a time tops so they dont really need to get to know the kids if that makes sense? I think i expected too much, all I have experience in is friends taking children to daycare so I expected them to be a bit more interested in her.

Plus. I think she is the most awesome little girl on this planet. It was kind of upsetting to have her be part of a "herd" of kids and have them not be that impressed by her :(

That sounds like a pretty crappy creche honestly. Then again, it could have just been one bad day, and your own reservations about it all making it seem so much worse?
There are supposed to be regulations about the number of kids they can have per carer, particularly those under 1yr.

My kids used to go to the creche at the gym, but it was a fabulous one. 2 of my kids have always loved it. One of them (my ds1) always hated it. Would scream and carry on the whole time. It was very distressful for him, yet he has always been confident and outgoing while I'm present. I ended up having to stop taking him for six months. We tried again after that and he was much better, although he would often spend the whole hour at the window keeping an eye on me. The thing it taught me though, was if your child doesn't like it, don't push the issue if you can - give it a bit of time and try again later.

Most gyms don't have experienced or trained people looking after the kids. The loop hole is that they are a child minding service so they don't need qualifications.
I also had a bad experience with my gyms child minding, I never took my kids back there. I have however had 2 of my 3 kids in registered child care and it has been a great experience.
Glad your mum is happy to have her for a bit longer so you can still go to the gym - plus it's a wonderful bond for your DD to have with her nana <3

Fwiw I joined a gym last week, left my boys in the crèche one time and cancelled the membership the next day. It just didn't work for us. Ds2 absolutely hated it and screamed most of time. He spent the rest of time trying to escape. I've decided there's plenty of time to get fit when he's older and i have been going on walks :) I don't think you're over reacting at all.

This is why I am reluctant to join a gym, my kids go to daycare but I take the others swimming so am never child free. I dont trust the creches to loon after them properly.

Oh I am so glad others feel the same as me. I just knew as soon as I stepped in there it wasn't right, but I thought I was just being over anxious and silly.

I really dont see how two poeple can watch that many small children and give them any quality care? I dont think saying "You are ok" to a one year old who is clearly distressed counts as comforting them?

They made me feel silly, like I was over reacting about her crying. I could see them smiling as I left like I was a moron. I just dont care though, she is the most precious thing in my life and I wont leave her so upset just to have an hour off.

I didnt actually realise they didntneed qualifications, I just assumed they did. This shows me I need to be more assertive, I should have asked before I even considered leaving my baby with them!

Meercat, I took my two to our local creche at the gym a few months back and it was so horrid that I didn't even leave the room! DD was so distressed at the thoughtof me not being there that I simply could not do that to her. I have since taken up jogging at night when they are asleep and bought a great exercise DVD (20 minute crunch workout)for when DS is asleep during the day. I won't leave my babies anywhere they are distressed and I don't believe in the 'they will be okay in a few minutes' or 'they need to get used to being away from you' stuff.
Don't beat yourself up about it- all perfectly normal. I couldn't leave them in daycare either and have never tried! Great that you took your DD and ran!

Always trust your instincts meercat and never doubt yourself with this sort of stuff, or worry about what other people think of you. You are your babys protector :)

Not all creches are created equal.
From the sounds of things, regulations must vary state to state. I know in ACT the staff are required to have qualifications, and there most definitely are rules around how many children per carer. That is one of the reasons I don't use the creche any more - it got too hard to find a spot for all three of my kids at the same time, because they could only have a certain number of kids from each age group for the number of carers they had on staff. Because we were regulars, the staff did get to know my children pretty well.

It sucks that you had a bad experience.