Ok, not as bad today, probably helped that I slept too! No crying from Imogen and when I dropped her off one of the managers came to see me to reassure me they would not swaddle her and also addressed my other concerns. I felt that they were more friendly to us both today. I also spent some time looking at alternatives so felt more in control. I think I am probably looking for issues at this stage and just need to keep a watch on things. At the end of the day, it is a big change for us both so I guess it will take time to settle down into a new routine. I have a renewed admiration for working mums now though!
Ok, we’ve had a bad day now! Maybe I’m not as settled to a new routine as I thought! The main problem seems to be sleep. She’s been ok with us for a while now in terms of going down at night and in the day, her first nap; she will take very easily in her cot. After that, we are normally out and she tends to catch her naps in the car between visits, so we’ve never really established a good routine.
Coupled with that she’s at a stage where she can roll and twist in all directions; getting trapped in uncomfortable positions rather than lying nicely on her back like she used to! I think that at nursery they have been struggling to get her to go down quietly for a nap which is disruptive to the other babies so they seem to still be swaddling her even though it’s been very hot and I had mentioned I would rather they didn’t.
The result is that she has stopped going to sleep so well at night and at the weekends it is a napping nightmare! This has been upsetting me so much that I was awake last night from 2-6am getting myself all worked up and stressing about what we could so about it. Also, this morning was the first time she cried when I left her, prompting more tears from me!
After a fruitless day at work where I couldn’t concentrate, I left early to ’surprise’ the nursery and see what was happening. Imogen was in a high chair with her dummy in her mouth (although I have said this is for naps only) and her nappy hanging half off. She hadn’t slept well so was very teary and cried for me as soon as she saw me, all of which did nothing to alleviate me worries!
The manager was on holiday so I asked to speak to some one else and tried to tell them my concerns without getting emotional, but have left feeling even worse!
It’s amazing how much easier it got so quickly. It’s just like having two lives. When I’m at work, I’m totally there and feel like I’ve never been away and ditto for when I’m with Imogen. I can’t believe I’m a worker again. Very weird.
Imogen has been very happy to be left and picked up, so that helps. I’m sure there will be worse days to come but for now it feels like a normal routine already. The best thing is that I only work four days a week so the weekend starts now!
Oh my, I really hadn’t expected it to be so bad and have such strong emotional feelings! I really do think she will thrive at nursery and it will be great of her to have the stimulation of others but I hadn’t appreciated how much I would feel. I forgot to take my make up for touch ups as I was feeling so confident when I left home!
I was when I put her on the carpet and looked at her. She looked around with interest but also lost and small; that’s what started me off! I cried all the way to work and then most of the day every time someone asked how I was or texted me to check I was OK.
I was desperate to leave and drove like a maniac to get to her in the evening. She was fine, very excited to see me but also happy and smiling at everyone around her, which was very reassuring. I can’t see how people do this every day! ¼/p>
We recently went to Center Parcs with family and Leigh’s 3 year old niece came down with the chicken pox. We decided to still join them as we read up and discovered that it is very rare for a baby under 12 months to catch it as they are protected by their mother’s immunity. We only overlapped with them for a couple of hours in the end, but then two weeks later we found ourselves with a chicken pox baby!
Luckily she has had it very mildly and it coincided with lovely weather, so the two of us have been sitting in the garden lots talking about how much she will love nursery. Well, me trying to reassure myself really!
She has also had a bad cold and cough at the same time and then we discover her first tooth also broke through! It was exciting for us but painful for her! Then to top it all off I discovered you can’t trust buying fish fillets, no matter how premium, as she ended up trying to eat a bone. Thankfully she didn’t manage to and there were no ill effects, but it had me worried and feeling very guilty. It certainly took away my enthusiasm and almost pride in home cooking. Before Imogen, everything came from a jar, but now I am to cook from scratch a bit more and it’s making me more adventurous as well!
