Did any of you have problems with your baby eating properly whilst at daycare? Freyja (8 months old) just started last week her ‘adjustment period’ at a childminder’s. At first she just visited with her father, we started leaving her this week and will extend the separation period gradually. There has been a bit of upset, but mostly she’s been doing really well. The only problem is that she eats hardly anything! I started back at work in [name_u]December[/name_u] and she has been eating solids fine for her father throughout his paternity leave, and drinking the breastmilk I leave from her cup with no problem (bit of spillage but not too much). Today she was there from 9-2.30 and drank about 3 oz of breastmilk and ate no solids at all. It is a bit worrying for me.
It is a little daycare in the childminder’s home and she has 4 other babies that are all much older, around 18 months, so it’s pretty calm and cosy. She’s been napping pretty well.
I know this is a huge change in her life and some disruption is to be expected, but if this happened for your baby how long did it take to resolve itself?
I work in childcare and I’ve found that this is a fairly common problem the first few weeks. I’m not sure why it happens – it might just be a matter of the child feeling out of her element, not 100% comfortable with her surroundings yet. We had one toddler who didn’t eat a single thing we put in front of her for a month! (This same child now eats better for us than she does for her parents at home, so she got over it.) Usually it’s just a matter of a few weeks, though.
Does she eat at the same time as the other children? I was thinking as she’s younger she might be on a different nap/meal schedule. Sometimes it can help for newer children to see the other children eating. Another thing you can try is providing some of her absolute favorite foods (though this is usually easier with older children – I imagine she isn’t too picky yet!). If you have time, you could also try feeding her a little snack there before you leave and when you pick her up. It might help establish a sense of safety around eating there.
Sometimes there’s just not a lot to be done though, and children will warm up and start eating in their own time. I know it’s frustrating, but she will decide she’s hungry eventually and give in!
Thanks, I suspected that it was not uncommon but it’s good to get confirmation. I think we may have had a breakthrough because today apparently she ate quite well. The childminder is always going on about how it is because she is still breastfed and she is apparently ‘waiting for the breast’ but I wasn’t really buying it because she was fine with her father. Looks like it was probably a case of having to spend more time in the environment and with the childminder before being comfortable enough to eat. Unless it was a fluke - I suppose we’ll see how she does over the next few days.
I worked at a child care center previous to the career I hold now and this was a very normal thing during transition. Maybe you could send along something that reminds her/smells of home and ask them to try to feed her while holding her with the item. Some kiddos like to bring along a blanket and snuggle with it while eating. She will get comfortable there soon enough, it is an adjustment for you all and I am sure she can sense the stress on all ends as well. She is old enough to have a bit of stranger anxiety but she will not let herself starve if they offer her food/drink often. I know it’s hard, stay strong <3