Baby Bootcamp

I've been having some issues with daycare lately, adn I'm not really sure how to rectify the situation.

Jonas is being transitioned into the one-year-old class. That, I have no problem with. Afterall, he's a year old, right? My problem is with the lack of communication. I have not even met his teacher yet, nor has she left me any sort of notes as to how he's doing there.

In the baby room, I'd get a report every day of how he ate, how he slept, etc. When you leave your child in someone else's care for 11 hours a day, you sort of need that information. So I go home at night unsure of the last time he's eaten, or how well he's eaten all day, and that's important to me.

This morning things came to a head when I dropped him off. He didn't sleep well last night, as in went to bed around 11 and was up and at 'em at about 3. Of course, he tuckered out around 5:30, and was still sleeping when I arrived at school. The teacher that's there in the morning curtly told me that he wasn't allowed to sleep in the one-year-old class, that they took their naps between 11 and 2, and that I needed to wake him up and put him in a high-chair so that he could eat.

I told her that he had had a bad night and really needed the rest. This didn't sit well with her, and ultimately, Jonas woke up and a spent 30 minutes tearfully trying to get him to eat something for fear that they fed him on the same rigid schedule, and if he didn't eat now, he may not eat again until lunch.

I'm not stupid enough to think that part of my problem is that I'm an incredibly over-protective mother, but I also can't help but think that a one year old child can't be expected to adhere to any sort of structured schedule.

Is there some sort of magical switch that, at 12 months, activates a child's routine? Sure, some structure in his day is good for him, but if the child is tired, he should sleep, right? And if he's hungry, he shouldn't be made to wait until some pre-set time to get food.

And like I said, maybe if I'd been given some sort of syllabus, or introduction to his new room I could make some adjustments in his home routine to help with the transition, but I really have no clue what's going on since his teacher doesn't arrive until I'm already waist-deep in dogs at work, and she's gone when I pick him up. I don't even know her name.

It's so frustrating!

So I'm going to try to get to daycare this afternoon before the owner leaves. Maybe if I have a conversation with her I can at least feel a little better about what's going on. But right now I'm so upset I'm considering pulling him and just letting him stay with his abuela. She may spoil him rotten, but at least I know his basic needs are being fulfilled with her.

All I know is this: I can't continue to leave him somewhere that makes me cry all the way to work.