CBear

Can I trade kids with some of yours? Or at least point me in the direction of where I can get one of these kinds of young babies/toddlers that are not terrified of strangers?

Please?

VickiSoCal

my 11 year old didn't talk to any adults outside of our family until she was 6!

fredandgingermad

when my daughter was a toddler she was fine with strangers and yes i have used babysitters on holiday, although not childcare as such only ski school, its only now she's older (she's 6) that she's become far more wary

CBear

I don't get it. My kiddo is great. He's in daycare, socializes well, not terribly afraid of big crowds, not clingy, loves walking on his own instead of having to be carried to every store...but if a strange adult starts talking to him...all bets are off!

swise

I don't think I could ever be comfortable with dropping my 10 m-o off all day for a week during a vacation. But for a few hours now and then, sure. He's the second kid, though, so maybe I've loosened up a bit.

I have a 3 year-old, too. I'd be more willing to leave him in someone else's care for longer and maybe more frequently. He's able to communicate with me about his time away, though.

I actually like for them to get exposure to being cared for by others, in hopes that this will nudge them towards having a bit less separation anxiety.

Every kid is different in this respect, though. And every family is different, too.

Eclipsepearl

Usually they're flexible with the kids' clubs. You're not obligated to leave them in all day. I had exclusively breastfed babies who never had formula or bottles and they were cool with my coming by at feeding time. The facilities are usually close by.

At home, they each started part time daycare (an option most American parents don't usually have) half days, three times a week at nine months.

roknroll

The kids club at the Melia in Puerto Vallarta was great, and we were apprehensive too. The nice thing is that it is right next to the pool. When we dropped our son off, he did cry when we left him. We could actually hear him crying from the gate going into the kids club outdoor playground area, so we just stood there and listened until he stopped crying a few mins later. Then we layed down by the pool, had some drinks, and popped over from time to time to look from a distance at how things were going. We also never left him longer than 2 hours, usually between breakfast and his afternoon nap.

He was always having a blast when we came back in to pick him up. Then at night, we'd put him down to bed around 7pm and the babysitter would come over at 8pm. She was the same woman who watched him during the day at the kids club so we already were comfortable knowing she had spent the day with our son. He'd just sleep all night while we got to get dinner and see the show for a few hours.