Crying baby

[gibsons_mom]

So... I am a stay at home mom, but to supplement the income that I lost when I quit my job I am also doing an in-home daycare and watching two little boys other than just my son. One of the boys is nearly 10 months old and cries constantly. I cant walk out of a room, move from one spot to another, feed the other boy or my son, or really anything else without him crying. He has to be held to stop the crying. It is really wearing on me, because my son and the other boy dont do that, and I am just not used to a baby crying literally all day long. I think his parents hold him all the time when he is at home, and with watching three little ones (the other boy is nearly a year, and my son is nearly 7 months), I can not hold him all day, nor do I think it is right to constantly hold a child. I think that is why he is the way he is because he is constantly being held by someone. I let him cry most of the time, because I believe it to be a learned behavior and I have to break him of it, and the only way I can do so is to not hold him all the time, and just let him cry it out. I dont know of any other methods I can try of getting him to calm down. The only other thing I can do to get him to calm, is to watch Baby Einstein movies, but I cant watch that all day long, and refuse to have the three of them sitting in front of the tube all day. It is just frustrating because the whole reason for me staying home was to be with my son, and I feel like this other child has to have ALL of my attention ALL the time, and I am not getting to interact with my son the way I would like to. Also, you would think that since my son is the youngest of the group that he would be the most needy... but that is definitely not the case. Any suggestions would be most helpful! THANKS!!!

[savedbygrace04]

Apr. 16, 2008 at 11:38 AM Have you tried talking to the parents about it? I would think that unless they want the hassle of finding another sitter, they would be in-tuned to your opinion and try to do things differently at their own home. The parents of this child need to help you out. They need to support you in this. Good luck!

[gibsons_mom]

Apr. 16, 2008 at 1:16 PM I have talked to them about it before, and they just continue to say that they hold him all the time. I just dont think they want to change. I think the other issue is the fact that they are young and unmarried, and are both living with their own parents. So one night he stays with one parent and the next it is the other parent. He has no consistency except with me, and as the week goes on he gets better, but I feel like every monday we are starting over from scratch again. It is just frustrating. :( But I guess I just need to have a little further discussion with the parents and let them know that I cant be holding him all day so if they would cut back at home it would make things a lot easier for me here. :) Thanks for your help!

(Original Poster)