She needs more sleep!
November 2, 2012 9:16 AM Subscribe
Baby-sleep-filter: Naps at Daycare edition! How do we handle our almost-eleven-month-old refusing to nap at daycare, despite clearly being exhausted? Warning: this got very long.
Our foster daughter is almost eleven months old and has been at the same daycare since she was six weeks old (and has been in our home since four weeks old). She is currently one of nine babies in the room, and the others range from eight months to twenty months, all in one room.
Starting about eight weeks ago, the baby has decided that there are WAY MORE FUN THINGS TO DO at daycare than napping. It has gotten progressively worse, but this week, she has napped for a grand total of thirty minutes a day, on average. She is clearly exhausted when I pick her up and yesterday she had two very uncharacteristic meltdowns, including crying inconsolably when I left her in the backseat of the car to drive home (which has never, ever been a problem before).
Our girl is a champion sleeper at night and has been sleeping through the night since about eight weeks. She has a solid but very simple routine (bottle, burp, book, kisses from both parents, bed) and goes into her crib awake every single night and puts herself to sleep with almost no fuss. She sleeps about twelve hours a night during the week. Night sleeping is not a concern.
Napping on weekends is slightly more problematic - she naps very, very well, but only when we hold her. When we hold her, she will nap for over an hour, easily, and occasionally up to three hours. When we put her down, she'll sleep for more like forty minutes. We know she needs to get used to napping on her own, but we also know she clearly needs more sleep than she's getting during the day at daycare so have been reluctant to change things and disrupt the sleep she is getting. If we put her down, awake, in her playpen or crib, she cries and hollers if she's exhausted, or plays and babbles if she's just sort of tired. She has fallen asleep by herself in her playpen exactly one time.
Complicating factors at daycare:
- Cribs are in the same space as everything else: toys, babies, workers, interesting stuff. The room setup does not offer any possibility of separating the sleeping area from the rest of the room.
- Many of the other kids are part-time, meaning there are kids and parents entering and leaving the room all the time.
- The group, as a whole, is not on any set schedule, so there isn't a designated nap time. This means other kids play, often loudly, right next to where our kid is sleeping. (I will note that our very active baby is probably one of the loudest when she's awake; I'm not blaming the other kids for being loud here.)
- The lights in the room are on one circuit, so they can't turn off the lights over the crib. She's sleeping in bright electric lights.
- There are (up to) two workers and (up to) nine kids. The workers don't have time to stick to any complicated routines to get her down.
Things the workers have tried:
- Waiting until the baby is clearly very tired and sticking her in her crib and telling her to "go to sleep". Result: Baby stands up in her crib and yells or cries until they get her. (They don't let her yell for more than about ten minutes, as it's disruptive to the other kids.)
- Rocking her. Result: Baby gets agitated and pushes to get down, since there are still other kids playing nearby that she could BE DOING STUFF WITH.
- Carrying her around. Result: Baby zones out and looks sleepy until she hears or sees anyone anywhere near her, then pushes to get down and fusses.
- Putting her in her crib when she's calm and jiggling the crib until she falls asleep. Result: Sleeping baby, but this took twenty minutes and only worked because they had an extra person in the room with time to dedicate to standing there with one kid for that long. Not a long-term solution.
We know that different kids have different sleep needs. We know that some kids just aren't great nappers. We also see in this baby that she is much happier and less overwhelmed and frustrated when she gets two solid naps on the weekend. Since she has started cutting out her naps she has become way more agitated and fussy in the evenings, even with the same routine as always. We really do think more naptime would be better for her. Answers that keep this in mind will be more helpful than telling us your kid quit napping altogether at this age and is fine now in his twenties.
As a final note, because she's a foster kid, changing daycares would mean finding another daycare certified to work with our county and a complete disruption of her routine. We are not interested in trying this at this time, as the baby is comfortable with these caregivers and there's no guarantee that switching would help.
tl;dr: Our baby needs more sleep than she is getting at daycare. Besides modifying our weekend routines to help her nap on her own, what can we do to encourage better napping at daycare?
Our foster daughter is almost eleven months old and has been at the same daycare since she was six weeks old (and has been in our home since four weeks old). She is currently one of nine babies in the room, and the others range from eight months to twenty months, all in one room.
Starting about eight weeks ago, the baby has decided that there are WAY MORE FUN THINGS TO DO at daycare than napping. It has gotten progressively worse, but this week, she has napped for a grand total of thirty minutes a day, on average. She is clearly exhausted when I pick her up and yesterday she had two very uncharacteristic meltdowns, including crying inconsolably when I left her in the backseat of the car to drive home (which has never, ever been a problem before).
Our girl is a champion sleeper at night and has been sleeping through the night since about eight weeks. She has a solid but very simple routine (bottle, burp, book, kisses from both parents, bed) and goes into her crib awake every single night and puts herself to sleep with almost no fuss. She sleeps about twelve hours a night during the week. Night sleeping is not a concern.
Napping on weekends is slightly more problematic - she naps very, very well, but only when we hold her. When we hold her, she will nap for over an hour, easily, and occasionally up to three hours. When we put her down, she'll sleep for more like forty minutes. We know she needs to get used to napping on her own, but we also know she clearly needs more sleep than she's getting during the day at daycare so have been reluctant to change things and disrupt the sleep she is getting. If we put her down, awake, in her playpen or crib, she cries and hollers if she's exhausted, or plays and babbles if she's just sort of tired. She has fallen asleep by herself in her playpen exactly one time.
Complicating factors at daycare:
- Cribs are in the same space as everything else: toys, babies, workers, interesting stuff. The room setup does not offer any possibility of separating the sleeping area from the rest of the room.
- Many of the other kids are part-time, meaning there are kids and parents entering and leaving the room all the time.
- The group, as a whole, is not on any set schedule, so there isn't a designated nap time. This means other kids play, often loudly, right next to where our kid is sleeping. (I will note that our very active baby is probably one of the loudest when she's awake; I'm not blaming the other kids for being loud here.)
- The lights in the room are on one circuit, so they can't turn off the lights over the crib. She's sleeping in bright electric lights.
- There are (up to) two workers and (up to) nine kids. The workers don't have time to stick to any complicated routines to get her down.
Things the workers have tried:
- Waiting until the baby is clearly very tired and sticking her in her crib and telling her to "go to sleep". Result: Baby stands up in her crib and yells or cries until they get her. (They don't let her yell for more than about ten minutes, as it's disruptive to the other kids.)
- Rocking her. Result: Baby gets agitated and pushes to get down, since there are still other kids playing nearby that she could BE DOING STUFF WITH.
- Carrying her around. Result: Baby zones out and looks sleepy until she hears or sees anyone anywhere near her, then pushes to get down and fusses.
- Putting her in her crib when she's calm and jiggling the crib until she falls asleep. Result: Sleeping baby, but this took twenty minutes and only worked because they had an extra person in the room with time to dedicate to standing there with one kid for that long. Not a long-term solution.
We know that different kids have different sleep needs. We know that some kids just aren't great nappers. We also see in this baby that she is much happier and less overwhelmed and frustrated when she gets two solid naps on the weekend. Since she has started cutting out her naps she has become way more agitated and fussy in the evenings, even with the same routine as always. We really do think more naptime would be better for her. Answers that keep this in mind will be more helpful than telling us your kid quit napping altogether at this age and is fine now in his twenties.
As a final note, because she's a foster kid, changing daycares would mean finding another daycare certified to work with our county and a complete disruption of her routine. We are not interested in trying this at this time, as the baby is comfortable with these caregivers and there's no guarantee that switching would help.
tl;dr: Our baby needs more sleep than she is getting at daycare. Besides modifying our weekend routines to help her nap on her own, what can we do to encourage better napping at daycare?
I've been through this, for us we had to deal with at at 6-8 months and now she sleeps well at daycare, even when it's loud. My advice would be that you need to put her in her crib to nap on the weekends. No exceptions. Rock her to sleep and give her a bottle put her in the crib sooner rather than later. She will eventually sleep during the day when she is tired. Ten minutes is too short a time to expect a baby of this age to give up on fighting a nap and being in the crib. If I were you I would change immediately at home and try to get the daycare to let her go for at least 15 or 20 minutes. If they're game, try to get them to sit next to her and rub her back or comfort her when she is crying in the crib during naptime, but not take her out of the crib.
Good luck - this will get easier.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 9:47 AM on November 2, 2012
Good luck - this will get easier.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 9:47 AM on November 2, 2012
My daughter went through this and she didn't start napping longer than 45 minutes at a time until moving to the toddler room where kids all sleep at the same time and there are no bright lights during nap time.
Here are a some things that seemed to help:
1) Having a teacher rub her back in the crib as she fell asleep.
2) Waiting 5 minutes to get her. She sometimes would cry in her sleep but was actually still sleeping.
3) Wearing her in a sling and putting a light blanket over her head. The daycare teachers came up with this one on their own and it seemed to work on the worst days.
4) Moving her crib further away from the other cribs.
5) Having her start her first nap as early in the day as possible.
6) Letting her sleep in the middle of the room on a boppy. She would keep watching the other kids and then just doze off. I don't think that this was the most restful sleep but she was sleeping.
7) Letting her sleep with a lovey.
posted by JuliaKM at 10:22 AM on November 2, 2012
Here are a some things that seemed to help:
1) Having a teacher rub her back in the crib as she fell asleep.
2) Waiting 5 minutes to get her. She sometimes would cry in her sleep but was actually still sleeping.
3) Wearing her in a sling and putting a light blanket over her head. The daycare teachers came up with this one on their own and it seemed to work on the worst days.
4) Moving her crib further away from the other cribs.
5) Having her start her first nap as early in the day as possible.
6) Letting her sleep in the middle of the room on a boppy. She would keep watching the other kids and then just doze off. I don't think that this was the most restful sleep but she was sleeping.
7) Letting her sleep with a lovey.
posted by JuliaKM at 10:22 AM on November 2, 2012
Once babies get overtired it's very difficult for them to self-soothe themselves in their crib. It's even difficult for a caregiver to soothe them with cuddling. Waiting until the baby is exhausted is actually counterproductive.
My first course of action would be to put her in the crib immediately when she's a bit tired. Don't wait of exhaustion.
My second approach would be finding a way to dampen the distractions in that crib. Use a white noise generator under the crib for auditory stimuli. Use something placed outside the crib to reduce visual stimuli. Bummer guards used to do that, but they are no longer recommended.
posted by 26.2 at 10:24 AM on November 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
My first course of action would be to put her in the crib immediately when she's a bit tired. Don't wait of exhaustion.
My second approach would be finding a way to dampen the distractions in that crib. Use a white noise generator under the crib for auditory stimuli. Use something placed outside the crib to reduce visual stimuli. Bummer guards used to do that, but they are no longer recommended.
posted by 26.2 at 10:24 AM on November 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
I have a 12 month old and we went through this as well. He went well over a month refusing to nap for more than one or two 15 minute cat naps here and there. His daycare environment is almost identical to yours. He just much preferred playing and exploring to sleep - not to mention that the environment doesn't make it easier.
What worked for my son was being moved from a crib to a cot on the floor. We used the blankets he always used at daycare, and I brought a lovey that he recognized from home. I think it took a few days for him to associate the cot with sleeping (with his teachers' help), but after a while he would crawl over to it when he was tired. He got to choose when he slept and that seemed to do the trick for him. His teacher told me yesterday that now they don't even wait for him to crawl over to the cot - as soon as he starts rubbing his eyes, they direct him to the cot. That way he isn't overtired, which makes it harder for babies to go to sleep. He's doing an hour a day now, which I am happy with.
If that's not an option, or it doesn't work, I think that it's time for some sleep training during her weekend naptimes, so that she can start putting herself to sleep at daycare. There are lots of books out there that appeal to different sensibilities and philosophies. My son was having a very hard time going to sleep at bedtime, so my suggestion is based on how I chose to sleep-train him.
I would put her in her crib at home with perhaps a similar ritual as her bedtime. As she starts to cry, step out of the room for a certain amount of minutes that you are comfortable with - say 3. If she is still crying forcefully at 3 min, go back in, pat or rub her back and say something soothing, but don't pick her up. Leave, then increase the time by a couple of minutes. Back in again, and so on. Decide ahead of time what is the maximum amount of time you are willing to go between checks and work your way up to that. If her crying starts to die down but not stop, I would wait a little bit extra before checking in on her because that might be her winding down into sleep. Going back in when she is winding down will rile her back up. Doing this at naptime, I would say that if she is not sleeping by half an hour of crying/check-ins, she's probably not going to nap at that time. I'd play with her quietly for another hour or two and try again.
I would also have another talk with her daycare about not letting her cry for more than 10 minutes. It's just not realistic at this point. Perhaps, if you decide to try sleep training on the weekends, they can make an exception for a few days to give her a chance to develop that routine. Say, if you start on Saturday, then on the week starting that Monday they could let her cry for 15 instead of 10 minutes.
I agree with you that naps are very important. I think this is something a lot of babies go through, and it may also be that she grows out of it naturally (that's just something to hold on to if nap training doesn't go well!) Good luck!
posted by DrGirlfriend at 10:31 AM on November 2, 2012
What worked for my son was being moved from a crib to a cot on the floor. We used the blankets he always used at daycare, and I brought a lovey that he recognized from home. I think it took a few days for him to associate the cot with sleeping (with his teachers' help), but after a while he would crawl over to it when he was tired. He got to choose when he slept and that seemed to do the trick for him. His teacher told me yesterday that now they don't even wait for him to crawl over to the cot - as soon as he starts rubbing his eyes, they direct him to the cot. That way he isn't overtired, which makes it harder for babies to go to sleep. He's doing an hour a day now, which I am happy with.
If that's not an option, or it doesn't work, I think that it's time for some sleep training during her weekend naptimes, so that she can start putting herself to sleep at daycare. There are lots of books out there that appeal to different sensibilities and philosophies. My son was having a very hard time going to sleep at bedtime, so my suggestion is based on how I chose to sleep-train him.
I would put her in her crib at home with perhaps a similar ritual as her bedtime. As she starts to cry, step out of the room for a certain amount of minutes that you are comfortable with - say 3. If she is still crying forcefully at 3 min, go back in, pat or rub her back and say something soothing, but don't pick her up. Leave, then increase the time by a couple of minutes. Back in again, and so on. Decide ahead of time what is the maximum amount of time you are willing to go between checks and work your way up to that. If her crying starts to die down but not stop, I would wait a little bit extra before checking in on her because that might be her winding down into sleep. Going back in when she is winding down will rile her back up. Doing this at naptime, I would say that if she is not sleeping by half an hour of crying/check-ins, she's probably not going to nap at that time. I'd play with her quietly for another hour or two and try again.
I would also have another talk with her daycare about not letting her cry for more than 10 minutes. It's just not realistic at this point. Perhaps, if you decide to try sleep training on the weekends, they can make an exception for a few days to give her a chance to develop that routine. Say, if you start on Saturday, then on the week starting that Monday they could let her cry for 15 instead of 10 minutes.
I agree with you that naps are very important. I think this is something a lot of babies go through, and it may also be that she grows out of it naturally (that's just something to hold on to if nap training doesn't go well!) Good luck!
posted by DrGirlfriend at 10:31 AM on November 2, 2012
I take it this daycare rocks y'all's socks in ways that would make finding one with a far better napping system not an option?
Because that's what I would start investigating. Sleep hygiene is as important for little ones as adults, and with light and unpredictable activity and noise going on around her, that sounds like quite a lot for her brain to tune out for good sleep.
Sure, learning to sleep through some noise, some brightness, some movement is good for babies. But that really does sound like a lot for her to be processing.
If I were working that room or a parent of one of the other children, I wouldn't be okay with the idea of being asked to let her cry longer. The needs of the many outweigh those of the few, after all.
At my daughter's daycare, naptime is at a set time every day. Mats are set out, their blankets and pillows (from home) are fetched, the lights go out, and all the littles stretch out. Anyone having a hard time is given back-pats and soothing talk. My girl was historically reluctant to nap unless nursing - furiously adversarial, even - but with this tactic, she gets close to 2hrs most days. Many, many daycares do it this way.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck. Learning to sleep with competitively oppositional individual, family, and societal standards for this necessary activitity is an incredible challenge for all involved.
posted by batmonkey at 11:08 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Because that's what I would start investigating. Sleep hygiene is as important for little ones as adults, and with light and unpredictable activity and noise going on around her, that sounds like quite a lot for her brain to tune out for good sleep.
Sure, learning to sleep through some noise, some brightness, some movement is good for babies. But that really does sound like a lot for her to be processing.
If I were working that room or a parent of one of the other children, I wouldn't be okay with the idea of being asked to let her cry longer. The needs of the many outweigh those of the few, after all.
At my daughter's daycare, naptime is at a set time every day. Mats are set out, their blankets and pillows (from home) are fetched, the lights go out, and all the littles stretch out. Anyone having a hard time is given back-pats and soothing talk. My girl was historically reluctant to nap unless nursing - furiously adversarial, even - but with this tactic, she gets close to 2hrs most days. Many, many daycares do it this way.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck. Learning to sleep with competitively oppositional individual, family, and societal standards for this necessary activitity is an incredible challenge for all involved.
posted by batmonkey at 11:08 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Under six months we did not have much of a schedule and generally did things on demand, but as the weeks went on the baby fell into his own routine naturally, and days were fairly predictable.
Around six months we were a little stricter about developing a routine, still around the baby's natural rhythms, and as things got a little more predictable, it got easier for all of us.
IMHO, 11mos is old enough to have a routine. So if the daycare is not using one (are they keeping the small small babies in the same room with your 11mo?), you might consider a different daycare (very very tough when you otherwise like where you're at, I know!). Our daycare puts babies in one room, crawlers in another, and walkers in a 3rd room. The crawlers and walkers are on a schedule (notice how the rooms are divided by developmental stage, rather than age?). Maybe somewhere like that would work for you (or maybe your current daycare would consider moving to that model?).
Good luck!
posted by vignettist at 11:40 AM on November 2, 2012
Around six months we were a little stricter about developing a routine, still around the baby's natural rhythms, and as things got a little more predictable, it got easier for all of us.
IMHO, 11mos is old enough to have a routine. So if the daycare is not using one (are they keeping the small small babies in the same room with your 11mo?), you might consider a different daycare (very very tough when you otherwise like where you're at, I know!). Our daycare puts babies in one room, crawlers in another, and walkers in a 3rd room. The crawlers and walkers are on a schedule (notice how the rooms are divided by developmental stage, rather than age?). Maybe somewhere like that would work for you (or maybe your current daycare would consider moving to that model?).
Good luck!
posted by vignettist at 11:40 AM on November 2, 2012
Response by poster: How in the world did I not think of sending her lovey to daycare? We are incredibly lucky in that the baby has decided her lovey will be those ubiquitous cloth diapers that we have always had around (she had reflux as an infant), and when she's falling asleep at home she often pulls it over her eyes. We have a dozen of them. I'll send one to daycare starting Monday. I am amazed that I didn't think of this.
DrGirlfriend, I'm not sure directing our kid to a cot would work, as she is VERY ACTIVE ALL THE TIME and has never stayed down in an area that's unconfined.
Regarding switching daycares: As I mentioned, we'd have to find another daycare that agrees to accept payment from our county (which severely restricts our choices). Our kid also may not stay with us forever (we really have no guess how long she'll be with us), so I'd rather not change her routine now just to have her leave us and be disrupted all over again in a few months. She also has some issues with attachment, and is very comfortable at her current daycare. I do think that switching daycares is possible down the road (I'm not crazy about this place, we picked it because it's half a mile from our house) but I think that will likely happen with my return to work after the birth of NewBabyStitch this summer or after we know for sure about whether she'll be staying with us for good.
Vignettist, I agree that the model of getting the kids to sleep is a good one, but our kid is one of only three full-time kids in the room. The part-time kids are in and out and on their own schedules at home, so it's very difficult to convince parents to get their kid on a routine that works for a daycare they attend two mornings a week, or whatever.
We'll start working on naps this weekend. Any thoughts on putting her down in her pack-and-play in the living room, amidst noise and light, which is closer to how she's expected to sleep at daycare, or in her crib in her darkened room?
posted by SeedStitch at 11:51 AM on November 2, 2012
DrGirlfriend, I'm not sure directing our kid to a cot would work, as she is VERY ACTIVE ALL THE TIME and has never stayed down in an area that's unconfined.
Regarding switching daycares: As I mentioned, we'd have to find another daycare that agrees to accept payment from our county (which severely restricts our choices). Our kid also may not stay with us forever (we really have no guess how long she'll be with us), so I'd rather not change her routine now just to have her leave us and be disrupted all over again in a few months. She also has some issues with attachment, and is very comfortable at her current daycare. I do think that switching daycares is possible down the road (I'm not crazy about this place, we picked it because it's half a mile from our house) but I think that will likely happen with my return to work after the birth of NewBabyStitch this summer or after we know for sure about whether she'll be staying with us for good.
Vignettist, I agree that the model of getting the kids to sleep is a good one, but our kid is one of only three full-time kids in the room. The part-time kids are in and out and on their own schedules at home, so it's very difficult to convince parents to get their kid on a routine that works for a daycare they attend two mornings a week, or whatever.
We'll start working on naps this weekend. Any thoughts on putting her down in her pack-and-play in the living room, amidst noise and light, which is closer to how she's expected to sleep at daycare, or in her crib in her darkened room?
posted by SeedStitch at 11:51 AM on November 2, 2012
If there's a halfway measure on sleeping environment, that might be best way to start. Might be useful to also see if you can futz with elements to see which one is most disrupting to her.
Thank you for clarifying the situation...didn't read closely enough, and I apologise.
Yay for having an easy lovey! I so hope this helps!
posted by batmonkey at 12:23 PM on November 2, 2012
Thank you for clarifying the situation...didn't read closely enough, and I apologise.
Yay for having an easy lovey! I so hope this helps!
posted by batmonkey at 12:23 PM on November 2, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks, batmonkey, I do too! Eager to start a new routine with her tomorrow. If I remember, I'll try to pop back in soon to let you all know how it's going.
posted by SeedStitch at 1:16 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by SeedStitch at 1:16 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
My son is super active as well, which is why I was floored that the cot worked! He must really like autonomy ;)
I hope the lovey works! I'd be interested in knowing how this goes for you...baby sleep is something I've had to become super interested in!
posted by DrGirlfriend at 1:23 PM on November 2, 2012
I hope the lovey works! I'd be interested in knowing how this goes for you...baby sleep is something I've had to become super interested in!
posted by DrGirlfriend at 1:23 PM on November 2, 2012
Along with weekend naps - is the staff at daycare flexible enough that they would consider a quiet-down time in the afternoon? Our daycare is also big, busy, etc. They're also pretty religious about naptime for all ages. If kids aren't sleeping that's OK, but at 1pm it's quiet time! Lights are low, they play soft music, etc. In rooms with overhead lights, they turn off the big lights and use battery-operated camping lanterns for low light where it's needed. Even if most of the babies are awake, they keep activities quiet and low-energy, like reading books, rocking and singing songs, etc. Parents who come in to pick up do so quietly (easy to remember when the big lights are off).
The benefit for staff is that by the time the babies hit the more active toddler/preschool years, the nap routine is so ingrained that it's automatic, and it's much less work to get them to stay on their cots. :)
posted by hms71 at 4:27 PM on November 2, 2012
The benefit for staff is that by the time the babies hit the more active toddler/preschool years, the nap routine is so ingrained that it's automatic, and it's much less work to get them to stay on their cots. :)
posted by hms71 at 4:27 PM on November 2, 2012
I hope the lovey works!
There are also products out there like this, which are basically tiny baby tents. If your daycare team would allow you to try it, you might be able to make a darker and quieter space for her either by putting the tent in the crib or in another area entirely.
posted by judith at 11:59 PM on November 2, 2012
There are also products out there like this, which are basically tiny baby tents. If your daycare team would allow you to try it, you might be able to make a darker and quieter space for her either by putting the tent in the crib or in another area entirely.
posted by judith at 11:59 PM on November 2, 2012
Response by poster: Update, in case anyone checks back in or finds this thread in the future: we spent a solid month letting the baby freak out for a while in her playpen until she tired herself out and finally fell asleep. This happened at least one day per weekend. During the week they did a modified approach (way more reassurances) at daycare. I'm pleased to report she's napping for one to two hours at daycare, and she put herself down in her playpen with no fuss yesterday afternoon and slept for three hours solid. Hooray!
posted by SeedStitch at 6:11 PM on December 16, 2012
posted by SeedStitch at 6:11 PM on December 16, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
And on a small chatfilter-y note, you guys ROCK for being foster parents!
posted by tigerjade at 9:40 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]