|
My daughter came home at 21 months so a little younger. I woulnd't worry too much about the language issue. Kids are such sponges by about two weeks (maybe even less) she understood most of what I said to her. Maybe try a few signs to get by in the very beginning. Also, I recommend doing a longer transition if you can. I actually paid for the foster mother/family to stay at the hotel for 3 nights. The first day I was more of an observer and only held my daughter occassionally. I let her get used to me just being there. She slept with the foster mother that first night. The second day, I started doing some of the diaper changes, feeding, bottles, participated in putting her down for a nap and wandered off alone with her a few times. The last full day I did most things with the foster mother there and she provided some comfort if my daughter got really upset. On the final half day, I video taped the foster mother saying good bye to my daughter. I had asked her the first day if that would be ok and to give her time to think about what she wanted to say. Another thing I did was to make sure the foster family said good bye to my daughter and made sure she saw them leave. I didn't want her to be searching for them at every turn. Finally, we stayed in Guat for another couple of days so she could get a little more used to me with familiar sights, language, foods, and smells around her. I saw her first real smile when I took her out of the hotel to the zoo. That was a real turning point. In the hotel, she did seem to still be searching for the foster family.
She transitioned beautifully once home and has been out just over 1.5 yrs. We still co-sleep but she still seems to really need the contact at night. I am lucky that she is a pretty still sleeper.
Luckily, I scheduled a night flight and she slept all the way home. It was actually funny because she was screaming the whole time everyone was boarding the plane. I could see the person next to us just hating being next to us. Once the engines started, she curled up in my lap and slept the whole 4.5 hour flight home.
Good luck and I hope you hear good news very soon.
|