What to do if your preschooler won’t stop crying at drop-off
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For Jill Hancock,* dropping her three-year-old son off at daycare followed a painful pattern. ?Everything would be fine as we walked in, but as soon as I tried to hand him over to the teacher, he?d start clinging to me and crying,? she says. When preschool (or the preschool room at daycare) is new to kids, crying at drop-off is common for the first couple of weeks, but for Hancock, it went on for months and months on end. ?It was never a full-on panicked freak-out, but he?d cry and cling every time,? says Hancock. ?It felt like a bad way for him?and for me?to start the day. It seemed like he?d never get used to it.?
The fact is, some preschoolers have a harder time adjusting to change than others, and they?ll protest any change with tears. ?Some kids just have a personality that?s overly cautious or slow to open up to new situations,? says Jaquie Nickoriuk, a psychologist with Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre in Red Deer, Alta. ?It?s normal.? Although most kids will calm down and have a perfectly fun time once mom or dad makes an exit, beginning the day this way can break a parent?s heart. If you?re dealing with a particularly stubborn case of separation anxiety that doesn?t seem to be getting any better, here are a few things to try.
1. Go through the steps
Knowing exactly what?s coming up helps kids feel more relaxed and prepared. ?Tell them, ?We?re getting in the car now. Oh, look, we?re about to arrive at the daycare. We?ll s...
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