How can I avoid my 3 year old to cry every time I drop him off @ daycare?

My 3 year old boy has been going to the same daycar fore a little more than a year now, and every day when me or my wife drop him off he start to cry like crazy, his teacher tells us he stops after 5-10 minutes. And then when we pick him up sometime he doesn't want to leave. We have tried a lot of things, like congratulate him or praise him, and still....... He has only not cried probably 3-4 times in the whole year

Thank you

Vinnie

Answers:
Dear Vinnie,
I taught preschoolers and Kindergarten aged children for over 20 years. The situation you describe is quite typical and age appropriate. It is not until a child begins to understand the pattern..."Mom or Dad goes...then Mom or Dad returns" that they begin to feel comfortable.
The best thing to do is to continue to say them when you leave..."I love you and I will be back to get you soon" When you pick up the child, remind them..."See? I promised to come back soon and I did"
Another little strategy is to leave one of your objects with the child...a scarf or key chain, etc. and ask the child to take care of it for you until you return. I have tried this with a number of children and it seems to reassure them a bit.
It is difficult for parents to leave when their children are in distress, but rest assured that all children will become distracted with other things after several minutes and that teachers of young children are quite experienced with this situation and use all kinds of strategies and encouragement to build the child's confidence.
Good luck...in time it will get better! Josette

Other Answers:
Hey just leave him don't turn around just keep going cause after awhile he'll get used to it cause he'll know daddy will be back.

I know what you mean.. I work in a private day nursery so i see this thing almost every single day.. it leaves you mums and dads feeling very guilty for leaving them. The majority of the time.. the child does stop crying after a few minutes, they do at my nursery aswell. They're alright.. you know they're ok because when you pick them up they don't want to leave. When you drop them off and they cry.. you're giving them everything they want.. which is attention, maybe try just dropping them off saying goodbye and then walk out the door. This way they know they're not going to get the attention and may not cry so much. That's so hard on the mother and father to leave there kid when there crying for you to come back. My nephew sometimes still does that. He's about 2 years old and when see he's me and my husband leave or when my sister drops him off, he cries. the other day I was leaving and he ran to me crying. so i told my husband to go to the car and waited for me. i acted like I wasn't leaving, played with him gave him some kind of toy, have one of my aunts distract him and he was fine. I sneaked out, so you might want to make it seem like your staying with them, let them know it's okay and for him/her to loosen up and play. Though you might think that's bad, but you feel bad when you leave them crying, even though you know there safe. I have too of a soft spot for my nephew, so you might want to try that!
Good Luck!

I went through the same thing with my 2 year old. It was easy to drop my 3 year old off, but my 2 year old would scream and bang his head on the door as I left. I hated dropping him off. The only thing I can tell you is that if he's happy there (and you know this because when you pick him up- he doesn't want to leave) then you know its okay to walk away. I know it does sound bad to just "walk away" from your screaming child...but you aren't leaving them with strangers. He's been there for over a year, im sure he has friends and they do normally stop within a few minutes. Every time I left, I would come back a few minutes after I dropped my other son off, and he was quiet and playing with his friends. get a babysitter that will come to your house so you wont have to leave youe son at daycare

If he stops after a few minutes and he has an established routine in the morning then the only answer i can give is that he is doing it to control you. I worked in a daycare for 4 years and the parents only made it worse by prolonging the departure. Just drop him off give him the kiss and hug and then turn around and leave. He is obviously enjoying the time he spends there so don't feel bad when he cries he is trying to manipulate you.
Source(s):
Nanny and childcare worker for 4 years

He just has a hard time with transitions. It's really hard for a 3 year old to stop what he is doing then change to something new. He is probably an "in the moment" type of guy. That's why he doesn't want to leave the daycare. It's another transition. You can try letting him know, before the transition, what is going to happen. "In 5 minutes we are going to leave so we can get you to school (daycare)", or, "After you finish your breakfast we will be leaving," then, "We'll be there in 1 mintue." Just some kind of warning so he knows what to expect. Make it a quick "good-bye" and know that he will be fine. You can also point out the times in his day when he was happy. "It sounds like you were happy when you were painting that picture. You really enjoy being with your friends and teacher. You're so lucky that you're learning so much at school." If he keeps getting messages like these, it should help ease his transition. Good luck!
Source(s):
Preschool teacher (12 years experience)

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How can I avoid my 3 year old to cry every time I drop him off @ daycare?

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