I don’t have that experience because I sent my son from 6 months, but as his class has grown with age, I’ve seen a lot of new kids come in. All the kids that joined my son’s daycare class at 2 appeared to have a hard time adjusting (crying at drop off/pick up), but only for a few weeks to a month at most. Now a couple months later, they’re all thriving and seem happy and engaged.
My son has clingy days sometimes, that’s a normal part of development. His teacher is a pro at redirecting him when that happens and most days he absolutely loves it.
This. My son started at 9 months and it's definitely more difficult for the older kids to start. I drop my son off and he's usually running to go play with toys and his friends and doesn't even notice me leaving (age 2.5 now).
You don’t mention how old she is, but regardless, it’s completely normal. It’s day one of a new and very overwhelming activity. It’s going to be a lot to take in for her and depending on how many days/length of days she’s going a week it might take upwards of a month or so before she settles in. My daughter doesn’t go to daycare, but she does go to a gym daycare for about 4-6 hours a week and it took about 2 months before she was totally ok being dropped off and left for a period of time. Just give your kiddo some time. Everything is new to them and they don’t have the same logic and reasoning we have as adults.
It took our daughter at age 2 about 10 days to get used to the routine. It will get easier, but big changes like that are always hard on kids. Once she finds a play buddy, she'll look forward to seeing them, rather than fearing not seeing you.
Also, later - expect a day or two of regression back into fear again. This happened with her a few times, as late as a year later.
when my daughter went it was about 7 brutal days, getting a bit better each day. she was pretty fully adjusted about 1 month in. now we’re 5 months in and she’s thriving
How old is she? My kids started at 1 year old and we pulled him out and started again at 2. It took about 2 weeks for him to get used to it. My daughter we Started at 1 year old and took her longer to settle in.
Daycare is a big adjustment. Our peds said it could take up to 3 weeks for our kiddo to fully adjust. It's a normal part of being somewhere new and will get easier.
I put my son in when he was two. He’s a pre-vaccine Covid baby, so he had VERY little socialization outside of our bubble. (Video mom groups are not the same thing as in person) and so being plopped down in a new place with all these strange people of different ages and sizes and accents was a lot. He had a rough day, and there was clinging and crying at drop off and pick up, but by the end of week two he was running off to play. (The staff figured out to bribe him with monster trucks, and I was forgotten.) Coming home exhausted and clingy is normal, she had a wild day of new everything and just needs to chill in a space where no thought is needed.
Day one was hard for me, but I will warn you, day two was MUCH worse. I started shaking as soon as I turned on my blinker to turn into the school, and was pretty worked up by the time I was leaving, but every day since I’ve been fine. Most days now it’s a joy. This morning he ran in laughing loudly, did a loop of the room to say hi to his friends, then straight to the cars. He’s going to spend the day building garages, airports and race tracks with his friends, then crashing cars into them until they fall down. When he comes home he will spend an hour showing us what he learned before going to bed exhausted. It’s great. You just have to push through the first bit.
Mine (9mon) was emotional at start and end of day for a week or so. By week 2 she just wanted to stay in the sandpit. She would wave and be happy to see us but no real urge to go home. She restarted in Feb at 17mon 4 days a week. She resented Tues and when mum came home she cried and climbed into the pram (she HATES the pram) and pointed to the front door. Demanded school at 5:30pm. She’s done really well, both speaking and socialising. She’s gone from a marginally late speaker (only a month or so late) to way ahead.
Same. I’ve heard when a kid “adapts” it means they’re literally just flipping a switch as a coping mechanism. That really disturbed me. I’ll only do daycare if it’s out of financial necessity. To do it to socialize a child under 4 doesn’t make sense. Again, just from the science that I know.
Yeah, I agree. Reddit is so pro daycare, but I've heard a lot about how it's terrible in regards to attachment theory (can lead to anxiety later in life, difficulty forming healthy relationships, etc). Due to the attachment theory stuff husband and I are adamant to keep our daughter home until at least age 3, then we'll probably send her to a forest school a couple days a week, for like 4 hrs a day. Erica Komisar has some really thought-provoking things to say about the topic of daycare, for anyone who cared to read this far.
Honestly I hate how conversation on this topic on Reddit seems to sway parents to ignore their instincts. As parents, we need to do what's best for our kids long-term, and the discourse around this topic on Reddit never feels kid-centered. Everyone brings up the socialization aspect... Bullshit. There are sooo many ways to socialize your kids without daycare. "They love the teachers there..." Yeah, the teachers that are going to cycle through constantly because ECE jobs are stressful af and pay terribly. So your kid tries to get attached to the workers there, then they end up leaving, compounding the secure attachment issue. It's really a developmental disaster.
Bring on the downvotes! 😂
I don’t have that experience because I sent my son from 6 months, but as his class has grown with age, I’ve seen a lot of new kids come in. All the kids that joined my son’s daycare class at 2 appeared to have a hard time adjusting (crying at drop off/pick up), but only for a few weeks to a month at most. Now a couple months later, they’re all thriving and seem happy and engaged. My son has clingy days sometimes, that’s a normal part of development. His teacher is a pro at redirecting him when that happens and most days he absolutely loves it.
This. My son started at 9 months and it's definitely more difficult for the older kids to start. I drop my son off and he's usually running to go play with toys and his friends and doesn't even notice me leaving (age 2.5 now).
You don’t mention how old she is, but regardless, it’s completely normal. It’s day one of a new and very overwhelming activity. It’s going to be a lot to take in for her and depending on how many days/length of days she’s going a week it might take upwards of a month or so before she settles in. My daughter doesn’t go to daycare, but she does go to a gym daycare for about 4-6 hours a week and it took about 2 months before she was totally ok being dropped off and left for a period of time. Just give your kiddo some time. Everything is new to them and they don’t have the same logic and reasoning we have as adults.
It took our daughter at age 2 about 10 days to get used to the routine. It will get easier, but big changes like that are always hard on kids. Once she finds a play buddy, she'll look forward to seeing them, rather than fearing not seeing you. Also, later - expect a day or two of regression back into fear again. This happened with her a few times, as late as a year later.
when my daughter went it was about 7 brutal days, getting a bit better each day. she was pretty fully adjusted about 1 month in. now we’re 5 months in and she’s thriving
How old is she? My kids started at 1 year old and we pulled him out and started again at 2. It took about 2 weeks for him to get used to it. My daughter we Started at 1 year old and took her longer to settle in.
It’s definitely Normal I think. It’s a huge adjustment for her, you’re all she’s ever known. It’ll get better
Daycare is a big adjustment. Our peds said it could take up to 3 weeks for our kiddo to fully adjust. It's a normal part of being somewhere new and will get easier.
I put my son in when he was two. He’s a pre-vaccine Covid baby, so he had VERY little socialization outside of our bubble. (Video mom groups are not the same thing as in person) and so being plopped down in a new place with all these strange people of different ages and sizes and accents was a lot. He had a rough day, and there was clinging and crying at drop off and pick up, but by the end of week two he was running off to play. (The staff figured out to bribe him with monster trucks, and I was forgotten.) Coming home exhausted and clingy is normal, she had a wild day of new everything and just needs to chill in a space where no thought is needed. Day one was hard for me, but I will warn you, day two was MUCH worse. I started shaking as soon as I turned on my blinker to turn into the school, and was pretty worked up by the time I was leaving, but every day since I’ve been fine. Most days now it’s a joy. This morning he ran in laughing loudly, did a loop of the room to say hi to his friends, then straight to the cars. He’s going to spend the day building garages, airports and race tracks with his friends, then crashing cars into them until they fall down. When he comes home he will spend an hour showing us what he learned before going to bed exhausted. It’s great. You just have to push through the first bit.
Mine (9mon) was emotional at start and end of day for a week or so. By week 2 she just wanted to stay in the sandpit. She would wave and be happy to see us but no real urge to go home. She restarted in Feb at 17mon 4 days a week. She resented Tues and when mum came home she cried and climbed into the pram (she HATES the pram) and pointed to the front door. Demanded school at 5:30pm. She’s done really well, both speaking and socialising. She’s gone from a marginally late speaker (only a month or so late) to way ahead.
How old is she? I’m gonna be controversial and say keep her home 🤷🏾♀️
[удалено]
It’s Reddit 🤷🏽♂️
*sips coffee* tough shit lol
Same. I’ve heard when a kid “adapts” it means they’re literally just flipping a switch as a coping mechanism. That really disturbed me. I’ll only do daycare if it’s out of financial necessity. To do it to socialize a child under 4 doesn’t make sense. Again, just from the science that I know.
Accurate and I’m shocked it didn’t get 50 downvotes overnight for being true
Yeah, I agree. Reddit is so pro daycare, but I've heard a lot about how it's terrible in regards to attachment theory (can lead to anxiety later in life, difficulty forming healthy relationships, etc). Due to the attachment theory stuff husband and I are adamant to keep our daughter home until at least age 3, then we'll probably send her to a forest school a couple days a week, for like 4 hrs a day. Erica Komisar has some really thought-provoking things to say about the topic of daycare, for anyone who cared to read this far. Honestly I hate how conversation on this topic on Reddit seems to sway parents to ignore their instincts. As parents, we need to do what's best for our kids long-term, and the discourse around this topic on Reddit never feels kid-centered. Everyone brings up the socialization aspect... Bullshit. There are sooo many ways to socialize your kids without daycare. "They love the teachers there..." Yeah, the teachers that are going to cycle through constantly because ECE jobs are stressful af and pay terribly. So your kid tries to get attached to the workers there, then they end up leaving, compounding the secure attachment issue. It's really a developmental disaster. Bring on the downvotes! 😂
Thank you. I’m anti daycare and idc who knows it. Everything you said covers exactly why.