Hellobee Boards

I remember this all too well and at 3 sometimes we still deal with this. Sometimes I am amazed at how quickly other parents are in and out. Like why am I the first parent in the parking lot yet the last on to leave.

I'm sorry my response is not helpful. I too have tried the bye I'm leaving and he just doesn't follow. It's very frustrating! Offering commiseration to you!

My son is super challenging with transitions. He's almost 3 now but about 8-9 months ago we started using the iPhone timer for most transitions. We even have him set it. We ask him do you want to leave/stop playing/etc now or in ___ minutes? He always picks the minutes and then we set the timer. It isn't perfect but it's helped.

We had an awful time with that around that age. For us t was leaving the park and coming up the stairs to our condo. I was pregnant and couldn't carry a thrashing 2 year old, though sometimes did (so I can tell you have more patience than me already!!)

Things that helped briefly were a sticker chart and bribing with a video. The chart for us had pictures of the routine for coming from outside, stairs, take off shoes, coat, wash hands. If she did them all she got a sticker. She would recite the steps and it did seem to help a little. The bribe was just if you come up without complaining and stalling I'll let you watch a two minute video on my phone.

I used to try @psw27: trick with the phone timer but she would just throw a tantrum when the timer went off. Like she would watch me set it then stand there and watch it count down instead of continuing to play, then start melting down as soon as it ended.

Telling DD she can do something for two minutes and then has to leave helps - she has no concept of what two minutes is, but she gets the limit. Outside of that, bribery or seeing if she wants to race me. Or being really silly, and asking something like if she wants to walk like a duck or like a bear.

Another thing that helps us are "transition objects" - so DS will usually pick a toy or two to bring along for the ride to school. I'll keep the items in the car or stroller during the day. When I'm trying to get him to move along I'll remind him that his car/book etc is waiting for him in the car. Or I'll bring it in with me and it helps him move away from the other distractions.

I don't like "Bye, I'm leaving" because I don't want to make them think that I would ever actually abandon them somewhere. That being said, sometimes I do get frustrated and do it. I find, like other people have suggested, doing some tangible countdowns - "Ok, you can run down the hall two more times and then we have to get shoes on. After you have your shoes on you can have one more run and then we're going to the door." - is helpful. Also sometimes I just have to remind myself that in the grand scheme of things, getting home five minutes later isn't really a big deal.

Also for what it's worth, if anybody is staring it's probably in sympathy and bemusement. I'm always thinking "Oh, those poor guys" and not "Ugh, why can't that mom get her kid under control?"

Ugh same here with a struggling 2 year old. I'm also 37 weeks pregnant on top of it! For me though the hard part it's leaving somewhere, it's when we get to the car seat and I try to buckle her in.....dear lord....you think I was murdering her!! She flips around, stands up, gets stiff as a board.....all of the above. Whenever I'm done, I'm full blown sweating.

@macintosh: hurray!
It is hard to pick your spots on when to let them take the lead and when you need to step in. It sounds like LO needed more structure in this situation so I hope it keeps working!!