https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 26 Jun 2026 01:08:50 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046525 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:19:53 +0000 bpcmarj 1046525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: I am not above bribes at this point. It is giving me too much anxiety. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046445 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:05:48 +0000 mrs. wagon 1046445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bpcmarj: of course :) </p> <p>Oh we had a transition item-- we gave him a gummy vitamin lollipop at each dropoff. We still do! He looks forward to it, and if he whined about wanting to stay with us the mention of the gummy was enough to get him to be happy :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046418 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:59:45 +0000 littlek 1046418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bpcmarj: She will get used to it, it just may take slighlty longer till she gets the routine. Hang in there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046414 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:58:28 +0000 bpcmarj 1046414@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: My friend runs a home daycare, but yes she is going somewhere different everyday (unless there is a school holiday, then she may have two days in a row at my friends). </p> <p>@looch: I like this idea. I wonder if I can implement it with her! I will see what I can do :)</p> <p>@mrs. wagon: You are right...these things feel so much bigger when you are in them, don't they?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046399 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:55:32 +0000 mrs. wagon 1046399@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bpcmarj: awww, that 2.5 hour nap and happy playtime afterwards is a GREAT sign!! She is adjusting quickly and just think of her sad times as her just letting you know just how much she loves you. If it wasn't hard, you might think she doesn't miss you at all. ;) Pretty soon you will look back on this transition and not even remember it!! I find it difficult to recall how hard it was with Wagon Jr.!!! All I know is now he runs in and I can't even get him to say bye to me most days... and when he was younger, I'd have to bribe him to leave when I picked him up! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046398 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:55:31 +0000 looch 1046398@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son was older when I started daycare with him so the transition was rougher, IMO, because he had been used to being at home, with me. Then we moved and he started daycare, so it was a lot.</p> <p>My strategy was with a center, though, so it doesn't apply directly, but maybe a smidge of it would work...we basically gave our son a job every day to give something to the director, a sticker, a piece of paper, whatever. Having this actually turned drop off into a task that became a routine. I got this tip from a mom of two older kids who also had tough drop offs.</p> <p>Hope this helps you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046392 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:54:07 +0000 littlek 1046392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bpcmarj: Is she going to daycare? Or staying with 2 different people during the week? I think the second option sounds much rougher than going to one place everyday. She will get used to it though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046388 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:53:31 +0000 bpcmarj 1046388@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you guys!</p> <p>@mrs. wagon: Sometimes she gets over it right away, other times she whimpers until she takes a nap. Yesterday, she was crying a lot in the morning and then ate lunch and took a 2.5 hour nap (which she has NEVER done for me) and then played happily most of the afternoon. Today she is with MIL for the first time so I am anxious to see how she does. I know it's a huge transition for both of us, but I wish it would be eaiser! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046353 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:47:45 +0000 mrs. wagon 1046353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How is she after you leave? Wagon Jr. started full day daycare at 18 months and even though dropoffs were tough in the beginning, the director would email me about 10 mins after dropoff to let me know that he was playing happily. That really helped. But the first couple of weeks I was constantly sick to my stomach, thinking about how much he was suffering because of my return to work!</p> <p>It definitely gets easier!! My only tips would be to make dropoff as brief as possible, and your attitude as positive as possible even if she is screaming. I found that consistency on my part made it easier on myself and on the caregivers, especially since he'd stop crying a minute after I left! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046345 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:45:17 +0000 MamaMoose 1046345@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry. My LO is only 9 months so I don't have much advice... but she cries so hard every time I walk away from her (even when I just hand her to her daddy and walk to another room in the house) so I know how heart wrenching it is. But the good news is that her meltdown is usually short lived. She's basically just crying to see if she can get me to come back and when I don't, she moves on and plays happily. I'm sure your LO will get used to this new routine soon. The good part about her being older is that she definitely understands that mommy always comes back for her! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046331 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:43:40 +0000 autumnlove 1046331@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thinking of you. It usually gets easier...I hope p has a better week! &lt;3</p> <p>My LO had a clingy and screaming phase around 15 months....her daycare teachers sent me pics of her having fun after I left! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-daycare-transition#post-1046310 Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:36:35 +0000 bpcmarj 1046310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter is almost 16 months old, and I just went back to work. It's her 4th day and the transition is NOT going well. She gets upset as soon as I a walk towards the door. An additional hurdle is that we just began weaning her during the day, so when she is home with me I do not nurse her between 8-4. She signs for milk and cries as soon as I leave. She has been sad and has been scratching herself pretty badly when she gets upset. I would love some reassurance that it will just take her a little time to get used to things.</p> <p>She is staying with a good friend of mine 3 days a week, and with MIL for 2...so she knows and loves the people that she is with. Unfortunately, they are alternating days, but that is just the way that it needs to be right now.</p> <p>Any stories about bad starts? Particularly for toddlers who are smart enough to know that Momma is leaving?? Or, just kind words would be nice. This has been a bit tough on me, and I am just having a hard time knowing how upset she is during the day. </p>