Dropping your child off for daycare can often be a stressful scenario, especially if your child experiences separation anxiety when it’s time to say good-bye. The good news is that, like most things, daycare drop-off can become a normal and stress-free daily routine with time and practice.
Positivity
Your attitude and behavior leading up to daycare drop-off can greatly influence how smoothly the good-bye interaction goes. Maintaining a positive attitude, chatting with your child about the exciting things they’ll do that day, or having a consistent sign of affection (good-bye hug, kiss, or wave) can make daycare drop-off seem normal and straightforward to your child.
Allow Extra Time
While it’s easy to let time get away from you, the stress of rushing to daycare in the morning can sometimes make your child more overwhelmed and scared to say good-bye. Allowing yourself plenty of time to drive to daycare, go through the drop-off process, and say good-bye can make a huge difference.
Set a Predictable Routine
Children function best when they know what to expect from their day and can fall into a comfortable routine. Having a predictable order of events in the morning – waking up, eating breakfast, getting dressed, leaving the house at a certain time, etc. – can help your child feel more comfortable and at ease, and makes the process of dropping them off at daycare easier.
Provide Reassurance
Many times, the good-bye process is difficult for children because they’re afraid to leave their parents’ side or are unsure of when they’ll see their parent(s) again. This separation anxiety is especially common between the ages of one and two-years-old. Providing reassurance to your child that you’re only leaving them for a short while and will be excited to see them later that afternoon, can go a long way in providing comfort and solace as your child prepares to separate.
Patience
Even if you perfect your morning routine and do everything in your power to make daycare drop off simple and pain-free, it’s inevitable that there will be bad days. The key is to have patience and understand that all transitions take time, and that frustration and stress is common during these types of interactions, but they are not permanent emotions. With a little time, consistency, and patience, daycare drop-off can be a painless part of your morning routine for both you and your child.
Heaven’s Elect Christian Learning Center is a Non-denominational Christian childcare center fully licensed by the state of Michigan. Our Midland childcare center has been serving the community since 2000. Please contact us at heavenselect.com.
Leave a Reply