Every mother wants that from the first minute of the child’s stay in daycare, he becomes a place for the baby to run with joy. Can tears be avoided during the adaptation process? Yes!
How does mom see this situation? Behind the daycare door, her baby’s new life begins, a life without a mother. The imagination draws terrible pictures of a crying kid, which is offended by children and evil aunts. When my daughter went to the daycare, I cut circles around the building, leaving her there for the first time. And for a child, this is a new world, bright and impressive. When I came for my daughter an hour later, I thought I would see a crying child. And she waved its handle and said – “Mom, you go to work some more, and I will stay here.” But this did not happen by itself but was the result of my great preliminary work.
I will highlight the main stages of how I prepared my daughter for the first visit to daycare.
Confidence
When parents are confident in their choice, trust the person with whom their child stays, adaptation goes faster. And if there is inner doubt, confusion, mistrust – the child “reads” it and behaves accordingly. Before you open a new page in your kid’s life, say that the daycare is a place where there are many children and exciting toys. He will sculpt, paint, play with sand, water, dance and play musical instruments. It is excellent if you have the opportunity to go to the daycare in advance with your child, play, take part in classes, “master the territory.”
Independence
Teach your baby independence, do not take care of him constantly. Let’s have time to play and explore the world for ourselves, naturally remembering safety. Involve dad, grandparents, if possible. Teach your child to undress, dress, eat and put away toys.
Daily routine
Try to make your child’s day similar to the day’s schedule in daycare in advance. Find out what time in daycare children walk, eat, sleep, play and build your home schedule in the same way. The same regime at home and in the daycare plays a significant role in the adaptation period.
I will always come back
Prepare your baby for the breakup. But you will come back, and you will go home together. Do not drag out the farewell; come up with a ritual – a secret word that needs to be said in each other’s ear or a unique gesture that you show to each other. Say what time you will arrive and try to keep your promise. Especially in the early days, please do your best to pick up the child early, do not allow him to be the last in the daycare.
Positive attitude, trust, consistency, and thoughtfulness of actions in preparing for daycare will help start a new stage in a child’s life without tears, fear, and doubts.
