Advice To Help Children Adapt To Day Care

One of the things that concern us most when our child grows up is the process of adapting to day care. When making this difficult decision, many mothers are concerned about whether the child will be able to feel comfortable, what he will learn and, due to our protective instinct, how he will be treated.

There is no magic recipe for children to enjoy day care. We must be aware that she did not ask for this and that it will probably not be easy for them to get used to it quickly. Although there is no secret formula, you can inform yourself and know some advice that will help your child to adapt much better and faster.

Advice to help children adapt to day care

Tell them what’s going to happen

If we explain to our child what is going to happen, he will begin to understand the process much earlier. You can act out life at the day care center and what usually happens there with the children’s pets and dolls. You can also do a real role play, with the child being the child and the mother being the educator. The more we do these activities with our child, the faster he will feel at ease in day care and this will become the new routine.

You must give the children time

Two things can happen in the daycare adjustment process. First, the educator may be too rigid and not provide a flexible period for the child’s adjustment process or, second, the parents, due to their occupations and lack of time, may not offer this time either. The child, in general, will not adapt in a few hours or days to a totally new environment for him. Therefore, we must try to provide this time for her to meet her new caregiver, her new friends and so that she feels safe in the new place.

always say goodbye

Many children end up feeling completely abandoned in kindergartens. If we leave the child at day care and suddenly disappear, the first thing the child will feel is abandonment. Therefore, it is very important to say goodbye to her with a message that conveys the assurance that you will be back soon. The child will probably cry at first, but will soon feel calmer because he will know that he will see you again soon. So always say goodbye.

be understanding

We should be as understanding as possible and have a lot of empathy in this situation. It is essential to put ourselves in the child’s shoes and understand what he is feeling, to understand this very radical change he is going through. If our child asks us for more affection when we’re home, we should give it. In these cases, most likely the child needs to feel that our love still exists. Remember that it is very important to support your child in this process, he will need you to adapt.

Establish trust with the educator

It is important that the child sees that we have a good relationship with the educator and that she can be a person that your child can also trust. It’s positive that our son sees us talking amiably with her, so that he realizes that the educator is not a stranger. All of this will make the child feel calmer and, therefore, we as parents will also feel that way when we get to know the person responsible for taking care of our child a little better.

Keeping our joy and our positivism

Although it’s also a complicated process for you, you should appear to be cheerful and positive about your child’s entry into day care.  If he senses that you are more worried than usual or that you are suspicious of the situation, your child may feel uncomfortable or insecure as well.

object of attachment

A good way to help your child adapt to day care is to let him take his favorite toy with him, so that he can feel that he has something in his hands that connects him with his home. This type of object provides security and confidence in this transition process, which will help the child to feel comfortable wherever he is.

Symptoms of Daycare Adaptation Problems

It may happen that your child does not adapt well to day care. Therefore, you should be very attentive to the signs and try to support him so that he feels more comfortable. For this, you need to observe your child’s behavior, which will tell us if he is adapting well or not. Some of the symptoms of day care adjustment problems are:

• The child will be very dependent on you. If she is having adjustment problems, the child may cling to you a lot more when she has just left day care. If this happens for a long time, you should try to correct and minimize this reaction.
• The child is sad all day. The educator informs you that your child spends all day crying, doesn’t play and when you arrive, he just wants to be on her lap.
• The child has trouble sleeping in the first few weeks. Your child may have difficulty falling asleep during this time. This could mean that you are not assimilating the experiences of the day.

• The child may show mood swings. You can notice this when you notice mood swings and when sometimes your child doesn’t want to obey.
• The child may have developmental setbacks. She may start asking for the bottle again, start eating poorly, or go back to her own hygiene habits from when she was a baby.

The most important part of a child’s adaptation to this new environment is that, as parents, we must understand, guide and support our child in this process. It won’t be easy for him or for you, but maybe it’s a decision you need to make for work or personal reasons. Also, this may be your child’s first contact with strangers. Therefore, it will mean a great learning experience for you and your child.