Hi all:
My son who will soon be 3 has acted very strange at day care the last couple of weeks. He has been attending this daycare since he was 8 months old and use to get really excited to go to it. Also, he'd give me a hard time about leaving when I came to collect him.
Recently, he's been acting very strange. One day I received a phone call to pick him up because he threw up a couple of times during lunch. I figured it was the stomach bug and came right over to get him. Upon arrival, he was crying uncontrollably. When we came home he was fine and asked for something to eat and go to the park. He was never sick again throughout that week. The following week, he had to be dropped off two days in which I received a phone call each day to pick him up because he was crying all day hysterically. On the second day, he wouldn't get dressed to go over and was hiding behind the couch in the am before leaving. He told me he didn't want to go.
He's been absolutely fine when I've sent him to any other babysitter and at home. I talked to his teacher about his behavior and we couldn't find any particular reason for the crying situation or the throwing up for that matter. I've actually decided to pull him out of the daycare for the time being because I have other babysitters I can use. Still, I may need daycare after the birth of my second child in December. I'm really confused about this situation...why all of a sudden the change? Could something have happened at the daycare that I'm unaware of or is it just a behavior issue with my son??? Has anyone been in a similar situation?
It does seem like something happened. It is not like he was not used to going there. I do not think I could send my kid back there. It is weird. Your son never said anything. I did have a home daycare and never had a kid respond like that. To be so upset to throw up. Congrats on your soon to be new one!
M.
WWW.WorkingGreenMoms.com
I wonder if something did happen to scare or upset him? It may not have been horrible (I hope that it wasn't of course) but even things that seem small to us can terrify little kids. A child being mean to him, etc. If you like and trust this particular daycare I would set up a meeting with his teachers and the director. Otherwise, I would look around or ask friends for other daycare suggestions. Good luck!!!!
When my son was 18 months, he went to a daycare and would come home and cry uncontrollably for at least 2 hours. This was out of the ordinary for him since he is a pretty easy going baby. When we took him back to his old home daycare, he was perfectly fine. What we figured out was that the daycare would play music all day long b/c that was part of their policy. So for my son, he was just reacting to this highly stimulated environment each day that he got home. I asked the director why they play music on all day long at a volume that you couldn't hear each other talking and they simply said that was their policy so we just decided to take our son out since it was not fitting in with his natural behavior.
You should try to see if you can observe him in school and observe the environment. Even though he may have been there since 8 months old, he probably has switched classrooms now that he's older. It could be that there's something in the environment that is upsetting him. once you observe, you can make a decision to seek other daycares or place him back in if they respond with some changes to your request/observations. good luck!
Hi L.,
I am a home daycare provider and have worked in center based daycares for 15 years. I have heard many times that a child didn't want to go to school, including my own, but I found that after the parent left, everything was fine. Sometimes children try to manipulate a little bit and can most definitely find your weak spots :) On another note, if your child threw up from uncontrollable crying at lunch, something must have been happening. Did anyone at the daycare try and console your son when he was upset? If so, that probably should have helped soothe him assuming he was not ill. I agree with the previous post that you may want to set up a meeting with the staff and director to get to the bottom of things. Depending upon their interest or response, I may not bring him back if I were you. Good luck with everything and congrats on the new little one on the way.
This happened with my daughter when she was 18 months old. Crying all day, not eating, etc. All I can say is that your son is trying to tell you something in whatever way he knows how. Something has happened (and, as another person said, it could be minor to us but major to him), and he can't figure out how to communicate it in another way. Hiding behind the couch is a major red flag. My daughter would cry if we even drove down the day care's street--even on weekends. I pulled her out, found another home-based day care and she was happy as a clam. Learned later that the place was mayhem during the day because certain staffers were on break, etc--so lunches and snacks were bedlam. She was also smaller than the other kids and it was a it rough and tumble for her. She has never looked back, and I am only sorry I didn't do something sooner. I was talking to my Dad about it, and he just said, "Enough! Stop wondering if it's really something real. Your child is communicating with you. Hear her." He was right.
I hope it works out!
E
