Toddler Doesn't Want to Go to Daycare

Your ideas are great, a chart worked really well for my kids. I don't ahve any expert advice that you don't seem to have thoguht of but i did want to say that my daughter did the same thing. she went from loving daycare to screaming when i dropped her off after being there for about 2 years. i was confused and so terribly upset aobut teh whole thing, luckily nto only did i completely trust my provider but my older children were there and even they said everything was fine, dd wasn't having any problems or getting into trouble and woudl stop crying shortly after i left, so i just dealt with it and it passed, there was little else i could do as a single mom of 3 at the time. so it could just be an age thing and like you said once her friends are with her again she'll probally be fine. best of luck.

You mention that her little friends have "moved up" to the next group. It seems like the consistency has changed in her daily routine...the group of kids that she has grown with are separated. You could speak to her caregiver and make it known that your daughter is REALLY missing ? (friend's name), and ask if it is possible for your daughter to visit their classroom during the day to give her some friend time. Or the other way around...have one of the special friends come join your daughter's group for snack time, or whatever it may be. You may also make this an incentive...cooperative morning=friend time at school. Transitions are very hard at this age. Kids need consistency and your daughter is smat enough to know that their is change in her life. She is letting everybody know it by acting out in the morning.

Hope you find a way to make this transition smooth for your little one!

You do have some great ideas. One other thing I would do would be for you or your husband to go there early by two hours at least one day, just to see how she's acting and make sure everything is alright. My oldest one acted like this at her old daycare, so I went early one day. They were watching Crocodile Hunter and she was scared and crying. Her teacher was yelling at her. I picked her up and walked out and never took her back.

My little one has gone through this too, but is always playing and happy when we have done a surprise drop in, so I think it's just a phase.

I'm sure it's something your daughter will outgrow soon, but it wouldn't hurt (and would bring peace of mind) just to check and make sure everything is alright.

At that age, they are going through another seperation anxiety phase. My son went through the same thing(and he still has some rough days every once in a while). I found that if I was able to stay with him for about 15-20 minutes in the morning and get him involved in something before I left, he would be fine when I told him it was time for me to leave. If he was still a little hestitant about me leaving then, I would play peek-a-boo with him through the door or the window that looked into the classroom to get him laughing. Then I would wave, blow a kiss, and leave. His teacher was great and played along. From everything I read, it's just a normal phase, and she'll grow out of it.