Without a doubt, one of the biggest hurdles parents and children struggle with when starting daycare is separation anxiety. Your child’s crying, screaming, and pleading can be intense and overwhelming.
Separation anxiety is a completely normal developmental milestone for your child–but that doesn’t make it easy to handle! Sometimes, even parents can experience separation anxiety, especially if their child throws a tantrum at drop-off.
Neither you nor your child wants to experience separation anxiety, so how can you help your child overcome their fears and have an uneventful drop-off? Here are 3 tips that parents find helpful.
Foster Independence At Home
Because your child starts out being completely helpless, it’s easy to do everything for your child, even when they can do things themselves. Parents are faster, cleaner, and more accurate at things like getting their children dressed, fed, and cleaned up.
But parents have to be careful not to rob their children of the opportunity to learn independence at a young age. While it doesn’t mean parents should never help their children, encouraging your child’s independence is an excellent way to reduce separation anxiety.
When a child feels successful at being independent at home, they will naturally feel confident about being successful in daycare. They know they don’t have to rely on their parents to take care of them; they can take care of themselves!
Use Visual Images to Represent Time
A contributing factor to separation anxiety is that children don’t understand the passing of time. It is understandably scary to hear “Your mom will be here in two hours” when you have no idea how long two hours are!
Printing out a schedule with bright colors and images can help your child visualize their day. You can even give a copy to your child’s classroom teacher to help them understand time.
Give a Security Object
Whether it’s a blanket, lovey, stuffed toy, or another object, a security toy will help your child feel calmer upon drop-off. A security object will help your child stay connected with you, even when they can’t see you.
Soft or fabric toys are generally the best security toys because they are easy to cuddle with. They even absorb your scent so that your child (especially babies, who often recognize their parents by scent rather than sight) can feel a connection to you.
Conclusion
Remember, separation anxiety is normal and even healthy. It shows your child loves you and feels secure and happy with you.
Separation anxiety is also temporary. The more you and your child practice, the easier drop-off will get. Your child will eventually learn that you do return, and you will eventually grow accustomed to temporary separation.
At Children’s Academy Childcare, our teachers are skilled at helping children gain confidence and independence in their classrooms. They will help your child become comfortable in their new environment, ready to grow and reach new milestones.