Baby & Toddler

Our 1 year old clings to her teacher and cries when I come for pickup

rose_moon_5722

By every report our daughter is happy at daycare all day. When I come to collect her, she grabs the teacher's dupatta and starts crying, and it takes a while before she will come to me. I don't take it personally, but after an incident shift it is a hard ten minutes for both of us. I am wondering whether the routine itself is the issue. At present I walk in, she sees me, and we leave fairly quickly. Has anyone changed the pickup routine, for example waiting at the door, a fixed goodbye with the teacher, or arriving at the same time each day, and noticed a difference? I would value what you actually observed more than what is supposed to work.

5 comments

    • cobalt_tiffin_5633

      Ours did it mostly on the days I was late and the room was already empty. Worth checking whether there's a pattern like that.

  • mellow_trail_4020

    mine used to do this too. i always read it as her being sad to leave a good day, not upset to see me. i didn't change much on my side, it just faded somewhere around two

    • coral_sandal_7416

      Faded on its own, or did something change around then? Two is a long time to wait if it's ten minutes every evening.

    • linen_bottle_7691

      Replying to @violet_sandal_1133

      Classic toddler logic 🤷‍♂️

  • bronze_gecko_7045

    Pickup was our worst time too. What helped a bit was me sitting on the floor in the room for two minutes before saying anything, so he came to me instead of being handed over. Not every day though, and I'm still not sure if it was that or him just getting older

  • orchid_moon_9007

    What does the teacher do when you arrive? If she hands the child over straight away, ask her to step back and let the child walk to you. Small change, but it's the one thing at pickup you can actually control.

    • velvet_chai_5186

      We tried the teacher stepping back idea last month. Mine then walked to the teacher's chair instead of me 😅 still better than the crying though

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