Where Daycare Professionals and Ideas Come Together

Ask An ECE - Pre-School


For children aged about 2 and a half to 4, this is the place to ask about issues like potty training, early literacy, and early learning.

Hi. My daughter is 4 and she is fully potty trained during the day. I still put a pull-up on her at night because she does not show any signs of night training. I take her to the potty just before her bedtime, I wake her and take her again around 10pm, and again at 6am. She shows no sign of being able to 'feel' when it is time to pee. If she did not wear the pull-up, she would pee the bed atleast once in the night. Am I doing this right, or is there something that I am missing?

We do not have a lot of experience with night training unless we have children of our own at home. My daughter is 3.5 and we have the same situation. She is great all day, but out cold all night. Unless I wake her up to go, she doesn't wake up. Her doctor said sometimes nights just take longer. She suggested pull ups to avoid washing sheets every night. So we're going with that until she gets a little older. I'd appreciate any advice on this topic as well.

Any been there, done that parents out there???

My 4 year old son is having problems adjusting to his new daycare. He has been at the new daycare for almost 2 months now. He cries excessivley when he is dropped off. He will cry off and on for atleast a couple of hours sometimes. He will cry in the afternoon too periodically. This behaviour is only school specific. He does not have separation issues if my husband and I leave him with relatives. He has even spent the night at my parents house for a sleep over. It took him a very long time to adjust to his previous preschool as well further illustrating that this is a specific separation issue. Do you know of any strategies that will help him better cope with the daycare drop off transition; as well as strategies that teachers can use to help him better regulate his emotions. Perhaps coping techniques that will help him to reduce the length of his crying periods. His teachers indicate that distraction techniques work best for reducing the stress of the drop off in the mornings. He likes to help his teachers so asking him to help them with a task seems to work sometimes and also gives him a sense of accomplishment. Does anyone have an idea for a morning distraction technique - perhaps a job that he has to perform every morning? He also enjoys crafts. If anyone knows of any distraction strategies that might reduce the transition in the morning, please let me know. As well, I am looking for strategies or activities that will help him to learn how to better regulate his emotions. When he starts crying he does not seem to know how to stop and will cry for a long period of time. He is a very happy child and my husband and I spend lots of time playing with him (etc.). The issue is just school specific (separation anxiety I assume). He has indicated that he does have fun at school and does not report any problems - just that it is hard for him to get used to the new school and that he misses us - likes to be at home better than at school. Any suggestions or strategies would be greatly appreciated. Thx.

Your son's behaviours are typical for children starting new schools/daycares etc. It is hard for them at this age to adjust to an entirely new schedule, routine etc. If he can be distracted by helping teachers, I imagine the one to one time he spends with them helping is the draw in that situation. At our centre the children who are upset at drop off often migrate to the kitchen to "help" with AM snack prep. They get away from the overwhelming main daycare area. (Lots of kids and noise often makes the crying/separation anxiety worse). Is this possible at your son's centre or is this JK? Does the teacher have an AM routine of getting paints out or even sorting puzzle pieces? I know one child I met a few years back used to come in and go straight to her very important job of making sure the puzzles were all together in the puzzle cupboard. It gave her a sense of importance as well a set of defined expectations. She was very overwhelmed by the many children, the many parents, the noise and chaos of AM drop off.
Could he carry a picture of mom and dad in his pocket or back pack so if he had a lonely moment he could gather strength from thinking about you guys for a moment? Lots of our kids bring little albums (find them at the dollar store) with labeled pictures. The labels are important so a teacher can interact with the child and ask questions about who is in each picture etc. The child will be comforted that someone else "knows" his/her family and can talk about them too.

Any ideas for a sensory activity for a preschool program for the theme of Thanksgiving?

I would love to see the kids with a sensory bin filled with fluffy mashed potatoes! We have used Indian corn in our sensory bin in the past as well. The kids could practice rubbing out summer savoury for stuffing if your centre does a big thanksgiving dinner. We often paint with feathers around thanksgiving too. Our centre is rural so getting chicken or turkey feathers is quite easy.

Why aren't there many men teaching preschool?

We've covered this topic before. You can see Andrea's article here: http://www.askanece.com/general/men-in-child-care

I hope this answers any questions you have.