2.3yr old DS doesn't like daycare anymore.

There's no reason for it.
He is one of the favorites of the whole centre and has never had a problem with going.

My mum usually drops him off when she goes to work, but on wednesday he wouldnt go just kept saying i want to stay here. He did the same thing this morning so I waited until his cousin was going and took him then.
He was ok when I left the room. But I looked in the window and he couldnt see me but I could see his face drop and he was just looking around like he didn't know what to do. Then he started balling his eyes out.

He has been in care since he was 6months full time due to me needing to return to work financially. Then when I stopped working in aug last year I cut him down to 2 days a week and now he doesn't want to go at all.

I dont know if its the pregnant hormones but now I am sitting here crying bcos I left him there.

Have you asked the teachers? Did something happen to him? Did a child bully him?

I have asked they said nothing has happened.
There were no kids there From his room during the week between Christmas and new years.

When mum arrived to collect him he was sitting at a table with an older boy playing and apparently had been playing with him all day.

I don't know if this has anything to do with it either but they said he wakes from his day nap after about 30 minutes and is usually distressed. He doesn't do this at home.

Poor little man, i just want to give him a cuddle :(

Try taking him to a natropath or even a health food shop and see if you can get anything for anxiety.

Are you stressed? Could it be rubbing off on him?

Kids do go abit funny when their mum is pregnant though.... maybe he just misses you? Hes growing up now and realising more and more of the real world out there and all he wants is his mum by the sounds of it.

My Dd who was just three went from the perfect angel when getting dropped at day care to exactly what your son is doing. The careers said there was no other issues and generally through the day she was fined.

Once I had DS she was fine. I think they worry about their Mums and us being ok. Children have such a intuition that us adults don't seem to understand at times, they pick up on the tiniest things that we may not even realize are bothering us.

Maybe ask a carer when your mum arrives to come up and talk to your son and distract him with something to do to try and reduce the time which he has to think about being dropped off.

Thanks I never thought maybe it was because of the baby. It didn't even cross my mind.

It is the most horrible feeling when a child who loved DC becomes distressed at drop off time.

DD1 started hating DC drop off when I was about 24 weeks pregnant and it would break my heart every time. DD1 went on Wed & Fri but I had changed her to a one off Monday when I was booked for 41weeks monitering, I had DD2 very early on a Sunday morning the day before and I was home that afternoon. I took DD1 to DC the next day and she was prefectly fine. Back to her usual happy, quick kiss and a wave while she runs off to find something to play with. I think she new there was a big change coming but not sure what. When she could see DD2 I think she understood and was then fine.

Sorry for the long winded story but it might be similar for you. I hope that he settles again soon for you.

Does he need to go if your aren't working? Have you read the book raising boys? It talks about boys and their emotional changes in that period from 2-3 yrs. it's a great read

I wonder if it is his age and increased awareness of his needs... perhaps it's even just a temporary need to be with mummy full time for a bit and fill his cup. Are you trying to hold his spot for when the baby comes? Will the centre allow you take him on leave and pay no fees for a few weeks?

Otherwise has the centre changed at all? New menu? New staff? New routine? New settling techniques/discontinued use of comfort items?

I was going to ask if you were pregnant because the same thing happened with DS when I was pg. It was awful :( He would scream and cry at drop off time, and me being hormonal would leave everytime in tears as well. It went on for quite a few weeks. He just kept saying he didn't want to go anymore. I started to sit with him and read a story to him and have a big snuggle before I left, and then one day he just stopped crying and was happy to say goodbye again. Somedays I could barely get a kiss goodbye before he ran off with his friends.
I put it down to me being pregnant, and although he didn't seem worried about that, I guess it was a big change and he need to have some control over something in his life?.

Funnily enough, we withdrew DS from creche the week before Christmas, because I am at home fulltime, and DH is on holidays, and then DS starts kindergarten - he now says he misses creche so much and when can he go back :)

My DS didn't like going to day care on a couple of occasions. The first being he had become board in the age group/room he was in, he wanted to be with the older kids. The other occasion was when I was home caring for DS2. So it might just be a stage he is going through.

My dd1 did this when I was pregnant too. It passed as soon as dd2 was born. I think they get anxious not fully undstanding what it means for them.

Also dd2 is going through a similar thing now. I'm not pregnant but she is 2. She cries and doesn't want to go but is fine once she is there and I have left. I think it is her age and developmental stage. It doesn't make it feel better though.

We've been having very similar issues for the last 6 or 8 weeks (my DS is 2.5 years). He went from being a happy little man who never cried, to getting upset at drop off and at different times throughout the day. The carers keep telling me it is because I'm pregnant, they've got 7 in the room at the moment whose mums are pregnant and they say they're all like that at the moment. I've found it comes in waves, he's had some good days and some bad days.

Mind you he has just moved up to a new room and loves the room leader in there and seems to be a lot happier there, so I'm hoping maybe we're coming out the other end of it. But going on the last few weeks we could be right back there come next week.

I'm not pregnant, but my DD just went through a similar stage as your DS. Broke my heart, but after talking to the carers etc we realised that it was actually a little bit of a manipulation thing (if that makes sense). She would always be fine within 2 minutes of me walking out. So it was basically a stage that she went through and now she is back to normal.

I found what helped us get through it was distracting her with another activity on arrival at DC. She used to help me put my lipstick on or spray my perfume on me. This is what seemed to help bring her back around.

Good luck!

Janie xxx

My DS1 also went through this stage & he had also been at day-care from being 7 months. He was well liked/loved & had many friends. For the 3 days he went every morning he would tell me that he didn't want to go & get upset, he would cry as DH dropped him off & within 5 mins of DH leaving he was off playing. His carers would call DH to let him know all was fine. Now if I dropped him off there would be horrendous crying, clinging & again would be fine. When we asked if he had a good time he would say 'no' but his carers would show us photos of him playing & laughing. I was pregnant at this time with DS2, but I also remember a similar stage when he was 18 months & I wasn't pregnant. I think they just become more aware, there brain develops & they take time to adjust again.

It's hard seeing them so distressed we also kept asking if something had happened. At this age they were also trying to get them to sit on the potty more as a group (DS had 3 close friends that did everything together), whereas at home I didn't push it. I soon realised that it was sending mixed messages & encouraged him at home too within 4 weeks he was toilet trained.

Huge hugs x