The Crying Spot

[SunshineMama]

Where is your crying spot? At what age is appropriate to start using one? How do you introduce it?

Been posting a lot these past few days since I got a new dcg, so thanks in advance!

[itlw8]

depends is your crying spot where they go until YOU say they have calmed down and can get up??? so just a different name for time out.. 3 and up



or is it a place they can choose to go to calm down and can leave when they want to. Then you can introduce a soft quiet spot for that as soon as they can walk..... it is there choice to go there and things are there to help them get it together and away from the group.

[Lefse&Kids]

Currently, its our couch. But I'm getting "fit" spots to put on each level. I want them to be blue and the size of a square yard, but I don't know what kind of material to use. Do they sell rubber mats like that, kind of like an anti-fatigue mat? I'll have to research.

[SunshineMama]

I have a rug on the floor with toys. When there is unnecessary crying (obviously if they are hurt, etc, that's different), I put them on the rug, and say, "you may cry here as long as you need to, and when you are all done you may get up." I have a separate place for time outs.

I'm just wondering what others do, and if I can improve.

[preschoolteacher]

I have a rug on the floor with toys. When there is unnecessary crying (obviously if they are hurt, etc, that's different), I put them on the rug, and say, "you may cry here as long as you need to, and when you are all done you may get up." I have a separate place for time outs.

I'm just wondering what others do, and if I can improve.

This sounds a lot like a time-out to me--since you put the child there and he/she did not go willingly. It's just time-out by a different name!

Could you make your crying spot a little softer and cozier? Maybe a beanbag chair and a couple throw pillows? You could have a basket with books to look through. Maybe with the books, you could add a family photo book that each child submits a few photos to. That way, they could sit down and look through pictures of their family, which might calm them or make them feel secure again.

When you start it out, you could go to the crying spot with the child, if only for a few minutes. If you sit there with them on your lap or next to you, page through a book, take a couple deep breaths, you are modeling to them how to use the crying corner. If they don't have knowledge of how to use it to calm down, it won't be very helpful for them. I think an important part of the idea of the crying corner is that it is a choice for the child, not a command.

[SunshineMama]

This sounds a lot like a time-out to me--since you put the child there and he/she did not go willingly. It's just time-out by a different name!

Could you make your crying spot a little softer and cozier? Maybe a beanbag chair and a couple throw pillows? You could have a basket with books to look through. Maybe with the books, you could add a family photo book that each child submits a few photos to. That way, they could sit down and look through pictures of their family, which might calm them or make them feel secure again.

When you start it out, you could go to the crying spot with the child, if only for a few minutes. If you sit there with them on your lap or next to you, page through a book, take a couple deep breaths, you are modeling to them how to use the crying corner. If they don't have knowledge of how to use it to calm down, it won't be very helpful for them. I think an important part of the idea of the crying corner is that it is a choice for the child, not a command.

That sounds like a good suggestion, thank you!

[daycare]

I guess I really don't understand a crying spot too well..

If a child is crying because they are upset, I try to have them work it out by talking about it with me or by drawing a picture about it.

I have one girl who misses mommy a lot during the day and will just start crying. I talk with her about what she can do to feel better. Lets make mommy a card to let you know that you miss her. OR something like this....


I don't have kids under 2.

I do have a spot in my hallway if you are screaming when you are upset, but I prefer not to allow the children to scream when they are upset. You may be ______________, but you may not scream...

[SunshineMama]

I guess I really don't understand a crying spot too well..

If a child is crying because they are upset, I try to have them work it out by talking about it with me or by drawing a picture about it.

I have one girl who misses mommy a lot during the day and will just start crying. I talk with her about what she can do to feel better. Lets make mommy a card to let you know that you miss her. OR something like this....


I don't have kids under 2.

I do have a spot in my hallway if you are screaming when you are upset, but I prefer not to allow the children to scream when they are upset. You may be ______________, but you may not scream...

I definitely talk it out with the older kiddos, and I think the picture idea you stated is great, I will use that! My dcks over 18mos or so really don't have a need for a crying spot. I mainly use mine for younger children, who need a safe place to get their emotions out and cry, without disrupting the group. In the case of the new dcg, she has been following me around all day crying, despite having her needs met. Even after I give her hugs and reassurance, she cries the second I put her down. In that situation, the crying spot is a safety zone for her to release her emotions, (similar to an adult leaving a heated argument to collect themselves). She has access to toys, and is still in the room as everyone else, but she can learn that it's okay to cry an release her emotions, but she needs to do it in one particular spot (mainly for the sake of the other children). The child in the crying spot (or quiet spot, whatever you call it), may leave anytime they desire, as long as they are calm.

[melilley]

I have a hallway and close all the doors so that children can't go in the rooms unless I am with them and I have them sit at the end of it. I have one child who scream/cries when he doesn't get his way so when he does this for the upteenth time and we can't even have circle time, I tell him he can sit at the end of the hallway and calm down then he can come and join us. He is only almost 2 so I tell him he can go sit there and calm down but, I will stand at the other end of the hallway until he gets up and comes back to the other end. He actually knows what I am talking about when I tell him he can go to the other end of the hallway until he calms down and he will go sit down and cry until he feels he doesn't need to anymore and then gets up and joins us. This lasts approx. 30 and I believe that it gives him a chance to calm down, plus when you have a scream/crier who does it all the time, your ears and the other children's ears can only take so much!