Upset son

[Sugaree]

For the last week or so my 19 month old son has been having a tough time during the day.

He'd been out sick for most of last week. The first day back I thought it might have been because his dad dropped him off instead of me for the first time ever. He's a daddy's boy and I'm sure that daddy leaving him broke his little heart. He had a better day on Tuesday, but then yesterday, they said he cried for almost two straight hours and didn't touch his lunch. This morning he started crying and clinging to me as soon as we walked in the door to his classroom (he was fine until we got to that doorway). I don't think he's sick because he's been in really, really good moods in the afternoons.

In addition to all this, the center is undergoing construction. So he came back to school to find that his classroom has moved and combined with a group of slightly older kids. There are 17 toddlers with up to 6 teachers during the day. I also gather that there is some kind of drama going on between the teachers/administration/other teachers, but I don't know if the kids are picking up on that or not.

In your experience, is there anything I can do to help make his days easier?

[Play Care]

If it were JUST his age but everything else was the same (same teachers, same room, etc) I might think it's just a separation anxiety phase. Never a good time, but at least common
But the other things you've mentioned give me pause.
You shouldn't even be AWARE of any drama between staff members. That you are tells me someone is behaving so unprofessionally that it's spilling over to other areas. I'd have a hard time overlooking that as a parent.

Now, the construction alone could be causing an issue - more kids, less room, less toys, etc. BUT what are the teacher and admins doing to make this easy for the kids? Are they cheerful and positive and using the construction as maybe a teaching opportunity? Or are they stressed and annoyed and complaining about the inconvenience (perhaps even in front of the children?)

It could be he like the PM staff and not the AM staff (what is your feeling about who is in the room?)

I know you don't want to play musical caregivers, but I might be trying to pop in at random times to see if I could get a clearer picture of what's going on. Does your center allow parent volunteers? If that's an option I would suggest taking it. I think if you can consistently be there, you will get a better picture of what's going on. It's easy to fool someone briefly, much harder to do when they are there longer periods.

I hope you are able to figure it out and your little guy settles in. Best of luck!!

[Sugaree]

If it were JUST his age but everything else was the same (same teachers, same room, etc) I might think it's just a separation anxiety phase. Never a good time, but at least common
But the other things you've mentioned give me pause.
You shouldn't even be AWARE of any drama between staff members. That you are tells me someone is behaving so unprofessionally that it's spilling over to other areas. I'd have a hard time overlooking that as a parent.

Now, the construction alone could be causing an issue - more kids, less room, less toys, etc. BUT what are the teacher and admins doing to make this easy for the kids? Are they cheerful and positive and using the construction as maybe a teaching opportunity? Or are they stressed and annoyed and complaining about the inconvenience (perhaps even in front of the children?)

It could be he like the PM staff and not the AM staff (what is your feeling about who is in the room?)

I know you don't want to play musical caregivers, but I might be trying to pop in at random times to see if I could get a clearer picture of what's going on. Does your center allow parent volunteers? If that's an option I would suggest taking it. I think if you can consistently be there, you will get a better picture of what's going on. It's easy to fool someone briefly, much harder to do when they are there longer periods.

I hope you are able to figure it out and your little guy settles in. Best of luck!!

My gut tells me that he's picking up on the frustrations of his teachers. I had a meeting this morning that another mother was in and we briefly talked about it afterwards. She's noticed it too.

What I gather is that combining the "pre-toddlers" and toddlers didn't go well. There are just too many of them for the size of the room they are in. So his teachers (and maybe admin) want to send some of the younger kids to the infant room. And the infant room teachers are refusing to take them. I'm not really happy about that plan because at 19 months old my son is one of the youngest of the pre-toddlers. I don't know how he would do with a group of infants who are almost all < 8 months. Also, if the infant teachers are going to resent having to deal with extra kids then it could be bad too.