3 Year Old Still Cries at Drop-off

It is very common at this age to still cry at drop off. I work in a facility and see this every day. This will stop. All kids are different. I have one little boy in my class that is 3 and he is not just starting to stop crying and he's been in the Preschool class since September. This little boy is done crying before dad reaches the parking lot. Hang in there as he will stop. Has he transitioned since being at the daycare. For example, was he in a toddler room and is now in a preschool room. This is very hard on a child when they have to leave one room and go to another room. Sometimes, a child is fine and when they move to a different room it's like being new all over again. It will get better.

With him being 3 I would ask him why he is upset or crying. It could be someone's approach to taking care of him that he doesn't like or another child may be getting the best of him, who knows. I would definately ask him though.

Could you have dad do the drop off a few times just to see if that changes things? Also, do you feed him in the morning? After Christmas break, my daughter cried during drop off for a few days, it was just getting used to going there again. one thing we tried was not feeding her till she gets there (it's not as mean as it sounds, our daycare provider makes them breakfast so she eats at 7:30, but we had gotten into the habit of giving her some fruit in the morning to keep her busy while we were getting ready), and then she would run to our provider with her arms up, wanting to get put into her booster seat. She wasn't starving, but hungry enough to distract her from making a fuss when i left. good luck!

Hi C.
My son cried when I dropped him off also. We ended up switching daycares when I switched jobs and he nver cried when I droped him off there, Sometimes a caregiver and child just do not fit well together neither is doing anything wrong it is just a personality conflict. So what I am trying to say is listen to your motherly instict it is always right. if you feel something is off then change daycare. Good Luck T.

This is just another one of the stages most kids go through. I wouldn't worry about it, he'll stop before you know it.

we go through spurts of this, my almost 3 year old does the same thing...

on our ride over there we go over how I will miss him throughout the day and how once I am done working I will pick him up right away, then I tell him that we can both have a great day if we say have a good day to each other and give each other a kiss...

sometimes I think it is just spurts, but when he has been reassured a few times, drop offs get easier.