Helping Your Toddler with Separation Anxiety
Dreading leaving your toddler with the babysitter or at daycare and want to prepare him? Here's your 12-Step Program.
The crumpled face, the arms velcro-locked around your knees, the
wail that rips through your heart. Virtually every parent who has
left a toddler with a caregiver has experienced this.
It's the
normal response of a securely attached toddler who protests what she
perceives as a life-threatening separation from her mother. Your
toddler will learn, over time, that you do return when you leave, but
she is not yet capable of understanding this fully.
The best
arrangement, if you can swing it, is for your toddler to spend most of
her time with a parent or other “permanent” person, who can
tend mostly to her needs. By definition, caregivers are not a permanent
part of your child's life, and the turnover of daycare workers is
constant. It’s true that it’s good for your toddler to
interact with other kids, but she can do that in a playgroup situation,
with you there.
Unfortunately, many of us have no choice
except to have our toddlers spend time in childcare. If you have
the option, arrange for your toddler to go to "school" in the morning
for three hours, rather than all day.
Research shows that
toddlers who are in childcare all day end up with high levels of stress
hormones by the afternoon, compared to toddlers who spend the
afternoons at home. A full day is hard on little ones. They cope best
with any stress (and childcare is a stressor) when they’re
rested. Then you can pick him up and hopefully get some work done while
he naps.
My own view is that toddlers need to be with their
parents as much as possible, because it is hard for them to have their
needs adequately met by a caregiver who is trying to take care of other
children. But if you’re confident about the caregiver or daycare
center, you can help your toddler get through this difficult stage and
have a good group experience.
Here’s a twelve step program to smooth the process.
1. Facilitate your toddler’s bonding with the caregiver.
Toddlers don't "get used to" doing without you. They begin to feel safe with someone else. The only way to help your toddler over her upset when you leave is for
her to develop a great relationship with her caregiver.
She will still
protest your leaving, but the caregiver should be able to comfort her.
Her protest should be brief. If she keeps crying for fifteen minutes,
it means she isn’t willing to accept comfort from this new
person.
How do you facilitate a great relationship?
First, by letting her have good experiences with her caregiver in your
presence. Second, by relating warmly to the caregiver yourself, in your
toddler’s presence. Third, by putting up a photo of the caregiver
holding your toddler on your refrigerator, and speaking warmly to it
often. (“Helen, you won’t believe it when my daughter shows you that she knows how to wash her hands all by herself!”) Fourth, by speaking with enthusiasm to your child about the caregiver.
2. Help him get comfortable in this new situation. Invest
in making this experience work for your toddler by spending a few
mornings, or parts of mornings, at the caregiver’s. Facilitate
your toddler’s bonding with the other kids, and especially with
the caregiver. The minute he gets engaged in something, try to take a
back seat, nearby but not engaged.
3. Start with short separations.
After he feels comfortable with this new situation, and has developed
more of a relationship with the caregiver, practice leaving him for a
short time — start by saying goodbye, leaving, and then returning
as soon as he stops crying.
If you start with short absences,
your toddler will learn more quickly that you always return, and can
gradually get used to the separations as you gradually extend your
absences. But don’t give in to the temptation to
return while he is still crying, or he’ll think crying can bring
you back, and it will be hard for him to give up that strategy!
4. Develop a parting routine.
For instance, always read her a quick story, then hug her and tell her
you love her and when you’ll be back, then put her in her
caregiver’s arms, then say your standard parting phrase (“I love you, you love me, have a great day and I’ll pick you up at three!”).
Stick to your routine every day and resist the urge to either extend it
or cut it short. It will help your toddler to know exactly what to
expect.
5. Leave her with a comfort object.
If you can give her something of yours, such as a scarf, she may be
able to comfort herself with it, although don’t be surprised if
she throws it on the floor as you leave. Many people suggest giving
your child a lovey, and of course these are helpful, but no securely
attached toddler will find it more than small comfort in the absence of
a parent.
6. Help your toddler to understand what’s happening.
His language may be limited, but he still understands a great
deal. It will help him to cope if you reassure him by explaining
what will happen. Don’t stop with the separation, keep going to
describe the fun he will have:
“First I will read
you a story. Then we will find Helen and she will hold you. I will say
‘See you later Alligator!’ Then I will leave to go to work,
and I will wave goodbye and you and Helen and your lovey will wave from
the window. Then you and Helen will dance to the music you like. You
might be sad, but the music and dancing will make you feel better. Then
all the kids will have snack. You will play outside, and you will play
with the playdoh, and then you will have lunch, and then I will be back
right after lunch to pick you up. Mommy always comes back.”
7. Don’t give in to the temptation to sneak out. It will make her separation anxiety worse in the long run. When she bursts into tears, say calmly “I
know you don’t want me to leave, but I will be back right after
lunch. I will wave goodbye from outside. Helen will take you to the
window to wave.” Then leave. Resist the urge to run back and
grab your crying child. It may take her weeks to start waving to you,
but you should always wave to her. Hide your own distress and signal
that things are fine by being matter of fact.
8. Discuss in advance with the caregiver what she can do to comfort and distract your toddler.
Some toddlers are calmed by running water, or by always visiting the
window to watch the birds at the feeder, or by dancing in the
caregiver’s arms to particular music. One boy I knew was always
distracted by a particular video of earth moving equipment; his mom
could say goodbye, settle him in front of the video with his lovey, and
leave. When the video ended half an hour later, he joined the other
kids without a fuss. Maybe there is a specific toy that your daughter
loves (even one that you bring from home but she only plays with at her
caregiver’s.)
You want to make sure that the caregiver
will keep trying until she finds something that distracts your toddler,
and that she will hold your toddler until he is calm and whenever he
needs to be held while you are gone. And if she can get the other kids
started on a fun activity that your toddler can’t wait to join (“Look at the playdoh!”), it might really shorten the hysterics.
9. Don’t be late to pick your toddler up.
If she finishes lunch and you aren’t there yet as promised, it
will make things harder in the future, and you will be setting up a
long-term feeling that you don’t always follow through on your
promises, which is no basis for a bond with your child.
10. Help your toddler learn that people return; that what disappears isn't gone forever but can reappear. Play games like Peek a Boo, or hiding and finding a loved object (“Is
your lovey under the bed? No, it isn’t under the bed. Is your
lovey behind the shower curtain? YES, there’s your lovey!”), or Hide and Go Seek (and of course hide in a place where he can easily find you!)
Read books about separation and return, like Kathi Appelt’s Oh My Baby Little One (which is a fabulous book about leaving your baby at daycare, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn (a wonderful book about a raccoon who wants to stay home with mom instead of going to school), Karma Wilson's Mama Always Comes Home, and P.D. Eastman’s classic Are You My Mother?
11. Create a “Lots of People Love Me” book.
Put together a small child-sized photo album with people your toddler
loves holding her: you, her other parent, her grandparents, her
caregiver, aunts and uncles. Add cousins and friends. Read the book
often. Let her get used to her caregiver reading it to her in your
presence. Many children are comforted by reading such a book when they
miss their parents.
12. Give your toddler lots of love and attention when you are with him.
You may need a hot bath and a cup of tea at the end of the day, but
your toddler has a pent up need for you. Of course he’s
demanding. He’s stressed, and he needs your calm, loving presence
to unwind and relax. Make the simplest dinner you can, keep
things calm, avoid power struggles, and look for opportunities to
connect.
Your toddler will eventually outgrow his separation
anxiety. This twelve step program will make the process faster
and easier for your toddler – and for you!
