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Behaviour/development

Toddler going 'wild' when picked up from pre-school

9 replies

FarawayWe · 24/01/2008 21:24

Hi, I'm puzzled by my 2.5 year-old's behaviour and I'm hoping someone can shed some light on the situation.

We are in Belgium where children start kindergarten at 2.5. My daughter has been going to kindy for 3 weeks now.

When I pick her up at 5pm (there is daycare within the school so she hangs out with other kids until parents turn up), she is reluctant to leave and it takes a few minutes to persuade her that it's time to go.

And once out of the daycare room, she becomes almost hyperactive, running and shouting and generally carrying on.

It continues at home, to the point where she sometimes falls over and bangs some part of her body on the floor/table/whatever.

She's not particularly hungry or thirsty. She sometimes asks in the morning if she doesn't have to go to school but she doesn't seem to mind going, and she enjoys it there and isn't in a hurry to leave...

Any clues? What is this crazy behaviour about? We always have a lot of time for her in the evenings and in the mornings.

Help appreciated!

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Rowlers · 24/01/2008 21:26

It sounds like she is absolutely knackered.
Classic behaviour from a child who is overtired.
It's a long day.

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cornsilk · 24/01/2008 21:27

Sounds like she needs to wind down and let off steam - mine did this as well, don't worry.

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Desiderata · 24/01/2008 21:28

She instinctively knows that she has to be 'good' at kindergarten. This is extremely tiring for a very young child, who ought to be throwing tantrums every ten seconds.

She's just venting when she gets home. Come on, you can't seriously expect a tiny child to be on her best behaviour all day long

It's just normal .. and she's probably six months too young for it.

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bodiddly · 24/01/2008 21:32

Sounds like my ds ... pure exhaustion .. leads to tantrums and general misbehaviour. Difficult to deal with when it isn't really his fault.

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Desiderata · 24/01/2008 21:38

You know, everybody's an arse when they're tired.

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Surfermum · 24/01/2008 21:39

I agree - sounds like tiredness. DD gets hyper when she's past tired.

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Countingthegreyhairs · 25/01/2008 16:26

Mine used to do the same Faraway and still does on occasion. Agree with others it sounds like tiredness. Can you (or someone else) pick her up at 3.30pm? Does she still have a nap?

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FarawayWe · 25/01/2008 16:51

Hello all. Yes, she has a nap in the afternoon. They put a little stamp in the book when she's slept and most days, she does.

The weird thing about the tiredness is that it doesn't seem to lead to sleepiness? She still goes to bed at 8pm, same as she did before starting kindy and has the same routine for bed. And wakes up at 7am, just about perfect for getting ready for school.

In the weekends she doesn't want an afternoon nap anymore, but will then fall asleep at 4 or 5pm if we are in the car at that time.

I try to let her rest when we get home after 5pm but she's more interested in doing something (in addition to the screaming) like colouring or looking at her books or having a biscuit.

I don't mind that she's not her "best behaviour", I just want to reduce her stress if at all possible. I guess it's just a question of waiting till she settles into the new routine. It's only been 3 weeks, after all.

Thanks for all your comments. It must be the tiredness.

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Countingthegreyhairs · 25/01/2008 17:19

It all depends on the individual child, but my dd speeded up/got more boisterous/louder when she was tired. If I missed her natural "dipping point" in the evening she would go bananas and be more difficult to settle.

You could try putting her to bed half-an-hour or an hour earlier and see if that makes any difference because some dc wake up at the same time every morning no matter what time they go to bed (if that makes sense). Falling asleep in the car can be a sign of tiredness in some children.

Other than that, it could be that she's just "decompressing" after being around others all day and it's a healthy sign that she feels able to do that at home. Very stressful for us mothers though!

Your post struck a chord because I'm in Belgium too and dd was like this when she first started nursery. I found it stressful because it was all a bit "get up and go" and tense first thing in the morning, and then she "decompressed" in the evening and I felt as though we were always seeing one another at our worst ifyswim. It does get easier as they get older although I think the system here is quite old-fashioned and conformist (not all bad by any means!) and they definitely have to behave well at school so dd does still tend to let it "all hang out" when she gets home despite loving school while she is there....!!!

Good luck with it!

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