If your 3yo was crying and kicking and screaming because they didn't want to go to pre-school...

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Would you still send him/her?

DS (turned 3 last week) normally goes to preschool fine, but for the past few times he has been a bit clingy and been crying when he has gone in. I've had to leave him there and he has apparently been fine after a while.

I have no idea why this is - he won't give me any clues as to why. When I took him yesterday, he went to the toilet before class and he wouldn't get off the toilet and kept telling me he needed a poo. I said he needed to hurry up or we would be late for class and he was just clinging on to the seat. When I tried to lift him off he got hysterical to the point that he started being sick.

I couldn't obviously stay there all day so I said that he either had to go into school or go home, and he said he wanted to go home. He was still beside himself and was clinging onto me, so we ended up going home.

I'm pretty sure he wasn't actually needing a poo/ ill in any way. But I honestly thought he was too young for these sort of tactics. I found myself feeling really cross with him all day yesterday for trying to pull a fast one on me !

I feel like I have done the wrong thing in allowing him to come home, but I just couldn't have left him there when he was in such a state.

I haven't had a chance to speak to anyone at the pre-school, and it is his last day for the year on Friday, which is the next time he is due to go. Next year he will be in a different class so is it worth speaking to the current teachers?

Any advice welcome, thanks

Goodness, you should speak to the pre-school leader about this. Something may have happened at pre-school that maybe they didn't think important enough to tell you about, but it could be important to a 3 year old (like a "simple" telling off) And try speaking to your child about it again when he is at home & relaxed.
The way you describe his behaviour - clinging to the toilet & then clinging to you - sounds like he was very distressed, maybe scared of something.
I would have taken him home too, he is only 3.
Good luck x

If this is sudden out of the blue behaviour, I'd assume something has happened to upset him. It could be something that seemed inconsequential at the time.

Talk to his keyworker, try and identify if anything out of the ordinary has happened. Nothing involving a toilet at all? No constipation or accidents?

Yes to taking him home. He's telling you something's wrong. You just have to find out what it is or help him through it.

Thank you

I will give the school a call and have a word with them.

I think it might have something to do with having met the new teachers...