creches - do you always say goodbye to dc??

[chocolic]

I left my ds (20mths) in a creche at a sports centre recently. When we arrived one of the staff just sort of took him off and he seemed happy and engaged.

I thought that by saying good bye I might just be drawing attention to the fact I was going and disturbing him. So I slipped away. Though when I got back just over an hour later he was upset and apparently had been asking for mummy.

So maybe I should have explained to him that I was going -obviously with an older child I would have done - what do others do??

Yes I always say goodbye so they know you have gone but will be back

I always say bye so she knows I'm gone.

Yes always say bye so they trust you, otherwise they might become very clingy generally and wonder if you are going to disappear at any given moment!

i dont always (im too soft) but i think it is better to explain to them what you are doing. because even if they cry, they will cry for a few minutes after you left, to make you understand theyd rather be with you as opposed to sobbing mummy mummy until you get back, walking round the creche aimlessly

No, you should always say goodbye - even if they get upset it's better for them to know and understand you've gone than to suddenly find out that they've been abandoned without a word.

ALWAYS say goodbye! Its really important they know you have gone and are coming back whatever age! Don't just sneak out. They will look for you, panic and then freak out! A bit like we do as parents when we scan the park and can't see our dcs for a few seconds.

I was room leader in an under 2's room and would always make sure parents said goodbye properly even if their dcs cried when separating. If any parents sneaked away after I'd told them to say goodbye, they got a little telling off from me when they came back!

Tbh the staff should take your child and lead them to an activity/breakfast/cuddle and story and then encourage them to say goodbye or you could settle them in an activity and then a staff member takes over and you say goodbye. This seems to work best imo.

Hope this helps.

If you don't say goodbye, then they will get twitchy when you're with them as they think you could disappear at any moment with no notice.

oh ok thanks I thought I'd made a mistake!
I just thought perhaps I was being a bit needy drawing attention to myself.
But yeah - poor thing would have wondered where I'd gone to once he wanted me. :(