Meltdown mornings are my fave…yeah right! I’m 7 months preggo and my DD started preschool three days a week. For a couple of weeks now she’s been throwing a savage fit about everything – getting dressed, brushing her teeth, eating breakfast, you name it, she has something to scream about. Granted, I’m tired and sometimes cranky but I’ve tried to be extra gentle, played music, be wacky and it doesn’t help. What I can’t figure out is that her teacher says she seems to enjoy her time at preschool, so why is she having a meltdown every morning?
This happened to my son, who used to LOVE going to school, and out of nowhere started having meltdowns. Turned out he was being bullied – and it took him a while to open up to us and tell us exactly what was happening. The teachers didn't tell me anything before this and they knew, but they wanted to be hands-off. Pulled him out immediately. Talk to your daughter!
You could always role play different situations, like an easy morning where you (as your daughter) follow the rules without a hitch and also one where you go into a full meltdown to show her how different things could be. It might be useful too to continue the role playing but reverse roles so that she shows you what it's like once she arrives at school.
We had a really bad preschool experience where my child was being bullied constantly and the teachers weren't even aware of it. Just make sure there aren't any social issues that are making your kid dread going.
I had a couple of months of this. The meltdowns in the mornings were nuts and my son literally had to be pried off of me at school. He would run up to me crying at pickup. But he was totally fine all day long. Our preschool would allow visits where I could peek into the classroom without being seen by him. He was always happy and playing but seeing me would somehow trigger this awful meltdown. It lasted a month or two and now he's fine.
We used to go through something similar. In our case, I think it was just a power struggle. That said, it never hurts to setup a time to speak in more depth with the preschool teacher. She might have some insights on how your child is in the mornings specifically. She also may not be telling the whole truth so if there's other staff on hand, it would be good to talk to them too.
