preschool issues

[natty529]

ds, who will be three at the end of this month has been attending a great reggio school since mid Jan T/Th  for a total of 7 hours a week. after the initial adjustment period of a couple weeks, he loved it, had great things to say about it and happily went to school. Recently, this has changed, :( . when i drop him off now, he is reluctant and when i pick him up, he cries :( His teacher says he cries on and off but will participate in activities, and has also been only picking at his lunch.

I have asked the teacher if there have been any issues or anythinng with other children and she said no, I asked ds and he said the same. There has been a fair amount going on in our little family and i am pretty sure that is where this new anxiety is coming from. ds recently had oral surgery, his first hair cut and I nightweaned him per dr jay gordon's plan, and he hasn't quite adjusted yet. he will still wake in the middle of the night sometimes ask for milk and is very difficult to settle down when I say no! other nights he doesn't wake until the "right" time. AND dh is out of town until the middle of the month!

I am sure that all of these events have created the issue at school. ds says that he doesn't want to go to school, that school is closed , that i don't need to pack his lunch box...

I am not sure how to handle this, part of me thinks this too shall pass, that maybe i should keep sending him to help him feel secure at school again. the other part think maybe i ought to pull him out until he is better acclimated to everything an things have settled down.

i am struggling to figure this all out

any advice/suggestions/ ideas are welcomed

thanks

[JudiAU]

Any chance it is actually too little school? 7 hours a week isn't very much, just enough to feel like going to school is out of the ordinary.

[natty529]

it is a possible, I have thought about about increasing his hours... but it is so heartbreaking to see him having trouble. I just don't want to make things worse

[ElliesMomma]

if you're sure that all of the aforementioned events have created the problem at school... why are you considering pulling him out of school? is there a specific reason why you had to nightwean him? particularly in conjunction with oral surgery? (perhaps they were related??) i can't really relate to trauma over a first haircut, but i guess it can be for some kids. 

but unless there is a strong reason for the nightweaning, *if it were me,* i would probably let him have that again for awhile and see if that resolves his problems at preschool.

[natty529]

well, the reasons i wanted to nightwean him began almost a year ago because i was having severe back pain due to his night time acrobatics that lingered for most of the day. then, the issues with his teeth... soft enamel making him more susceptible to cavities. I don't think that breastmilk contributes to cavities for most children, maybe not even for my son, but after everything we have gone through regarding  his teeth, i don't want to take any chances. Additionally, he is days away from being three and i want/ need some space at least part of the time. The process of night weaning him was NOT EASY at all, and though he did much better this time than when i tried it 9 months ago, i do not want to have to go through it again