My DS who just turned 3 and has 'graduated' over to a different building at his daycare/pre-school. He was so excited about it in the beginning - knowing that he was going to be hanging out with some of his old buddies that were in his classroom not even a month ago. The time came - he showed everyone that he could go potty when he needed to - was wearing undies - no accidents, etc., and since he's been 'transitioning' over to the 3 year old/pre-school building, he wants to go to his old building (the little building is what we call it) in the morning. Apparently, some of the other children his age that are transitioning along with him feel the same way.

When I picked him up yesterday, he was holding his soccer ball, sitting in a chair in the middle of the room watching the other kids play. It. broke. my. heart. :( He started crying as soon as he saw me which has been the case since he's been transitioning. I told him that new things are good, that he's still with his old buddies, etc., He says that he likes it. He's been learning a ton and sharing it with us at home. The director says that this is all normal, and I believe her, I just thought that the transition would go a bit smoother since he's basically hanging out with the same kiddos.

Are there certain signs I should be looking for to know it isn't normal and that the transition is not going well?? He's eating the same. Sleeping the same. Playing the same. He doesn't really talk about this day like he used to (the kids that he played with, what he had for lunch, etc.,), but he'll share new songs that he learned that day or a new letter that he learned, etc.,

In the "little building", he was a big fish in a little pond and now the roles have been reversed. We know that in time he'll go back to being a big fish again, but I think it's a bit of shock to him now that he's not, right away.....

Has your LO been through this? What things worked for them?

I think time will help it.

The other thing that you might want to do is to simply acknowledge that he misses his old place and that being in a new place with new kids is hard. I think sometimes we try too hard to 'fix' things that we don't give kids the chance to MISS the old things.

It's also probably true that it's more stressful for him to be with a lot of new kids, so that his reserves are probably really spent when you pick him up. I'd limit the number of things you do outside of daycare for a few weeks and focus on connecting/snuggling at home.

My DS who just turned 3 and has 'graduated' over to a different building at his daycare/pre-school. He was so excited about it in the beginning - knowing that he was going to be hanging out with some of his old buddies that were in his classroom not even a month ago. The time came - he showed everyone that he could go potty when he needed to - was wearing undies - no accidents, etc., and since he's been 'transitioning' over to the 3 year old/pre-school building, he wants to go to his old building (the little building is what we call it) in the morning. Apparently, some of the other children his age that are transitioning along with him feel the same way.

When I picked him up yesterday, he was holding his soccer ball, sitting in a chair in the middle of the room watching the other kids play. It. broke. my. heart. :( He started crying as soon as he saw me which has been the case since he's been transitioning. I told him that new things are good, that he's still with his old buddies, etc., He says that he likes it. He's been learning a ton and sharing it with us at home. The director says that this is all normal, and I believe her, I just thought that the transition would go a bit smoother since he's basically hanging out with the same kiddos.

Are there certain signs I should be looking for to know it isn't normal and that the transition is not going well?? He's eating the same. Sleeping the same. Playing the same. He doesn't really talk about this day like he used to (the kids that he played with, what he had for lunch, etc.,), but he'll share new songs that he learned that day or a new letter that he learned, etc.,

In the "little building", he was a big fish in a little pond and now the roles have been reversed. We know that in time he'll go back to being a big fish again, but I think it's a bit of shock to him now that he's not, right away.....

Has your LO been through this? What things worked for them?

I could have written the bolded parts, we went thru the same things expect the crying was in the morning.

My DS was totally the big fish in the toddler room. To make matters worse/more difficult, he was the youngest in the preschool room but a considerable amount.

He looked so little compared to the other kids and I repeatedly asked the director if moving him was a good idea. She assured me he was ready and his behavior was totally normal.

One day, it was like someone flipped a switch - the crying stopped and he was so excited to be in pre-school.

I think it took about two weeks for him to transition.

I could have written the bolded parts, we went thru the same things expect the crying was in the morning.

My DS was totally the big fish in the toddler room. To make matters worse/more difficult, he was the youngest in the preschool room but a considerable amount.

He looked so little compared to the other kids and I repeatedly asked the director if moving him was a good idea. She assured me he was ready and his behavior was totally normal.

One day, it was like someone flipped a switch - the crying stopped and he was so excited to be in pre-school.

I think it took about two weeks for him to transition.
:yeah: except that it is taking longer than two weeks. So far it has been a month -- he started having easy morning drop-offs a couple of weeks ago, but still has a ways to go before he reaches the same level of comfort he had in the toddler room. (E.g. he isn't much of a talker and took a while to start talking in the toddler room, now we are going through that again.)

:hug I agree with the pp that talking to him about how he misses the old place is a good idea. DS and I talk about that sometimes and I think it helps him to have his feelings acknowledged and taken seriously.