Seeking a preschool for my 3yo son with loving, patient and nurturing teachers who have a proven track record with caring for 3yo boys and potty training. I prefer the daycare/school to be located near the Navy Yard, Capitol Hill, Alexandria, Kingstowne, Arlington. |
https://aucpva.org/ this is a community school so a very nurturing atmosphere and they don't expect toilet training. They'll support you and you child to help them be ready, but will never pressure.
Our daughter went there and didn't potty train until almost 4 and it made it such a gentle experience |
Thank you for the recommendation!
Adding more details for clarity. Seeking full day care, 7:15am-5:00pm |
Hi OP when does your 3 year old turn 3? Why can't you potty train by then? You'll be very limited to daycares pretty much exclusively. If you can train there will be a load of options. Is he ready? |
You need a daycare OP not a preschool. I know this will start a debate on the difference but when you say preschool most people assume half day program 2-3 days a week.
All daycare centers will take non potty trained kids. They’ll work on it with you. |
I think OP’s concern was wanting him to be allowed into the preschool class at a daycare. My daycare takes non potty trained kids of course, but they’re usually in the 2s room (even if they’re over 3) until they potty train at least mostly. Then they move to the preschool room. |
Most will not take a child not potty trained as the 3 year old classrooms don't have a changing table set up and county rules. Ours didn't PT till almost four but there are a lot of special needs involved. We had to force PT as no center would take them. You might ask to hold her back into the 2 room until she can PT. |
And, you need to PT your child, not the preschool. |
What? That’s not a preschool. |
That's 10 hours and way too long for a 3 yr. old. |
Look for a Montessori school (an accredited one). They support toilet learning rather than training |
Agudas Achim Preschool in Alexandria is amazing and doesn’t expect potty training. Hours may not work for you (8-5, 8-4 on Fridays; no summer care but most go to a couple options close by). But it’s a beautiful and inclusive program that really meets each child where they are at. You do not need to be Jewish to attend (many/most are not). |
Our daycare center requires kids entering the 4s classrooms be potty trained, but there were always a number of kids in the 3s classes who were still working on it. Our daycare is not in the area you are looking but keep checking- I'd be surprised if this is a common requirement for 3yos. |
Where do you think the child should go the rest of the time the parents are at work? |
Lol a bunch of SAHMs and people with nannies yelling at a working parent for needing full time childcare and wanting one that is developmentally appropriate for her son's age and specific needs. DCUM gonna DCUM.
Finding a preschool/daycare that actually supports potty training is essential. Some places will not support training or will even do things that undermine the training you do at home on long weekends or over holidays. The biggest one being the places that insist on pull ups so they don't have to clean up accidents, but of course if you put a kid who is still training in pull ups they will just regress. It's so counterproductive because the attitude is that you can't ditch pull-ups until the child is potty trained, but then most kids can't potty train while wearing pull ups. They basically want you to pull your kid out for two weeks, take a leave of absence from work, and do it yourself, and that's not realistic. If a kid is in full-time childcare, they are going to have to participate in the process of training unless you luck out and get a kid who truly does train fully via a 2-day bootcamp method (which of course does happy, I had one like that, but IME it's the exception more than the rule). My second took almost 8 months from starting Oh Crap method at home to finally going a full week without an accident. So yeah the school had to be involved. |