Reply to how long for kid to hold onto comfort item at daycare

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[quote=Anonymous]I taught 18m-2 year olds for almost 15 years. It sounds like he is doing great. Honestly, better than most who start for the first time at this age.

His teachers definitely know how to get this done, and it will be a gradual process. They know that if they force the separation of him and his lovey, his anxiety about that is going to prevent him from turning his attention to the social interaction and play that his hands would be free to participate in. I am sure they have their own system that works great, but I can tell you what I did in my classroom to give you an idea of how it might work.

I would look for opportunities for when he would naturally put it down, like if he would set it on the table next to him during snack, lunch, or painting). I would start to ask if he wanted to put it in his bag instead of on the table so it doesn’t get messy. I would do this by bringing his bag to the table and leaving it there, so he still knew it was close and accessible. He might not want to, but he might, and most kids would eventually be willing after encouragement over a week or so. Once they are willing to put the lovey in the bag, I would try to increase the number of events that the lovey goes in the bag for (outside playtime, diapers/potty, etc) until he was comfortable without it. Some kids would go through a period of having the lovey in their backpack on their back, but their hands were still free to play, and that was okay. Some kids eventually left it at home, some never left it at home because they needed it for a successful separation, but they had no issue leaving it in their bag except for naptime. It’s a process that can take days to months, but it happens for every kid.[/quote]

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