I believe I read somewhere before that one of you always provided a separate area for your own child while the daycare kids were there. I've just started doing daycare and my own son, who is just about to turn 2, is having a difficult time. I expected this but didn't think it would be so bad and its killing me that he's having such a hard time. I put his special thomas trains and binkies away before the other kids get here so he doesn't have to share those but all other toys are to be shared and since they are younger I ask him to be my special helper to care for them. I've tried many approaches but he's still having a hard time (he pushes and throws tantrums which he rarely does and he used to go to daycare so he's used to being around other kids). Anyway, I was thinking of redoing his nursery into a big boy room and putting his trains in there and some other special toys but it makes me sad to think of him playing in there alone. Does anyone else do something similar? Does it help? What do you all think? Thanks!

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Here are some threads related to Separate Areas: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...separate+areas

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I wasn't able to separate my son from daycare, so I slowly started buying daycare toys from garage sales, second hand stores, and making sure he understood these were my toys to share with everyone. All of his toys were in his room, and they only came out when he wanted to share. He got really good about sharing because he has cool toys, and since he didn't like playing by himself, he would bring them out to share with the daycare kids. It's not a perfect system, but it did help.

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I can relate on so many levels! My son just turned two a few months ago and he still has a tough time some days (I've been doing daycare since he was a few months old so he's pretty much had it his whole life). I keep ALL of "his" toys in his room and have separate "daycare" toys that stay in the play area. Usually if he is having a rough day, I'll try to take some time out of the day to just snuggle with him and spend a little time one on one with him (some days that's a lot more difficult). Sometimes, depending on how many kids I have that day and ages, I'll allow him and the only other boy to go play in his room with his toys, although this doesn't happen too often. He knows that if he DOES bring "his" toys out of his room that he has to share them with the other kids, and if he doesn't share they get taken away. It's such a hard balance, IMO, and some days a real struggle for him. I think this is why it's been so difficult to get rid of the darn nuk , he usually only gets it when he is having a rough time with things, but I feel so bad when he having one of "those moments" and begging for that security and I don't give it to him. *Sigh* just another one of those struggles I guess, he IS getting better about it though .

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I've only done it on days where it's been rough with lots of fighting. It's more for my own sanity really! At this age children are going through the "it's mine" phase and it's completely normal. This is where your son gets to learn right from wrong and how to share toys. IMO seperating him isn't going to teach him anything. Come up with a plan to handle the situations. Some on here have suggested calling all the toys "daycare toys" that need to be shared. This helps a lot. It's a work in progress because toddlers are not in the mind set to share and it comes much later. Earliest would be 3 yrs.

I also have stopped buying toys and letting my DD play with them before daycare. The toys are presented at daycare and she gets to see them with everyone else. This solidifies it in her mind that they are daycare toys and not her toys. I now have a seperate space for her and her toys for after daycare is done for the day. It's helped trmendously but she still fights over toys...it's normal!!

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My daughter is allowed to go play in her room or upstairs by herself during daycare hours. She is allowed to freely come and go between the daycare and her own spaces. Daycare children are NEVER allowed in her room, period, for any reason. It's her choice where she wants to play. There are toys in her room that she is just simply NOT ALLOWED to share, ever. These are the things that have small pieces (Littlest Pet Shop), or are special to her (certain dolls/stuffed animals), or expensive (Leapster).

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I have three kids under school age and it is tough. It is not necessarily the daycare environment he has a problem with, its sharing mommy and sharing attention. Most likely he won't even want to play separately even though he's not happy with the babies either. Its just going to take time, there's not magic cure for this. I would still provide a separate area for just him (I keep my kids bedrooms off limits for daycare use), start having separate toys for daycare (not using his toys for the rest of the kids) and if possible, have a dedicated area in your house that is for daycare only. Its confusing for a 2 year old to have the same space and the same mom but things are different at different times. Its going to be tough for you too mom...I am assuming this son is your only child and it will be a transition for you to go into daycare mode at sometimes and mommy mode at others, thats very tough.

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My 3 children have grown up with me doing daycare. They've always had free run of the house while my daycare kids are primarily in the playroom. They've always had their own toys - in both our family room and their bedrooms. They always knew if they brought something into the playroom it was to be shared with the other kids, if they didn't want to share their "special" toys then they stayed out of that room. It varied based on their age/interests but I'd say they spent 80% of the time in the playroom when they were younger because it was fun and that was where their friends were but they always had the option to go off on their own too.

One of the primary reasons I started doing daycare was as a means to stay home with my children while still earning an income - I didn't want my children to resent it - they already had to share me, I felt like I owed them some say over the rest.

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