I know every kid's different, but I've never had this issue before and am about to pull my hair out. Here's the situation:

4.5 year old boy, single child, I think has always stayed home, only been around a few kids before but has been away from mom.

Comes the first day to check us out with his mom and loves the place. He got upset when time to leave, but no big deal. He started the next week (this week) on Tuesday. Cried and screamed at drop off for a bit but then settled down. My other 6 kids are used to playing with each other so they were a little hesitant letting him in to play (we haven't had a new child in a long time), but he did play with them some. Ate lunch fine but once it was time to nap he had a total melt down. He didn't sleep at all, which we don't make them sleep, but he was very disruptive. His mom picked up at 2:30 (thank goodness!) and he cried for her because he wanted to go home. We talked to her for a little bit and when it was time to leave he cried because he wanted to stay!

Second day (Wednesday) he got dropped off and was all smiles and excited to be here. He played and everything was fine, until nap time and he melted down again.

Third day (Yesterday) he was emotional all day long. He'd go from fine and playing, to crying either for his mommy or because he didn't want to nap.

This morning, same thing. He's been crying since he got here because he doesn't want to nap.

I've tried distracting him with toys and games and activities, I've tried to reason with him and explain that we won't nap until after lunch and since we just had breakfast it will be a while before we have lunch. He won't go play with the kids so I'm having him cry in the cubby area because he's making it hard for the other kids to hear.

I understand adjusting takes some time, but he's 4.5 years old and pretty smart (knows his #s and letters by looking at them). Part of me feels bad for him and part just wants him to stop crying so we can get back to preschool. His big thing is whatever I suggest or tell him to do, he says "I don't want to ______." I have a feeling he gets whatever he wants at home, but haven't asked mom yet if that's the case.

Any suggestions? How long do you think this is gonna take before he settles down and plays without constantly crying?

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