Dealing with Bad Habits Learned at Daycare

The change from the safe, secure and comfortable environment of home to that of daycare can be difficult for a child. Soon they get used to it, relax, start having fun and enjoy their time there, along with some learning you do not like – that of bad habits from other kids!

For reasons that child psychologists can debate over for years, kids seem to have a greater affinity for picking up bad habits rather than good ones from other children. It’s a problem that most parents face eventually; how would you deal with the bad habits a child picks up at daycare?

Learn to ignore

Children love to experiment and test boundaries at the same time. Throwing tantrums or using bad language is what kids do usually to test the reactions of adults. In most cases, it would be best to ignore such acts; kids will lose interest in those acts in the absence of any response from adults. If the intensity of errant behavior increases to the extent that you cannot put up with it anymore, you can put an end to it as pleasantly as possible.

Identify the source of the issue

Daycare is not the only external influence that your child is exposed to. Maybe there are others from where your kid learns negative things. Identify the source, and take immediate control of the situation; do all that you can either to stop the interaction altogether, or ensure that all such interaction is strictly supervised.

If it is daycare …

Talk to the teachers at daycare about the bad habits your child picks up. Ideally, they should know from whom the bad habits originate, and be able to initiate corrective measures. However, with too many kids in their care, they often find it difficult to spot signs of undesirable behavior. A good daycare teacher will do her best, but she just cannot be perfect. If you are not satisfied with the response you get, you may talk to the director of the daycare to resolve it.

Do not speak directly to other parents

Through discreet queries, you may be able to identify the child or children – the source of bad habits, affecting your child’s behavior. It can be tempting to talk directly to those parents about the problem. That will be very inappropriate, leading to lot of unpleasantness.

A meeting with them at the daycare, controlled by the director or manager, will usually produce better results. Remember! Your child may not be perfect either; so if there is some criticism of your child’s behavior, accept it gracefully – at least in public.

If the problem continues …

If you are certain that daycare is from where your child picks up bad habits, and they are unwilling or unable to resolve the problem to your satisfaction, you may consider switching to another daycare. The difficulty in finding a better one often makes parents hesitate about changing. However, with the help of a web-based app that gives you information about daycares in your area, it is not as hard or time-consuming as it used to be.