Distressed child policy?

[Eddisonsmum]

Hi

Does anyone have a distressed child policy they wouldn't mind sharing please? I have a child who very often is distressed (for no apparent reason) and I need a policy put in place so that I can say to the parents that she needs to go home after a certain time etc.. If not settling.

There is no reasoning to her distress, I think it's just her nature. The majority of the time she is happy here, yet she is a screamer and will just run round the house crying and screaming, and nothing will comfort her. It also happens a lot when she goes home as in she doesn't want to. I need to in 2013 manage this more so want to have a policy in place as it isn't fair on me or the other children. I've been finding that I haven't been going out to groups on the days I have her because of this. I have had this child 10 months but she doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Thank you,

A distressed childminder!

[sarah707]

I don't have a policy... in that situation I would call parents in for a meeting and work on a strategy together.

We don't run in the house so a child here would be scooped up, spoken to gently and sat in a cosy corner with books and things to hold / stroke until they felt calmer.

Hopefully it's a phase that will pass soon xx

[KatieFS]

Hi! I have a screamer at the moment but I think it maybe early days, as she is quite new to me and only seems to cry in the pushchair. I'm hoping that after a few episodes in the new routine, she will improve. I've already spoken to parents, as I feel honesty is do important as a cm. the issue is she is not used to being in pushchair as they don't use one very much, and if she gets restless she is allowed to come out and walk. I'm afraid it's not possible for her to come out and walk always, maybe sometimes so ill see what I can do to adapt. The school run is the difficulty as we have to be at school on time and won't have time for her to walk (she's 16m). I do not want to be walking for ten minutes with a screaming baby, with my children going into school having had to endure that. I hope she improves.. not sure what to do if not... Any advice for me would also be great...

It is very stressful and does affect the other children. So I do think you must tackle it. Could there be a medical or clinical reason for your mindee becoming upset. It does sound unusual so talking to parent is essential.
Good luck!! Let me know how you get on!!

[Telabelle]

I think that I would add something in to my settling in policy along the lines of:

"If your child was not settled and happy here after ...x... weeks, then a meeting would be arranged with the the parent/carer to discuss reasons for this and to come up with a solution." but I would want to state somewhere that this is highly unlikely to happen!

What is the parent like? Is she/he passing on separation anxieties to the child?
How do the other children in your setting react to this distress?

[Ripeberry]

I'd have it as part of the 'Settling In' Policy. Having a seperate policy for 'Distressed Children' does not sound very good and might put people off.