Is thinking about transitions in your day with your little one make you hope that time stops and you won’t have to go anywhere? Transitions can be difficult for many children to do easily. It can be something small from a transition from one toy to the next or putting it away to something bigger like going to a doctor appointment. The reaction can also span from something small like a little cry that just takes a little coaxing to keep moving to a reaction that can get dangerous and can take time to work through. There are times that the breakdown can be due to communication or lack of and unexpectedness. Below are a few tips to try to ease transitions!
- When you can, give warnings about upcoming transitions. Giving them a specific amount of turns/tries/minutes and following through can help them begin to process what is coming to them. Visual schedules for some kids work really well when completed to keep them in the loop of what to expect for the day. A visual timer can also help kids start to understand what time is and how to know exactly when the activity they are about to leave ends.
- Use more first/then language across activities that are both preferred and non-preferred. For example, talk about what you are doing in the day to help them know what’s coming next (“First we wash our hands, then we go eat!” Or “First we eat lunch, then we go to the park!”). By switching up which items go first (preferred or non-preferred), it helps them to learn that there is likely something later that they will like.
- Help them know what the expectation is when they get to the next task. For example, if they are going to the doctor and they don’t like it typically, you could read a story about doctors and then talk about the characters in it and what they went through. Then you can relate this to what will happen at their appointment. It can be stressful to not know exactly what is going to happen when you walk into somewhere you don’t know, which can be why we see some resistance to these types of activities
- If possible, let them have a transition item. For example, if they can bring a small toy/item and put it in their locker where it “waits” until after daycare/school/etc. Not all places allow this, but it can be comforting to know that they will have something to hold on to.
- Give them a job to do when they get to where they are going. For example, “I really need help with remembering to put your backpack in your locker! Can you help me remember where we put it?
- For transitions away from parents that are difficult (i.e. School/daycare), make the “goodbye” fun and the same each day! For example, it could be high-five, then hug, then kiss, “goodbye” and then parents leave. It is important to keep it the same and leave after that goodbye. This will help them know again when exactly you are leaving!
These are just a few simple suggestions for transitions! If you have specific questions or difficulties with them, feel free to reach out to any of us for more support!
-Amber
