Separation anxiety disorder

Yesterday, Hubby and I spoke to Teacher Nur, Krista principal about Aleesya. We are worried that her crying would continue on. Teacher Nur explained that she too cannot understand why Aleesya is crying because she's the only one crying and that the teachers are treating her well and very kind to her, trying their best to coax her whenever she cried. And everything is in proper order. She also added that Aleesya was behaving very well that day and that she is improving day by day. Her take on this is that she needs more time to adapt, probably because she's the youngest.

Before, every single day, we would ask Aleesya why doesn't she like school and I often get crying as her answer. No matter how many times in a day we ask her (after pickup, after bath time, before bedtime) we still get the same answer, she will start to cry... huhu.. But, she seems happy yesterday, so we decided to ask her in the car. We asked "Aleesya, kenapa Aleesya selalu nangis kat school?" and she replied, "Cha-cha nak go work jugak!". We asked her whether she is mistreated is school, and she said NO! Whether she is being bullied, and she answered NO! Whether her teacher has done something to her, and she answered NO! So, what's the problem, we asked her again.. She simply answered, "Cha-cha sedih,  Cha-cha nak Mommie and Ayah. Cha-cha nak ikut go work!".. Hmmm, there u got it! Could it be that the one and only issue she have in school that makes her cry is that she JUST WANT HER MOMMIE AND AYAH? It's cute when u come to think of it, but Aleesya darling, u don't need to cry so much.. We are always here for you. Patutlah every morning masa tengah siap2 tu, mesti Aleesya tnya, "Nak pergi mana ni? Jalan-jalan kan? Bukan skool kan?" She's afraid we're gonna leave her... huhu..

I'm guessing she's just experiencing some SEPARATION ANXIETY. Which is funny, sebab when I was pregnant with her at 5 months, I too experience anxiety, severe anxiety attack smpai xboleh tido for 2 weeks that my doctor gave me medical leave just to stay at home and rest. I went on google, did some research and found this -> taken from here

Anxiety is a normal and common part of childhood. In most cases, anxiety in children is temporary, and may be triggered by a specific stressful event. For example, a young child may experience separation anxiety when starting preschool or kindergarten. Or a child may see a scary movie or learn about a tragic news event and have trouble sleeping.

In some cases, however, anxiety in children can be persistent and intense, and can interfere with a child’s daily routines and activities such as going to school, making friends, or sleeping. When anxiety in children is constant and serious, and doesn’t go away with reassurance and comfort, it is classified as an anxiety disorder.

Aleesya falls under this category -> Separation anxiety disorder. Toddlers frequently experience separation anxiety when a parent or caregiver leaves the room. As children get older and attend daycare, preschool or kindergarten, they can experience separation anxiety when they are dropped off by mom or dad. Separation anxiety usually goes away as children become acclimated to their new environment and caregiver or teacher. But even beyond kindergarten, a child can have trouble being separated from a parent and may experience excessive distress or anxiety. Grade-schoolers who have separation anxiety disorder may be reluctant to go to school or sleep alone. Children with separation anxiety disorder may also fear that something bad will happen to their parents or themselves when they are not together.

I'm not 100% sure that Aleesya is experiencing separation anxiety disorder and we're not going to conclude on that alone. So, we did what we had planned earlier and went to visit a newly operated daycare nearby to Aleesya's current daycare yesterday. We brought Aleesya along to see her take on it. She seems to like it, exploring every corner of the premise but she wasn't friendly when introduced to the teachers there. She quickly hid behind my back..The daycare is equipped with safety gates, cctv and other safety measures which I really like. I pretty much am happy with the daycare, except I am worried that Aleesya would miss her daycare friends and she'll be all alone here when she transit from her kindy. Issues lagi... adoiyaii.. Anyhow, this daycare will be our "standby daycare" for now if Aleesya's behaviour still continues...

I asked my sister for advice on how to handle Aleesya's problem. She told me to recite some Quranic verses to help ease Aleesya's discomfort in school. So, today I tried it on Aleesya on our way to school. I hugged her and held her tight, slowly patting her chest and recited Al-Fatihah and Qursi again and again till we reached school. Amazingly, no cries or drama this morning.. Instead she smiled, kissed my hand and went straight inside to be with her friends.. She even waved us goodbye at the window which is a good sign, compared to every other day where she would scream her heart out seeing the sight of us leaving.. Syukur Alhamdulillah, I feel so much better leaving her today...

Hubby and I haven't decided on anything yet. We're just gonna wait till the end of the month and decide later. If it's separation anxiety that she's having, then we'll try our best to handle it the best way possible. If there's other issues involved, then we'll try to find a solution to all of them. Till then, we'll never stop praying and hoping that Aleesya will adapt and love school.. AMIN