My three-year-old son goes to daycare and eats breakfast and lunch there. I’m starting to notice that he is not sitting still at dinner time and always playing in his food. I teach manners at the table, and he was doing great…but now I think he is picking up bad behaviors from other kids at daycare. Has anyone had an issue with this? How did you help your child learn table manners?
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I dont care about table manners, so long as one isn’t being messy. I’m not strict and more easy going.
Dinner is a time for family and eating, so we have a good time
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Well your child is 3 also.
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Usually a 2 or 3 room isnt as strict as a 4/5 room… but i worked at a Christian based program and manners as well as praying was part of the curriculum
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Hes 3 years old 
kids go thru phases of doing stuff they werent doing before. It’s called redirect his behavior and if he continues then he needs to remove himself from the table until he can sit there n eat and u keep doing that until he understands.
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He’s 3. He’s not supposed to sit still. 
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Happend to my daughter too. Just keep reinforcing at home and maybe offer a special dessert if he can show good table manners
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The daycare i was at even st 1 year was all about manners and we were praised for it honestly.
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Your child is 3…it’ll get easier when he’s older, just keep reinforcing at home. I know all daycares are different but usually that’s something they start working on as they get older, that age group can be a handful during meal times
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Just keep doing what your doing at home. Teaching him, telling him when he’s doing something he shouldn’t be.
It’s working. A 3 year old is capable of sitting still for a meal & using manners. Just reinforce it at home.
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Well… That’s kinda part of the teaching/learning/parenting experience. Your child is 3. Three. Trust me, no matter who you think is influencing your child’s behavior, it will be an ever-changing discipline as your child learns more and more what they are capable of. Just when you think they’ve mastered table manners, bedtime routine, picking up toys, etc… They figure out another part of their human nature and test boundaries. Never get comfy in what you’ve “already taught” as that battle will get exhausting quick. Stay consistent with your rules, discipline and positive reinforcement and in 18 years, hopefully you’ll see the fruit of your labor!
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At the daycare I worked at taught manners. Plus he’s 3…
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One more reason why I’m a stay at home mom. The first 5 years set the base for the rest of your child’s life. They learn and pick up so much. As a parent its our job to mold them into good human beings. You have no idea what goes on at daycares.
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I’ve been a pre school teacher for 18 years and getting them to not pick up on other kids habits is hard, keep reinforcing what you want done at home. It’s a process.
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Literally have taught table manners since my kiddos were little… they go through phases. But with my 1 and 2 year olds its every night. You need to sit down, your going to fall. Use your spoon or fork. The list is endless. Continue to redirect the best you can. Eventually they will learn. But I wouldn’t expect a 3 year old to sit still. You can tell them till your blue in the face but it does get better my 6, 8, and 9 year old got in trouble the other night because my 8 year old through corn across the table. That was an isolated incident but they got to clean the table and under it after dinner. She’s 8 though so… with age comes more expectations. My older kiddos know the rules my 1 and 2 year old have a few years before i would expect more. It is harder to when some of the family gets done then my 1 and 2 year old decide they are done. So they start trying to get up and squirm and worm. It’s a hard job to teach manners but it does get better with time.
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Lol, toddles are always going to push their boundries. Hell kids of all ages but espically toddlers. One of the first things they can control is what they eat. Because we can’t really phycially force it if they dont want it.
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Some of that fidgeting comes with the age of the child and a day care isn’t going to focus on manners just making sure the kids are fed, it’s on your to teach the manners but don’t be too strict or they won’t want to be at the table at all. As you baby gets older you can in force the manners more but right now just get them to eat good is most important.
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My 3 year old son has manners but he still needs reminders. Maybe he’s over tired from playing at daycare all day 
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3 years old and you expect this kid to act like he has been through etiquette training 
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He’s THREE. Geez. AND he’s spent all day behaving at daycare. Maybe he needs a break from being a well behaved little soldier.
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Am I a jerk for saying… just wait till public school?
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Mention something to the daycare. They probably aren’t following through with what you’ve taught as they don’t know themselves
I work at a day care, and my daughter is 3 she has picked up alot of bad habits at school that she has never done at home or even saying certain words. It happens alot of kids follow others. Unfortunately that’s how that is
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Wait til he is 14 and think loud burps and farts are hilarious
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Mine is 4 and calls me a fart head at the dinner table 
do I like it? No. Did I teach it? No. Does it make him laugh? Hell yeah lol I just tell him we don’t talk that way and walk away and laugh where he can’t hear me
Welcome to parenthood! This is where the tiny beings you have created start having human feelings, different ideals, different thoughts, and sometimes don’t always do what you instruct them to do. You can’t train your children like a dog and if you try - they’ll rebel. I’m a mother of fifteen years and I’ve never seen any three year old be able to sit down for long periods of time after a long day. They’re three. All three year olds are perfectly imperfect - that’s okay. Get over yourself. Stop demanding perfection out of children. It’s okay if they’re not always impeccable with their actions. Life gets messy sometimes. Let it go.
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I mean he is three he is going to push the boundaries no matter what. Just keep doing what you did at home before he started daycare.
I can think of a million other bad habits that he will pick up on but I’ll let ya get over the table manners first.
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Monkey see monkey do…monkey get in trouble too… my favorite things to tell my kids when they pick up bad habits from friends and classmates… you will hear yourself say…“just because such and such does it doesnt mean you have to” from now until you no longer live with them…breathe hes young he will learn your expectations
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If kids play with their food they aren’t actually hungry
Patience and redirecting the behaviors
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Man everyone is being jerks. I totally get it OP. I’m teaching my kiddo manners too and it’s hard.
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This is what parenthood is all about:
Undoing the bad influences of others, over and over until they’re grown and gone.
Enjoy him he is three.
My boy knows if he leaves the table, that’s it, no more food, they do the same at daycare, which he is pretty good with, he has learnt some not so great things, but I just correct him and tell them that it’s not ok, and that we do not do that, but others might, and that is up to their parents to decide, but our family does it this way, or we say this instead of that, seems to be working.
Wait til he comes home twerking 
they’re gonna learn things from the outside world.
Not everyone parents the way you do and the school can’t force other parents to accommodate your parenting style.
The only thing you can do is talk to your kid and tell him that behavior might be okay for other mommies and daddies but it won’t fly here 