A perspective on babies’ adaptation to a child education center and the use of transitional objects

Abstract

Adaptation period in education centers for 0-3-year-old children is always challenging, since all people involved in this process get immersed into impressions and expectations about children’s insertion into the school environment. This academic article presents results from a master’s degree research based on an action-research project whose data collection included observations during the adaptation period to a public child education center in São Paulo city, a semi-structured interview, and two culture circles led by four teachers of nursery II classes. Research goal was to analyze the children’s adaptation period and how the use of transitional objects helped infants and toddlers in this process. Research questions that guided the study were as follows: How was the adaptation process of infants and toddlers to the education center? Did teachers allow children to use transitional objects during the adaptation period? What were the transitional objects used by children? What feelings did children experience while using transitional objects? This study was based on literature on Critical Pedagogy and Psychoanalysis. Research results showed that, when children would start crying, teachers would try hard to calm them down. Infants and toddlers who used any transitional object were more likely to calm down more quickly, to sleep before the others, and to adapt themselves to the educational center routine more easily, indicating that they would feel safe and comfortable.