A furious mum decided to pull her three-year-old daughter out of nursery because the staff kept "hugging her" when she was upset and broke their "no touching rule".
The mum explained that the child "doesn't like cuddles" or being touched by other people, and that she is only comfortable being hugged by either of her parents or her grandmother.
The child "didn't feel safe", was "terrified" and was having "terrible anxiety" every time her mum would take her to preschool, the mum explained in a post on Kidspot.
When the mum took the child to daycare she told them that she didn't like cuddles and to not try to give her a hug to try to calm her down if she got upset.
She said: "I know some other babies, even my son who is one, love cuddles and feel safe that way, but my daughter doesn't."
Instead, the mum gave them a list of things to try if she was upset, such as giving her her favourite toy, taking her to a quiet place by herself or letting her read a book.
But to the mum's disgust they had ignored her request, and she witnessed one of the teachers picking her daughter up and trying to hug her.
The three-year-old reacted by kicking and screaming, and was "absolutely beside herself," said the parent.
At first the mum tried to be understanding and took it up with the manager, and told them not to do it again – but to her frustration they kept offering her cuddles.
The mum explained: "She would cry and I would have to remind them. Yes there are a lot of children in the room, I understand it would be hard to remember everything.
"I have a huge respect for all teachers, my husband is a teacher, but this was different.
"I felt like I was constantly repeating myself and fighting so hard just to help my daughter feel safe at childcare. It shouldn't be this hard to help each child feel safe? It didn't feel right to me. "
One month later the mum decided to take her tot out of childcare because she told her she didn't like her teachers and didn't like when they cuddled her.
She now regrets not doing it sooner, and encourages all other parents to "go with your gut".
A few months later she started in a new nursery and told them about the situation.
The mum said: "They were incredible. They set up a quiet, comfortable space for her with cushions, books and no other people around. They let her sit back and watch until she was comfortable to join in any activities. They let me hang around as much as I needed to."
According to the mum, the tot has said she now likes her teachers because they know she doesn't like hugs, and she feels safe.
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