How can child care centers reduce challenging behaviours without burning out staff?

In ChildFriendly Pro's March 2026 Lunch & Learn, child care operator Krystal Churcher explained that centers reduce challenging behaviours without burning out staff by treating behaviour as communication, fixing predictable hot spots such as transitions, using a four-step de-escalation model (regulate, name the feeling, state the boundary, offer a safe choice), and documenting incidents objectively so patterns become visible.

What the session covered

The session addressed sustainable inclusion: supporting children with additional support needs while protecting educator well-being. Churcher cited an industry survey circulated to Alberta early childhood educators (ECEs) in January and February, with just under 2,000 responses, in which behaviour and crisis resources were the most requested professional development need at 38 percent, followed by educator well-being or resilience at 25.5 percent, then leadership and supervision, and inclusion strategies. She argued that educators are generally willing to support children, but many face complex behaviours without clear systems or a shared strategy, so each difficult moment feels personal and contributes to burnout. Her central reframe was that behaviour is communication: challenging behaviour is rarely defiance and usually signals that a child is overwhelmed, lacks a skill, or finds a situation too much. She said behaviours generally fall into two buckets, trying to get something (attention, a toy, control, sensory input) or trying to avoid something (a transition, a demand, a noisy space). In her words, treating behaviour as defiance leads to power struggles, while treating it as communication leads to strategy.

What are behaviour hot spots in child care and how do you fix them?

Churcher defined hot spots as predictable times, places or routines where behaviour regularly escalates, and said they are rarely random. Common examples include lining up, clean-up, transitions, especially moving from inside to outside, waiting periods and large group activities. When behaviour repeatedly occurs during the same routine, she said, the routine usually needs adjustment rather than the focus resting only on the child. Leaders can analyze a recurring stress point by looking at what happens just before the incident, how long children are waiting and whether that time can be reduced, whether expectations are clear and visible, and whether staff are positioned strategically. One of the simplest steps is to ask educators directly when the room feels most stressful, what time of day feels chaotic and where most incidents happen. Churcher added that one incident is a moment but three similar incidents are a pattern, often linked to the same time of day, transition, peer dynamic, noisy area or periods when staffing is thinner. Once behaviour is predictable, it becomes adjustable.

What should educators do after a behaviour incident?

Churcher said the reset and repair step is often missed, and that what happens after an incident is as important as what happens during it. She said that during escalation, priorities shift from teaching to safety, regulation, containment and dignity, and an educator who is not regulated should ask a colleague to step in. Afterward, she outlined six steps: regulate first; repair the connection and restore safety, including simple peer repair if age appropriate; reflect with the child later, when everyone is calm, about what to try next time; debrief with the team, even for two minutes, about the trigger, what helped and what did not; adjust one thing, such as the routine, the transition, the environment or staff support at critical times; and document with purpose, including context, the staff response and a follow-up plan. Her example reframed a child throwing a toy at clean-up for the third time that week from he hates cleaning up to clean-up is overwhelming, with a specific job and a two-minute warning planned for the next day.

How should child care staff document behaviour and talk to parents about it?

Churcher said documentation protects the child, the educator and the center, and must be objective, describing behaviour without labeling the child. Instead of writing that a child was aggressive, staff should record that the child hit a peer with an open hand during a clean-up transition. Strong records include what happened before the incident, such as a busy or noisy room or a specific request, the strategies staff tried, and any follow-up or adjustment planned. She noted that because records may be read in a meeting or an investigation, they should sound professional and neutral. For families, she warned that vague or emotional updates such as he had a rough day or she was aggressive again make parents defensive, worried or fearful of removal from the program. A calmer, solution-focused message names the challenge and the plan, for example that transitions are challenging and the center is introducing a visual timer and reducing wait time to support regulation. She recommended training all staff to communicate consistently and supporting them through difficult conversations.

Behaviour support and burnout prevention steps from the session

How ChildFriendly Pro automates this

In place of paper incident forms, ChildFriendly Pro's incident reporting template, which Wayne Chen of ChildFriendly Pro described as built to government regulations (27:20), lets parents receive a notification, view the report and acknowledge and sign it digitally, while an incident and accident log in its safety reports supports pattern review (27:04). Chen also showed secure messaging, journal templates and searchable communication history for family updates (27:55).

Next steps

• Director Lunch & Learns for child care operators
• Free Inclusion Without Burnout behaviour support guides
• Digital incident logs, licensing records and child care reports
• Book a ChildFriendly Pro demo

Official sources

• Alberta Education and Childcare: Licensed facility-based programs
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: Workplace stress