How many settling in sessions to expect?

[PSL1990]

My son is due to start nursery this month. He's 2 years and 3 months and has never been in childcare before. How many settling in sessions should I expect to attend with him? Also, he will eventually be doing 2 days a week 9-4, how long would it take to work up to those hours? Thanks!

[Wowcherarestalkingme]

My youngest is due to do two days a week from 8-6 on October. We have three 2.5 hour settling in sessions the week before. From what I remember with my first, I stayed for the first one for the whole time, the second half an hour and the third I left him. Though with Covid I don’t know how it is going to go

[Apple40]

Hi, Iam childminder and I offer as many as they want , all settling sessions are payable so it’s down to the parents. However currently parents are not allowed in the setting so I do a half hour catch up for the first session where parent stays with child in the garden and then leaves for rest of session, all following sessions the parent drops and leaves. I have actually found this helps the child settle far quicker with me when they come for the whole day so will be sticking to this new lay out. I also find settling sessions are more for the parents benefit than the child as it helps ease their guilt they feel for going to back to work. The children generally just get on with it exploring and playing with new toys.

[NJDO]

I'm a nursery manager and before COVID we offered up to 8 weeks settling in ( 2 sessions a week) - we've been doing 4 weeks worth of settling since we reopened and it seems to be working well but we tailor it to individual children! x

[PSL1990]

@NJDO thanks for your message! Could I ask you a few qus? I'm a stay at home mym with a 27 month old and a 5 month old. I wanted to put my oldest in nursery for a couple of mornings to give him a bit more stimulation than I can manage at home with the baby and give the baby some one on one time! The nursery I chose decided to phase out morning only sessions this term so I'm now signed up for 2 full days. He had his first settling in session yesterday which was 1 hour without me and he has another hour without me on Monday but those are my only settling in sessions. After that I will be paying for full days but of course I can phase him in. How long would expect it to take on average to get a child up to a 9-4.30 day? He is 27 months old and has never been away from me until now. I know it must vary massively between children but I am feeling very anxious about it. I would so much rather bingo for half days but they won't accept anymore half day contracts and I couldn't justify the cost if I paid for a full day but took him out early!

[SendHelp30]

My son who is 2 years 8 months has just done an hour with me, an hour alone, 2 hours alone and will do 3 hours alone on Monday.
He will be doing 9-3 on Mondays from the 14th

[NJDO]

@PSL1990 no problem! It really depends on how he gets on with his first settle by himself I guess! If he seems happy and content and the staff know him and know how to support him settling then you can always drop him off at 9 and ask the staff to call you/keep you updated?

We always call the parents throughout the day and if we feel like the child isn't settling or is struggling/becoming distressed and do it that way

You might find that he does amazingly and adapts quickly and can do the longer days from the start!

Hope that helps, happy to help with any other questions x