Has my child been put in the wrong room??

[CheerfulSoul]

I'm settling my 12 month old into nursery - we're not finding it easy. He's in the 1-2yr room but it's currently full of 2+ year olds waiting to move onto the next room. They don't move until end of Sept. I think he's overwhelmed by them and scared and I wonder whether he should be in the baby room until he's older, more settled and more confident.

My DH thinks it's too early to start saying there's a problem and it will take time to settle him wherever he is but I just don't feel happy. The older kids are bigger, more mobile and more noisy than my DS, who's still only crawling. I'd be scared in that situation.

Does anyone have any opinions on whether this mix of ages is tolerable or if I should ask to have him moved?

[atworknotworking]

Most nurseries have age appropriate rooms which is excellent as the children that are mobile can be more active and the little ones don't get tramped on. If worked well it's a good system, if it isn't it's a disaster.

A couple of things spring to mind with your situation.

1. Your DS isn't going to settle and make friends with his peers if they are all moving up a room in Sept, he will have to start again with the younger group.

1. That being the case why not put your DS with them now in a much calmer and more suitable environment for his needs ie: where the other children are crawling as well.

I would certainly ask for him to be moved but you may find that the nursery have put your DS in that group as they are full in th e baby unit, childcare providers have to follow strict ratio's child:adult depending on ages and ofsted will register the nursery for so many children according to age so if the nursery is registered for 12 under 12mth old's and the baby unit is at full capacity they can put your DS in the next age group regardless of wether a child is ready for that stage or not, it would be best practice put your DS into the younger group as it suits his needs better but if the nursery don't have space you may well have to stick it out until Sept when the children are moved around and hopefully some younger ones will move up into his group.

[purepurple]

I think the problem here is that if he started in the baby room,it would only be for a few weeks before he had to move again.
This would mean settling him into a new room with different staff and a different routine.
There might not be the room for him in the baby room either.
The end of September is not that long away.
I wonder why the end of September?
In our nursery they are moving at the beginning.

[Confuzzeled]

My dd went into the toddler room at 14 months even though it's meant to be from 18 months. This was because we moved house and nursery. She had been to nursery before though so it may have made a difference.

It took her about a month to settle in but I noticed huge jumps in her development compared to her peers outside nursery. I was nervous about her going in with 3 yo at first but she soon found her feet and loved it. I think the baby room would have been too young for her anyway.

If you put your ds in the baby room he'll have to settle with the staff and the room. Then a few weeks later he'll move room and staff, this may cause him to become unsettled. September is only 2 weeks away, could you just give it a tiny bit more time, but perhaps talk to the staff about your concerns that ds may get trod on/pushed around by older kids?

Starting nursery is so stressful, especially for parents, you have my sympathy but it'll get better.

[CheerfulSoul]

Thanks for you advice everyone. I spoke to the nursery and DS spent the afternoon in the baby room instead. I think he was much better. The room was so much quieter and the activities more at his level. He got LOTS of attention from his carer too. Yes, he'll have to change again in 5 weeks but I couldn't see him settling at all in the toddler room.