My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

Preschool education

Induction to preschool advice

4 replies

Passthepigs · 30/01/2019 18:47

DS is 2 and 3 months. He has always gone to a childminder 3 days per week while I’m at work form 8 months. Have no trouble with him going there and he is happy all day.

I’m going on maternity leave soon and so have started him at our village preschool with the aim
of him going 2 mornings per week so I get some time with baby.

First 5 weeks I took him and stayed with him for 1.5 hours. He enjoyed himself, played without me and seemed happy. However as we have now got to the point of me leaving him he is really unhappy.

Do I just force the issue, leave him for the 2 hour session and hope he settles- or follow the preschool advice to just leave for 15 minutes, then 30 minutes and build up? I don’t see how their method will work. He will learn that by crying I seem to come back quicker whereas if he knows it’s always a 2 hour session I think he is more likely to just get on with it as he knows no amount of tears will make me reappear.

Advice please! It breaks my heart to see him upset but I really do need to be able to leave him there.

OP posts:
Report
Piglet208 · 30/01/2019 19:01

Building up slowly can be helpful as it builds the child's trust that you will return. A couple of shorter sessions should be enough to do that. Lots of children struggle with separation. As long as they can be comforted and settled quickly there will be no harm. Maybe you could phone the setting to check and if he is doing ok, leave him longer. I'm a teacher in a nursery with children 2-4. Sometimes it helps a child to take a comfort object with them too.

Report
Passthepigs · 30/01/2019 19:11

Thank you. He is used to being left with a childminder all day and doesn’t have any issues, but is really unhappy at being left in preschool. He is funny about new adults which isn’t helping as they then can’t comfort him. He was hysterical this morning, screaming the place down when I tried to leave.

OP posts:
Report
HSMMaCM · 31/01/2019 17:26

Can he go to the childminder a couple of mornings a week?

Report
Passthepigs · 31/01/2019 17:56

He is going to still do 2 days at his childminders so that I keep the place for when I return to work. It’s a hour round trip though to take and again to collect as it’s near my work so I might not end up taking him as much.

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.