Leaving ds at nursery for an hour tomorrow

[Rorpethy]

And I'm so anxious and feel so guilty. He is 2.5, suspected autistic and only says 4 words. He is my 4th child and of course I was nervous leaving the others in childcare but this is different because he is much more dependent on me than the others were. (including an older DC who is autistic)

He has really bad separation anxiety and hasn't ever been left with anyone else (excluding DH) before as we have zero family support.

We have visited the nursery together before and he happily played and I know the staff are great. I'm starting a job I'm really excited about, which is term time only, but he will be in nursery nearly 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I feel so so guilty.

Any kind words or advice or success stories welcome please xx

It's easy to say don't feel guilty, but parenting basically is one long guilt trip, so you will anyway.

If you weren't putting him in nursery you would feel guilty because you would feel as though you're restricting his opportunities, if you left him with family you would feel guilty about that too.

You've found a lovely setting that he enjoys, you've found a job that means you'll still get holidays with your kids, and, if you're anything like me, a bit of time away to just be a grown up will make you feel like a human being again.

This time next year you'll look back and wonder wtf you were stressing so much for.

Good luck with the new job, and I hope your ds has such an amazing time at nursery 💐

Thank you @FatmanandKnobbin for taking the time to reply, this is exactly the kind of thing I need to hear.

Good luck OP, that sounds like it's not going to be easy