DS very anxious about starting school and becoming a big brother soon

[trix1]

DS is 4 1/2 and is usually so confident and happy. He has been at full time nursery since he was nine months and loves it there, he is very poopular with the other children and we get great feedback from the nursery about him and his development. But he is the only one in his group going to a different school and he is so anxious about it. He has started to wet the bed at night and today he had three accidents at nursery. The staff at the nursery have said that he talks about not having any friends at his new school. Also he is about to be a big brother in a few weeks (im 8 months pregnant) and I think he is worried about that too. He is about to have too major changes in his life and I am not sure how to make it easier for him.

Sorry its so long.

Any advise will be much appreciated.

Hi Trix

Bless him he has alot to think about doesn't he? I think I would try the following

• contact his new school to see if they have any suggestions, maybe they could put you in contact with other families. If not they may be able to recommend groups you could attend where he may meet future classmates
• do you think he is worried about not seeing his nursery friends again? You could make a little book with him of contact details, pics etc explaining how you can keep in touch and meet up
• ignore the wetting as much as poss you don't want him worrying about this as well, you have plenty of time before school starts.
• there are lots of books about starting school and new babies
• try and make the new school more familiar and less frightening, can you visit it so he can picture the layout, walk past it pointing out features, find out names of teachers and teachers assistants in his class.
• its difficult I know but try and keep all of this quite casual

I'm racking my brains for you I'll come back if I think of anything else. I do think the most important thing is to keep discussing it, this will mean he will be more likely to mention his fears and the more something is talked about the more familiar it becomes and the less scary.