Separation anxiety and not settling back into nursery after holiday

[handbagaddiction]

dd is now 9 months old and until we went on holiday 4 weeks ago was having a fantastic time at nursery (been there 3 months full-time)and showed no separation anxiety issues at all. We went away for a week to Spain - full on Mummy and Daddy attention for a whole week. She was a bit poorly when we were there (cold and cough) and this continued when we got back. So, after a miserable week for her at nursery when we got back - lots of crying when we took her there and needing lots of cuddles throughout the day (behaviour which is definitely not mormal for dd) we took her to the doctors to find out she actually did have a chest infection.

So after antibiotics she perked up a bit BUT is still getting upset when I take her to nursery. Problem is that rather than just crying to a few minutes when I leave, the nursery girls say that she is no longer her usual happy self when she's there. She's not crying or anything but definitely doesn't give out the same amount of smiles and seems to have become really sensitive to the other younger babies getting upset.

Guess I just could be being an over anxious Mum - but it concerns me (since I work full-time) that she is no longer enjoying nursery as much as she used to and I'm starting to think I'm being cruel by sending her there? So, question is - am I just going mad and eventually she will completely settle down again....or is there anything else that could be causing this??

Handbag, I don't have any advice really except to say that my ds (who is now 3) went to a creche, only for a couple of hours a few times a week from 3 months. For the first 6 months he was fine but as he became more aware of everything he definitely developed a bit of separation thing. I perserved with it and it took a while but he was fine and gradually got over it. Sometimes when they've been ill I think it does take them longer to fully recover than we think, she might still be feeling a bit under the weather and so the noise etc of a nursery would unsettle her. But you are not being cruel, she will love it again. I would think the best thing you can do is to keep trying and just make sure the staff there give her extra cuddles etc.

Thanks for the kind words. Just had a call from dh who was on 'pick-up' duty tonight. Apparently she had a much better day at nursery today which is great news....and makes me feel a lot better. Let's hope it continues.

The life and rollercoaster emotions of a working Mum....Don't get me wrong - I love work and I love dd to bits - I just had no idea someone so small could have such a powerful effect on my emotional state of mind!!

definitely a developmental stage, perfectly normal. my 13 mth old is really happy at nursery now she's got over her separation anxiety blip

well, relief to know that it is separation anxiety not me. My ds 8 months old was fine in the nursery from the age of 5 months up until recently. We came back from the holidays and he is quite tearful over there. He does not settle and wants to be in the lap. Any idea how long does this go on for? He goes there 2 days a week. Is it not enough to settle down?

taksu, i have the same worry, my dd is nearly 19 months and goes to nursery for 1 day a week only. She started about 3 weeks ago and cries a lot when i leave her. although they say she calms down fairly quickly when i have gone. How long will it take her to get used to being there on that one day, and do you think perhaps I should put her there for another day? I don't really want to though!