DS4 complains about going to nursery, but no clear reason why

[egbok]

DS(4) is in his second year at nursery. Last year he went 5 mornings per week, this year he's on 3 full days (9-4). Since september he has consistently voiced his opposition to this arrangement, every single morning that he is due to go.

• The nursery itself is fantastic, DD went there as well
• When he is there he enjoys himself, plays nicely, does what he is told (more so than at home!) and regularly gets stickers for particulary good behaviour or effort. The teachers say they've noticed no issues with him at all
• once we're at the nursery he goes in willingly without separation issues
• he has made friends, hangs out with a nice little gang of boys whom he occasionaly sees for playdates
• he still has plenty of energy at the end of the day (but then goes to sleep very quickly those days).

So I dont know what if anything is wrong, whether I should take him seriously and reduce his hours (which would be inconvenient for me) or whether he is just trying to exert some control over his life. And if I keep the existing schedule if there is anything I can do about his morning refusing-to-go tantrums.

Any thoughts?

Is it something to do with having lunch there?
Orthat he doesn't like going to the loo there?
Only because he was doing mornings before and now he is there all day

It could simply be the "all day-ness" of it, or that he is saying something which he knows will get your attention.

I wouldn't reduce his hours, given what you've said.

If you are sure that you aren't going to reduce his hours, and you know it's the right place for him, then I think you just need to ignore the tantrums, keep explanations to a minimum, and tell him that he must go to nursery.

My DS1 found moving to full days difficult at 4 (in his case, 2, from mornings only). But then he was well-prepared for Reception and had no problems adjusting then.

I know a few children slightly younger than your DS who are having friendship problems - the interaction between their friends has changed in one way or another and they feel left out. The girls I know in this situation have voiced it to their parents. The boys have not. So it's possible that, even though you organise playdates, etc, which is a brilliant thing to do, there may still be little spats or just alterations to the way he and his friends interact, which you're not aware of. You should ask his nursery teachers to observe...