Another nursery one...advice needed!

[coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee]

I have a DS aged 26 months, who is entitled to a place in local playgroup for 2 hours a day from this month, and he is due to start next week.
I'm in two minds whether to send him or not with the COVID situation, and living in an area with high numbers.
The issue is he is behind with his speech, and with all the lockdowns this year he has had very little social interaction with anyone apart me DP and family. I was hoping the playgroup would help him develop and catch up with the others. He has been assessed by HV and they have no immediate concerns with his lack of speech as his understanding is pretty good, they are due to do a follow up next month.
We are both home from work at the moment on furlough, so it isn't needed for childcare.
Do you think the benefits for his development out weigh the Covid risk?
Any advice would be great!

Anyone...

I think we all have to decide for ourselves...

I feel there is too much focus on the right and wrog thing but it is best guess.

With speech my DS was delayed. I was encouraged by a speech therapist to focus on one word a week and sign with it. ..

I will also say in terms of speech delay when I look back I didn;t give enough space for him to answer, just knew what he wanted.

I would usually keep DC home but in your shoes I would absolutely take the 2 hours to help with that and he will probably really enjoy it too.

Personally I would use the two hours, has his hearing been checked?

Could you delay his place for a month and reassess or would they not keep his place open?

I think nursery is great for their development at this age. My daughter goes 2 days a week and at the moment that’s the only real interaction she gets with other kids so that’s so valuable right now. However we do need the childcare to work so it’s a different situation.

Send him. The risk for him is so low. As you know, the first 1000 days are critical for development. My 26 month old has come on leaps and bounds at nursery. He was quite slow to talk but his vocab has just exploded. He told me I was "very annoying" trying to put his pyjamas on

Not a chance I would be sending a child who didn't need to go. Keep him home, stay as safe as possible.

You say he is behind with his speech but also that the HV has no immediate concerns? It can't be both. Who has deemed him behind?

Just a point that things are very up in the air at the moment. Nurseries open today, bubbles may burst tomorrow and closed for two weeks. It may be harder for him to settle with all the chopping and changing that’s going on at the moment, you will be the best judge of that.
A lot of my colleagues believe nurseries should only be open to key worker and vulnerable. Also just to add we have much less children in at the moment and staff are wearing masks/visors, we only have toys etc that can be washed/ sterilised, no play dough, no water play. It’s not the same experience at the moment for any of us staff, parents and children.

I wouldn't send him in if there is no need for childcare. But then, this is coming from someone who has temporarily stopped sending her 3 yo to preschool due to the risk . The children themselves don't really talk to eachother due to their age , so most talking will be by the adult/s conducting the session. So, with two adults at home I can't see why you and your dh can't talk to your ds yourselves and do other activities. Yes it will be nice for him to interact with other children but given the pandemic you need to weigh the pros and cons. I don't think the royal children had group interactions with loads of children in playgroups and they seem to be doing just fine. Most of their nurturing would have come from home until they were of nursery age. That said, you have to make your own decision on what you feel is best . Good luck x

Personally I would delay the start. I work in a preschool, today we had 3 children. Actually not much fun for them, normally happy preschool children- they just kept asking if it was hometime yet :(

I wouldn’t right now, I’d wait a month and see.

Firstly it can be quite hard to settle them, especially if you can’t go into the playgroup. You don’t want to stop and start, and there is a chance they might have to close if it gets worse.

Secondly, as pp said, kids don’t talk a lot to each other at that age. A lot is making themselves understood by other adults. Could you try calls where family members read stories to him and get them to ask questions? I’m sure you can find other ideas online.

Just use every opportunity to develop his speech at home. Add language to everyday activities, no screen time, lots of games, role play etc.

My 2.75 yo has a speech delay and hearing loss and nursery has helped him immeasurably, dealing with other kids is hard for kids who can't say what they want.

If I were you and I wanted to i would send him if I felt he needed it...

Thanks all... I have a call arranged with the nursery tomorrow so will decide after that, she did say they only have a few children in at the moment.
@yankeedoodledandee he says maybe 5 words and is 26 months, so definitely behind on speech, but arranged for health visitor to assess and she thought it was mainly because he was so active, and as his understanding is good she thought he would catch up, but she is coming back to reassess next month.