when to start nursery in relation to baby number 2?

[mamaJK]

Hi there I was hoping some of you might be able to help me - I've got a very active 2 yr old (just turned 2) who is due to start nursery mid February.
I'm due for baby number 2 end of March - is this too close to start my little boy to the arrival of his younger sibling?
The problem is with Christmas we have chaos with house guests and travelling until mid January! Then it's mid term so the head teacher suggested Feb 21 as a start date.
Thoughts?
I am wondering if I keep him at home until later and it's all settled down. Although I think he'd love it he doesn't tend to handle group situations well where he doesn't know an adult really well.
How long does it take an average child to settle at nursery?

Thanks so much for any advice / help..

I think in your situation I would send my ds to nursery in Feb, OK its change for him but change happens very rapidly with small children and they adapt very quickly.

My DD is at nursery and I found it very stabilising for her with regards to her brother arriving. She goes happily to nursery and it is her time, for me it has proven to be a good time to bond one on one with the new baby without any distractions or feelings of guilt.

If it makes any difference my dd when to a new nursery in January aged 2.1 and settled in within a week, and she only does 2 days in total. I really worried as my dd was quite similar about adults and groups of children, but I think if you like the nursery and are happy with it then he may settle quite quickly, also you have to remember that there will be new toys, and they have things like their own drawers for artwork and their own pegs so by "owning" part of the room they can sometimes settle a little easier.

Besides if it really doesn't work, surely he can come back home to you?

Thanks so much for this - it makes me feel much better knowing it is possible for them to settle relatively quickly - and you're so right - if it doesn't work I can always come up with another solution.
Have to bite the bullet sometime though!