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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Starting nursery at 2.5yrs old?

7 replies

monkey9237 · 18/10/2010 10:53

Hello all

My son is going to be 2.5 in January and we have found him a place at a nursery that we were very happy with (after quite a bit of searching), to start in January.

I don't know if it is me being pfb (probably) or if I have a legitimate question, but is 2.5 too young to start? I am now starting to think that he may be better off starting at age 3.

OK, he would only be going for 3 mornings a week anyway, from 8am to 12 noon, but as the January gets nearer I am starting to think he may not be ready because:

he is not yet potty trained (not that this is a requirement of the nursery, and he will only be there a few hours anyway)

he can be quite clingy sometimes (but is that just me dreading the 'first day at nursery' tug of war?!)

he has no brothers or sisters and we have not taken him to many playgroups as they are always on the days that DH and I are working, so he is not yet used to other toddlers very much.

I am being PFB aren't I... and silly...

Any advice gratefully received. I know that there are great benefits to him going to nursery for a few hours, but I am so worried that he isn't ready and will hate it. I suppose I won't know until we try him there... should I give the nursery a call and have a chat with them?

thanks!

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pinkyp · 18/10/2010 22:47

I had similar worrys when my boy started nursey. He was 3 and only just potty trained,but my biggest worry was that he didnt really interact with children (no siblings, friends same age etc). BUT i'm so glad he went he loves it!! Has never cried once! I think just try it and see how you get on at the end of the day if he doesnt settle wait til he's older.

Original poster

monkey9237 · 18/10/2010 22:58

Thankyou Pinkyp, great news about your son taking to it so well. I guess i need to try it in January and see how he is with it all, and if its really bad I will take him out and start him at 3. Its all such a worry!

Thanks again! :)

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pinkyp · 18/10/2010 23:02

he still doesnt interact like the others do but he'll now run over and copy them/want to play with what there playing with. For the first couple of weeks he wouldnt even acknowledge other children and would sit and play with the dolls house on his own so its such a big improvement. Give him a couple of weeks to 'settle in',hopefully he'll love being able to play all day :)

ThursdayNext · 18/10/2010 23:08

For mine 2.5 would have been too young, I think.
They would have found it quite stressful (in a small child sort of way) and I don't think they would have gained a lot from the experience. I don't think most 2 year olds particularly enjoy being with a group of other 2 year olds. By 3 or 3.5 they are starting to enjoy the company of other children more and there is usually a bit less shoving and pushing, they may be able to share a bit more etc.
Obviously depends on the child. You could try him and see how it goes, or just wait until he's a bit older.

Original poster

monkey9237 · 19/10/2010 08:52

Hi both and thanks again for the replies. I am thinking that he is a bit too young too, and ThursdayNext you make a good point about children being more "into" other children at about 3 as opposed to 2.5 yeard old.

I am going to call the nursery and talk to them about my concerns and ask what the ages of the others that will be in DS' class come January. I will also ask what financial penalty there will be if I defer his entry by 6 months!!

Thanks for the opinions, I appreciate it, I wasn't sure if I was just being OTT. Glad to know I had a point to some extent!

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UnseenAcademicalMum · 20/10/2010 22:23

Presumably the nursery will offer you some kind of settling in period, where you build up to leaving him for a full morning? The nursery I used for ds1 had the child at the nursery for 1 hour with you there with them, then for 1 hour whilst you went away, then for 2 hours. It was possible to arrange extra settling in sessions if a child didn't seem to be too settled at first.

I think some children take to nursery like ducks to water, whilst others take longer. DS1 was at nursery in the mornings from 6 months until he started school. He loved it (though there were some teething problems at first). When he started school he was so confident is comparison with other children who hadn't been to nursery and it was all generally a good experience for him.

DS2 otoh is about the same age as your ds (2.5 years) and has never been to nursery. He is much more clingy and seems less ready to go. I don't know how much of this is because he has never been to nursery and how much is just him. I am hoping to start him for a couple of hours a day in the new year and see how it goes.

Maybe just take it slowly and see.

Original poster

monkey9237 · 20/10/2010 23:18

Hi there Unseen, thanks for the advice, i gave the nursery a call and tdlked iver mycincerns snd they were great, said that they would have support for children settling in and that it was dine slowly and gently. I will only tske him for a couple of hours the first week then build up at his own pace from there. They said I could call them as many times as I wanted to check on DS once he was there.

They were very understanding. I am still worried and will take him out if he really hates it, but as you suggest yourself, if he sticks with it, he should be so much better off when he starts school. I hope all goes well with your DS2 in the new year too. Thank you again :)

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