experience of 6 month old in nursery

[iamusuallybeingunreasonable]

Desperately worried mummy, requiring some help on what will happen next week when I start settling my 6 month old baby onto nursery full time

I'm so wortied, I know its a good nursery, I just ferl lik3 although they are professionals, how will they be with the baby... I always knew it would be hard, shall we say my baby is a challenging one, sensitive, alot of
Tears, a lot of energy, how will I cope?!

From a nursery nurse point of view, what do babies get up to in the baby rooms?

I can only speak about the nursery I work in, but the baby room staff are fantastic with the babies. The babies get lots of cuddles and have lots of fun activities planned for them. They are given a key person and it is that person's job to help the baby settle in and to build up a relationship with the parents. We recognise that mums and dads need as much tlc when settling as the babies do. The key person will observe and plan for their babies and normally be a point of contact for the parents.
Our baby unit has 3 rooms: a big room with lots of toys, comfy chairs for the staff; a sleep room with cots that can also be used for extra play space if all the babies are awake; a room for eating with high chairs, low tables that can also be used for messy play, like painting or other sensory activities. There is also a seperate changing room and a seperate kitchen where snacks are prepared with the main lunch being prepard in the main kitchen.
The staff follow individual baby's routines with regards to eating and sleeping, so it is important that you let the nursery know what your requirements are for your baby.
There is also outside space that can be accessed everyday, as it is sheltered and is in astroturf as well as a sensory/ music room that the babies can visit for brief spells during the day. We also have triple buggies so that the babies can be taken on short walks in the local area, such as feeding the ducks or even to the local soft play.
I am sure that most nurseries do similiar stuff, you just need to ask them.
And don't worry that your baby is too challenging, the staff in the bay room will be used to it.

No real advice, just wanted to say that my DD started nursery at just before 6 months. It doesn't seem normal for babies to start that early (IME) but in my case I worked for an American company and I was already stretching my boss' patience by taking 6 months maternity leave. (He made me redundant 4 months later, but that's another story!)

Anyway, I was desperately worried about DD as she was still BF only (refusing bottle), no routine whatsoever, and couldn't even sit up unaided when she started. Was also a bit when her teenage key worker asked if she would have Weetabix for breakfast as we had only just started weaning and I was going with a gluten-free diet to 12 months due to coeliac disease in the family.

I spent the first week going in to nursery every day at lunch time to BF DD. It soon became clear that she was having a great time and not missing me in the slightest. I was worried about the older kids climbing all over her, but she solved that one by learning how to sit up unaided two days in. The nursery had a battery-powered baby swing and the older kids loved pushing her in that. After a while, she even began to take milk from a bottle and settle into a routine of sorts.

As for what they got up to, every day had a set "timetable" with different boxes of toys - about one per hour I suppose. So it would be musical instruments one hour, plastic food the next, etc etc, with the kids exploring it with their hands and mouths.

And I had NEVER thought to do painting with DD before she started there....was so proud when she brought her first painting home in the first week!

IME, starting nursery so early has made DD much more sociable and much less clingy to me. She has been through clingy phases from time to time, but never more than a week here or there and much much less than other kids I've seen start later on, once they're aware that Mummy's gone.

Which doesn't mean she doesn't love me - the look on her face when I pick her up is always the highlight of my day (now met by a shriek of "Mummy!").

Good luck. It is hard at first, but you and your baby will be fine. x

My DS started nursery at just under 6 months. He settled in amazingly quickly and loved it from the start. I think it helped him develop new skills quite quickly, as he saw all the other kids doing it! Within a few weeks of being there, he had miraculously started proper daytime naps (refused to do so at home before starting creche), was eating puree like a horse (was only partially weaned before starting creche), could sit up, roll both ways and was much more liberal with his smiles! I can honestly say that it has/is a great experience for both him and me/DH.

Regarding what he gets up to, DS's creche is a bit different (we're in Belgium) to the UK. They have 3 sections - one for little babies, one for smaller kids that can't walk yet but are active (crawling, etc), and one for older kids (up to 2.5 years when they leave for maternelle/pre-school). DS didn't spend long in the baby bit, but when he did there was generally someone with him/the other babies, playing with them on mats, with play arches, etc. Now he's in the middle bit, there are about 5 babies with him, and they have one person who sits and plays with them. If they're having an under-the-weather day they generally get a bit more attention and cuddles. But, all the staff are potty about babies and they all get plenty of cuddles and attention. Meals are done on a "the one who cries most or eats fastest gets fed first" basis, and the babies are put down for sleep when they act tired, not on a set schedule.

Ds always smiles at the nursery lady when I drop him off in the morning, and generally comes crawling at a rate of knots and laughing towards me in the evenings. I agree that it's hard at first (and you feel very guilty if they cry) but it gets better and you'll both be fine. Good luck!