What was settling in like at your dcs nursery?

[Fugghetaboutit]

Ds is due to start nursery in a few weeks. He's 2.5 and never been to any kind of nursery or crèche but is a very confident, independent lad.

They said he can do a shorter day to start but I won't need to stay at all. I thought parents might stay for an hour or so to help ?

At my DD's nursery there is an adaptation period, first day you leave the child for 15 minutes, second day for 30 minutes, third day for an hour. Then they review how things are going. At first I thought this was a terrible idea and wanted to stay with her, but we tried it and it worked really well. Coincidentally a year later she had to go to a different nursery with a different process, they asked me to stay with her, but this was a disaster. Even after a week she would not leave my side and we ended up giving up on the whole thing.

I imagine different things work for different children and it's important for the nursery to be flexible.

My DS was 3 when he started, our nursery operates a similar policy to that of Booboostwo, and it worked brilliantly!!! My DS's keyworker was amazing, and the nursery were really good throughout!! 4 months later, my DS is happily settled, adores keyworker & all the staff and has made lots of new friends!!! Agree with Booboostwo, its really important the nursery are flexible.....what works for one, doesnt work for all!!! Goodluck x

Thank you, I'll ask them about that as it seems sensible. I don't want to stay the whole time or leave straight away so that sounds like a good compromise.

It sounds like your son will love nursery. Speak to the staff if you have any concerns about the first few days.

Both of my kids got very excited about certain toys the nursery had that we didn´t have at home and were desperate to go back and play with them; some of my friends said the same about their children.

Good luck!

Thank you! He is very excited and is a sociable little thing so is definitely ready :)

I let parents stay if they want to, but the child doesn't really settle at all with parents there. It's not until the parents leave them alone that they start to find their feet and settle in. It can also be disruptive for other children if there is a strange adult there. Staff will also be distracted, because while you are there, you are unfortunately a security risk.

That's what I was worried about too. He's very confident so I might just stay for 15 mins and tell him I'll see him soon?

My son's preschool is letting me stay for as long as it takes for him to settle. For the whole session or an hour etc. They said they would play it by ear and see how he went.

Mine had 2, 1 hour settling sessions. They asked if I wanted to stay and I did. It was for my own peace of mind as well - I needed to see him off playing happily. He sat next to me for 10 mins the first time then left me straight away the second time. I've also paid for an extra month before I needed it so I can build up slowly but tbh he's totally happy so far so probably didn't need it. Mine is younger though and should be in the middle of separation anxiety.

At both nurseries DS has been to he's had three settling in visits - 1st one is a short visit (1 hour), parent stays and talks to key worker about likes/routine etc, 2nd visit child stays alone for an hour or so, 3rd visit child stays alone for longer, including lunch but parent stays local so they can be called in if child gets upset.