Would you transfer?

[NeedACleverNN]

Dd used to love going to nursery. Happy to go and excited to go. She transferred across to the pre-school section about 6 weeks ago and cries every time we take her. She keeps pointing to the nursery and says she wants to go back to that one.

There's nothing wrong with the pre-school. The staff say she's happy when we leave and she gets on but it's awful to have her cry every time we leave her. The room is actually quite small for the amount of children there is and the outdoor area is tiny. She does have one friend there but I think she just interacts with other children as she goes along.

There is another pre-school that is just around the corner. They focus a lot on out door learning and the outside area is huge. They have a fenced off pond and rabbits and are very animal based. Dd loves animals. I'm tempted to put her on the waiting list and get her transferred across to them.
Would you?

How long will she be in the pre-school? If it's only a year I wouldn't move her, especially if you have to wait for a space beyond this September.

The transition to school will come around pretty quickly too and that's a lot of change.

She doesn't start school until 2017 so has another year yet

Also the waiting list shouldn't be too long either. If i put her name down now she should be able to start in September

If you think she's be happier elsewhere then I'd move her I think. A year is a long time for a preschooler to be unhappy.

You're not committing yourself to anything by putting her on the waiting list so I'd definitely do that and then see how you feel when/if a place comes up.

Good idea actually. She may settle between now and a place coming up

Well we rang and we are going to look round again in two weeks so Dd can have look herself

What made you choose the current nursery over the animal one in the first place? Has situation changed?
Personally I would wait & see - a lot of the current pre-school room will start school in September so if on 15hrs funding will be gone in a few weeks.
She's gone from being one of the oldest with familiar staff to one of the youngest with unfamiliar staff & probably fewer staff/less attention.
If you trust the nursery then leave her to settle imo. Maybe set a deadline of x weeks & make a decision then?

What made you choose the current nursery over the animal one in the first place? Has situation changed?

At the time at looking at nurseries it looked too big. Very impressive but too big. They also had set nap times which if Dd wanted to nap wouldn't have worked. The other nursery was a lot smaller and had a sleep when you need policy (not that she ever used it)

She is staying at the current pre-school over the next term and see if she settles anymore. If she is still anxious about it, come September she will start at the new one. If she settles she can stay where she is

Sounds like a good solution

When did nursery times change to set hours?

Last year it was set your own hours between the hours of...

Now it seems every nursery has a policy of set hours you chose from

We moved DD1's nursery when the old one didn't look like it would meet her needs. It is one of the best decisions we've made as parents - she settled really well and adored the staff at the new one.