Stressing about daughter starting nursery...success stories and tips needed please!

[LadesC]

Hi everyone.....my daughter is 10months old and will be starting nursery at the start of September when I return to work 3 days a week. To prepare her I started going to the stay and play session at thr nursery last week and ever since I cant stop thinking about it and getting upset. Shes bf and am currently trying to get her to take milk from a cup which is going ok after lots of previous refusals. However mainly cos of bf Ive only left her once (with her dad) for about 5 hours but also we have no family locally to leave her with. Im so worried about how she will ever settle after being with me for so long. Shes very sociable and smiley but thats when Im there too. Im crying about it whenever I think about it and dont want to ruin the remaining 2.5months mat leave. Please tell me itll be ok if youve been thru similar or any other tips to help prepare her.

Oh poor you, that must have been stressful for you. How were the nursery about it? Hopefully the half days will help, I think there's something about them getting used to the fact that you will come back to get them which they learn to get used to, but obviously it's hard until they learn that.
I really hope it gets easier for you soon. It's so hard knowing they are upset but it will really be worth it when they settle into it. I think as they get older and more interested in toys/playing with other children it becomes more enjoyable, and certainly once they are crawling/walking they can interact with the staff and children more which will help. My DD still isn't crawling so I think gets overwhelmed quite easily and can't do anything about it, so again, I think when she develops it will get better.
Thinking of you! Xxx

My youngest made a fuss on settling for 1 month.... Now he runs in shouts bye bye mummy and doesn't want to leave!

Well thought I would update if anybody is interested.

We have been taking it really easy... Half days building up to full days. Well last Thursday he didn't cry when I dropped him off I couldn't believe it. I actually turned around waiting for him to cry but he just looked at me like 'see you later mum!'. He has been playing and eating and more and more settled as the days have gone on.

The only issue we have now is he keeps fighting his naps. He has a minimum of 2 hour long nap usually so the fact that he's not napping at nursery is adding to his grouchiness in the evenings. I guess he's just going to have to learn to shut off for a bit.