Tell me your child's nursery experience

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Ds is due to start nursery next term where he will be almost 3. He still naps, bf (for comfort), loves children, has a short attention span, can be a little devil especially when tired, not toilet trained, strong willed, has boundary issues and is very active and won't keep still or sit down. So I'm kind of worried about the issues we will face when he starts. He loved the nursery viewing and just mingled with the kids straight away and cried as our tour was over but I know once the novelty wears off, we are going to struggle getting him through the doors each morning as he knows what he will face for the day.

Please share any advice or your personal experience if you've had the same worries and how it turned out eventually :)

Is he going all day? My DD could only cope with half days at first, if that's an option, do it. It's helpful for them if they get tired.

He sounds very normal.
Yes, he might cry for the first couple of days.
Rule of thumb: if he's still crying and peering out of the window looking for you when you go back for him, and it goes on for a while, there's a problem. (He won't be)

He'll be going for short periods of time first presumably?

"know once the novelty wears off, we are going to struggle getting him through the doors each morning as he knows what he will face for the day"

You don't know that at all. It might become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you somehow communicate your anxiety to him though.

Slightly different as DD started at 12 months when I imagine settling in might be a bit easier. But she loved it from day 1 and that never changed - not all of them dread it! As a PP said, I would try not to dwell on that possibility in case he picks up on it.

Why do you think you'll have issues at drop-off? Try not to think that as he'll pick up on your anxieties, you have to just drop off with a cheery smile and run. It sounds like he's a normal three year old who's very ready to start nursery. (What three year old doesn't have boundary issues... that's the whole point of that age!)

He may surprise you, kids generally adapt well and it's better to get him used to it now so school isn't such a shock. My eldest went to nursery from 11 months and loved it from the start. He used to cry if other children got near him at baby groups so I was worried but he overcame this very quickly once he started nursery and is now very sociable. The novelty may well not wear off. All those fun activities and different toys to play with each day is pretty exciting plus constantly having others to play with. Good luck!

DS is nearly 2 and started going to nursery from 6.5 months. The novelty still hasn't worn off - he loves it. We changed nurseries when he was 18 months and it was obviously an adaptation and I was really worried, but he has settled (again) really well.

Hello everyone, thank you for your responses and apologies for the time it has taken me to answer as I believe I may have switched off the mn notifications He is going to start full days as the half day is only 3 hours and it's not worth going and coming back for it but I have spoken to the nursery to do the first week or so half days just to get him into the routine whilst settling.

He is normally meant to start in Sept but I wanted to register him a term earlier as it will be the spring/summer term and they have a lovely beautiful playground with plenty of activities and loads of little trips to the local park as well so I thought it help him settle better as he loves the outdoors and playing instead of waiting for sept where it gets colder, darker and wet.

They tend to do settling in sessions for a week or two, are they doing this?

Top tip.
Drop at door and go. No waiting round, looking in window.
(1 week of some tears is all we had)
You'll be more anxious than him, this is normal, don't let him pick up on it.

My DS absolutely loves it and doesn't look back at me when I drop him at the door.

I thought my DD would have problems as she's very similar to your DS. However she has never once cried and is so happy to go. She only goes once a week and is dropped off at around 7.30am and collected at 5.30pm. Apparently she gets tearful when the other children get picked up earlier than her but is generally really happy.
My main tip is to not let him pick up on your worries. You need to be super positive about it running up to it, when you leave him AND collecting him.
Saying that if he doesn't settle within a few weeks trust your gut as sometimes the nursery doesn't fit the child. It sounds really positive that he's had such a good experience so far. Maybe talk to him lots about how much fun he had?

Both went to the same local nursery. It was originally second choice for our eldest as the nursery we originally enrolled them in changed hands and was bought out was was just AWFUL.

The new one opened and was quite pretentious bollocksy but had a really warm and holistic feel. Both children ADORED it, the staff were amazing, they were so well cared for, learnt so much. There were only ever 15 kids in each room max, never seemed to be short staffed and the girls always seemed to genuinely like working there. They were really great about flexibility, management were lovely, they frequently had activities planned so they did trips, brought people in to do animal activities or music classes, dances etc. The preschool taught basic maths and reading and writing. Both kids knew how to read/write their names and had studied SATPIN phonics. Could count confidently and freely and my eldest knew odds and even numbers but they’ve always been weirdly good at maths like their dad. It always wasn’t overly expensive. It was 50 a day when my eldest went and 55 when my youngest went which around here was quite relative. They also provided all food and nappies and wipes up to age 3. Always supported routines and wanted to know of any changes going on at home. They always asked how they’d slept too which was a really nice touch.

I was genuinely devastated when they left because the nursery had been so brilliant. My youngest once told me during a temper tantrum I was fired from being their mum and ‘Megan’ (their key worker) was going to be their new mummy because they loved her more.

I’d say that was a win.

Both my kids loved nursery. They went from about 1 yo, I used to have to drag them out at the end of the day most days. It was a superb nursery. They made friends there that they are still friends with now.

We have only had a tour so far with this nursery so it's a couple of months before he actually starts. We agreed we would put him in this nursery to start in April and see how it goes. We have a couple of more tours next month but they are only available from September but I still wanted to check the other nurseries as well just in case he isn't happy in the one we are planning to send him to and then he can go and start with another one in September if that happens.

This nursery has a lovely large open plan space with great activities, great playground/garden and they have a lovely large quiet/nap room as well. They cook their own meals via the main school and give snacks and generally looks fun and positive.

I've been to a couple of more nurseries which were one of those large terraced houses (London) converted into a nursery and all the rooms were on different levels and it all seemed very small and basically like a small flat. So I immediately knew our active little ds wouldn't be happy there as he wouldn't want to be constrained into a small room. I think on the first few days ds would literally run towards the nursery and won't look back at me but then I'm anxious when the novelty wears off he might be much more clingy. I guess I might be very emotional at first and probably would get used to it by the time ds becomes clingy :)