Hi! Would really appreciate your thoughts
DD started nursery, late, age 3, in Jan. Started on half days and just before Easter break she went up to 5 x 'full' days. We got to an acceptable point but did find the full days harder and seemed happy on the short days. However since half term we are back to square one. Dad has been away so I'm not sure if this is making her feel a bit more vulnerable. DD is anticipating nursery and seems anxious, she asks the day before if she has nursery tomorrow, morning is full of reluctance and tears, she is withdrawn and quiet on the journey there, drop off is teary, yesterday she found it really difficult. Last week she told me that a boy spat at her at lunch. This morning I managed to convince her to go, we got to the walkway up and she spotted one of the other boys and got all anxious, said she's not going and said that the boy had hit her. She went all pale and withdrawn. She's usually really sociable and bright but I've seen this change in her. We took the day off which I know breaks the routine but it just did not feel right. She was immediately relieved and her chatty self. I know other kids behaviors like spitting and hitting are to be expected in nursery and may be it's just having had the break and dad being away all combined but she seemed petrified.
Have others gone through a similar patch during settling in? Am I being overly sensitive? I've spoken to the head about the spitting and she said she'd ask the teachers but I've not heard anything and really what can she say, likely he did spit. I got an impression that it was a good nursery, DD is likely used to the 1:1 with me and it's more daunting with the 1:8 ratio, they seem a little left to their own at times, obviously can't be watched all the time. Anyway I'm thinking about shifting her elsewhere and she has specifically asked about going to a different nursery repeatedly! I don't know what to do, I'll have to hunt for another place and there's no guarantee anywhere of well behaved kids! I've just picked up some extra work too thinking that I' have her settled on full days :(