Settling in?

[RosyJ]

Hello,

My son (13 months) is about to go into nursery full time when I go back to Uni in september, and obviously I'm very nervous. I am feeling a little bit worried about the settling in process, which is 3 mornings, 10-12. After this he goes in from 9 till 5, and it just seems like a big jump to me! Is this a normal process and will he cope?! I am feeling so worried about leaving him- will he sleep/eat/cry all day etc. I also have a irrational worry that he will get forgotten about or ignored

We're just starting the settling in process Rosy and we have six sessions over a 3 week period, starting at an hour & getting progressively longer each time. However, the nursery have said they are v happy to fit in more if it's needed.

In fact, our first one went so well we stayed an extra 20 minutes altho' I didn't leave DD who's 9 months. Her next one I left for 30 mins but came back to be told she was right as rain a couple of minutes after I left, so I left it another 30 minutes and sje was fine.

I was expecting mega tears as she's not good at being left. I think the other babies were enough of a distraction to keep her interested. She didn't take her bottle tho' at the time she normally would and the girls said it wasn't unusual as most children only really settle properly once the settling in period is over and they are into a real routine. I'm still worried she won't eat or drink but am fortunate that she'll only be there 4 hours so could probably cope till I pick her up.

Ask if they are happy for you to have more sessions if it's necessary and what they do for babies who won't eat, sleep etc. Mine are happy for you to phone at any time to check how baby is doing and will phone if they are not settling after a while or become really upset during the day and can't be consoled.

I'm happier than I expected to be at this stage, but it is v hard.

I was shocked that they only did half days at ours as well. The manager arranged for her to do one full day in addition (at no extra cost) as I expressed my concerns to her.

DD was actually fine from the first moment we arrived and loves it there still. We have the odd problem but overall I am happy to have her there as I know she enjoys herself and loves the workers.

They also got her to sleep her first session without me. Completely unheard of before!

Hmm does this sound like too short a settling in period then? I'm fine leaving him for a couple of hours, even on the first day, its just I would like to build up to a full day rather than chucking him in the deep end. He won't get an opportunity to sleep or anything either. I feel like I haven't had a proper opportunity to talk to the staff about him, explain how he eats/gets off to sleep and things. I'm not sure if I can go through with this now

I have settled ds1 into 2 different nurseries and both wanted us to go for a slightly longer time each day for a week. I think it depends very much on the individual child as to how much settling in they need.

For a child that age I think I would want them to put him to sleep there at least once and give him a meal. I think that you should ask them if that's possible. I would think around 4 hours, maybe 10.30 - 2.30 would be OK. I'm not sure that a child that age really knows the difference between being left for 4 hours and being left for a full day. I would be concerned if they aren't willing to do a longer period.