Worried about DD starting nursery - WWYD?

[Tricksterfrickster]

Hi there. DD is 2.2 and is due to start nursery in September. The nursery only takes children at 2.6 so she can't start any sooner. I have been a SAHM with her, but am due to go back to work in the next month. However my partner is due to have our second baby at the end of July (same sex couple in case you were confused!), and the nursery have said they would prefer it if she was potty trained, which at the moment she is very resistant to.

So my worries are really there will be a lot of changes over the next couple of months, particularly with sibling being born and the switching of the SAHM! DD has always been incredibly clingy and won't let people other than friends and family she knows well touch her (even friends who have seen her every week since she was born can't hold her hand or pick her up without her screaming, she won't stay in the room with them if we leave it etc).

I really want to wait until January when she'll be nearer 3, hopefully better with people and adjusted to sibling and potty trained without the pressure of it having to be now. Do you think I'm being PFB or sensible? Some family and friends have said well she will just have to cry and get used to it, but nursery is for her benefit not ours and I want her to enjoy it and be ready! All advice gratefully received (but please be gentle if I'm being precious about it!)

Just to say that "they sit there drinking tea whilst their DC's wonder off/entertain themselves/play with each other, where as DD clings to me or demands I play with her whilst avoiding all other children and getting stressed by them. It made me feel so "different" and I got frustrated with DD on a few occasions, when really she can't help it when that's how she's made! " could be describing me and my DD (2.4). I'm not a SAHM, but both me and DH work part-time and my mum has her the other days. She will start the nursery class attached to primary school in Jan, when 3, which I thought was pretty normal if you don;t need it for childcare purposes. There is a playgroup which will take from 2 1/2 so we have toyed with the idea of doing that in Sept to get her used to being away from family, but not really looked into it yet, and would only be for 1 or 2 halfdays a week. I hadn't though to check about potty training with nursery though - we haven't started yet and DD gets quite cross about not wanting to sit on the potty or toilet if we suggest she tries it out, so I'm a bit nervous about it!

Wow, this thread has really reassured me, it's so nice reading all of your experiences and knowing I'm not alone (especially after a less than enjoyable day today with a friend and her children that DD didn't enjoy!) It seems she isn't alone in her outlook on the world, and it seems that around age 3 to 3.5 she may relax a little as she adjusts to the big wide world, so I'll try and relax and not worry (easier said than done!).

I wish I had asked sooner if other people had similar experiences to mine, it would have saved a lot of angst!