Talk to me about putting your under one into Nursery

[mrsmugoo]

I had always planned to return to work two days a week when DS was about 7/8 months old but have his grannies look after him on those two days, then put him into Nursery when he was a year.

Circumstances have changed somewhat though and I'm now making arrangements to return to work 3 days a week ASAP (he's currently 6.5 months).

How did you find your little one adapted to being away from you, especially if they were still being breastfed? What about naps? Also how do you deal with them inevitably falling asleep in the car on the way home an hour out from bedtime?

All these details are worrying me…would love to hear some experiences.

I put DS into childcare at 6.5 months for two days a week, he had a few days to settle in and then was absolutely fine I think I was more worried than he was. He was FF which I think made easier but I do know people that put the children into childcare around that age who expressed and that worked out pretty well for them. DS is at a childminders which I think may be easier for me but in hindsight nurseries are open all year round, they don't take holidays and are open later so financially if you can afford nursery that is probably what I would recommend.

Please feel guilty for going to work because I think it's that's a good example and has done my DS no harm.

go to visit the nursery and ask to see the baby room. Talk to the staff. you will find that they are way ahead of you on all this, assunming its a good nursery.

Nap time is adorable in nursery. The member of staff on duty has to walk round every ten minutes checking that the babies are breathing nicely and are warm etc, and otherwise they sit quietly in the same room doing prep for the activities later on: they dont just bugger off to the staff room for a coffee

They are totally used to giving expressed BM.

And your LO will get cuddled like you won't believe

My DS started nursery at that sort of age and TBH he adapted very quickly and it was much easier than at 10 months (when DD started).

The DC were both b/f and both changed their feeding cycles to feed mostly when they were with me. DS did have a bottle of formula at nursery (for some reason he was fine with formula but not EBM from a bottle), DD refused to entertain the thought of a bottle and simply had no milk during the day (she would take water from a cup though).

I found that they napped differently than they did at home, but it never caused a problem as they adapted naturally. The falling asleep before I wanted them to was a bit of a problem, but tbh when they were young it just meant they had a slightly later bedtime (which was nice anyway as I got more time with them!). It was more of an issue when they got to about 2, when falling asleep meant they wouldn't go to bed until about midnight!!

My eldest went to nursery at 1 (FT) and my youngest started at 5 months (2 days). I breast feed him and I used to express milk for them to give him. I found I pumped better when using a manual pump on one side and baby feeding on another (taking advantage of let down). So I never wasted a lot of time pumping. Also it got very easy when he was on regular meals around 6/7 months as he only wanted one milk in the afternoon.

Now youngest is 13 months and big sis is 2.3 years. I use CM and a nursery. We just moved and they settled really well into their new childcare settings. Even on holiday they both settled in creche well on the one morning we used it. Anecdotedly I have heard it's easier on the children if you use childcare earlier rather than later. what I mean is that it's easier to settle a 1 yr old into nursery than a 2 yr old.

Anyway I would definitely research all options as early as possible to make sure you get a place in a nursery you like. I like the mix of CM and nursery, and the kids love their CM, you can tell when we drop them off. I also have nursery 2 days for social interaction and forest school. I used to feel guilty but now I don't.

DS has been in nursery since 6mths (he's 8m now) and settled in really well. He loves it and is flourishing.

However, the illnesses are also flourishing, he's had chicken pox, a couple of colds and is off sick (again) with a bug now.

It seems in the first few months nursery is an expensive way to have to take time off work and get to look after your own sick child!

breatfed a bottle refuser and she went to full time nursery at 10 months...

they gave her milk in a beaker and she took maybe 1 or 2oz all day, but then reverse cycled and it all MILK PARTYYYY when I was with her again (and at night) but then it settled again...

do visit the nursery and ask about things like sleep room - mine had separate sleep rooms but they could also have her sleep in a bouncer

in my nursery they also had the sleep room with video monitors and someone went round every few minutes anyway...

Oh lovey you sound very stressed by it all, I was exactly the same but my DS settled in absolutely fine at 7 months old for 3 days per week.

I think if anything it helped with the settling that he was so young, remember at that age they have no concept of time. At 7 months I didn't get the tears as I was leaving, that sometimes the older children would do.

He didn't nap as much at nursery but had enough and just had longer naps on non-nursery days to compensate for it. Occasionally he would fall asleep on the way home and as someone said upthread, it just meant he got to stay up a bit later, which was great for me as it meant I got more precious time with him.

I was FF by that point, but the staff are usually used to both.

He had great fun going and enjoyed all the messy play activities that I tried to avoid at home , smearing mashed potato and jelly everywhere, finger painting etc.

Fully agree to having back up plans for your first 6 months, where they seem to catch everything going (and you, so get yourself dosed up on vitamins). All good now though and he rarely catches anything.

I spoke with my doctor about the constant bugs the babies pick up in nursery. He says it is a good thing in a way as it builds up their immune system and it's better to have the time off now and not when they start school. BTW you can vaccinate against chickenpox privately once your child turns 1. We have just done this for ours. It's not cheap but it's less expensive than taking unpaid leave to care for them when they have it, plus they never have to suffer from chickenpox.

Thanks for the replies. Have visits to 4 nurseries lines up over the next couple of weeks.

Ds went for 2 days a week from 9.5 months. Loved it from first session. Breastfeeding was fine-sent him with a couple of formula feeds (couldn't really be bothered expressing) and he fed from me fine afterwards.
I did have to express at work for the first couple of weeks to relieve discomfort but it settled down after that.
Naps-nursery were fantastic-sorted him out with regular ones where I'd failed a bit!
Wrt the car journey home-yes this was tricky but plenty of fresh air, chatting and a drink generally kept him awake.

i went for a childminder was more personal and could attend to more individual needs imo

The earlier they go the easier they settle. You will work out a routine that suits you. Mine had naps at their normal time

Mine started with a childminder 4 days per week at 6 months and had previously only been breastfed on demand. Luckily he takes a bottle. He is fine but I'm struggling with jealousy that she spends all day with my gorgeous son while I work! Also struggling with tiredness as I still breastfeed on demand all night! He's 8mo now. With my next I'm definitely taking a year. But for me a childminder was best this time.

I'm seeing a potential childminder too actually but in my head I always imagined him in a nursery, I don't know why!

Both of mine went to nursery full time from 8 and 9 months. It was totally the right thing for me, a variety of styles of looking after and strengths, they both had a ball. They were great about dietary restrictions and blw ( when it was in its infancy and I was considered weird!) yes, they did come down with all kinds of bugs but it gave them a decent immune system that has seen them have hardly any time off school now.

Good luck, it's not an easy choice and everyone always wants to have their say!

DD has been in nursery since 4 months. She loves it there, enjoys all of the staff and has amazing bonds with a few key ones - I think because they've known her since she was so young. They know her as well as I do.

She thrives at nursery and they do so many more/different things with her than I'd have thought to do (or would want to do in the house - like messy play!)

I love how happy she is in nursery and am sure it's because she started quite early.

Little one went at 10 months. A couple of weeks to settle in. Bottle fed. They generally don't nap well so fall asleep in car on way home. Put in cot for an hour when home and then get them up and they go to bed slightly later than normal .loves nursery now at 18 months. Eats better there and is more cooperative during nappy changes

Update: I have found the perfect nursery that I just fell head over heels for, it's just lovely!

DS is starting in a month 2 days a week and one day a week with grandparents.

I'm more worried about the grandparent day than I am about the nursery days now!

Excellent news! I fell in love with ds's nursery when he crawled off and ignored me, and I could see there was always at least one staff member with a baby or two on them.

I left him in the baby room while I was shown around the rest of the building and he hardly noticed I'd gone - in fact he didn't want to leave all their lovely toys behind!