Advice about toddler starting nursery.

[Vsantanaxx]

So my son is just over 2 and will be starting nursery next week for 3 hours a day.. the nursery is very very good however I have a few concerns and would love anyone else who has dealt with this to be able to tell me how they handled it.

My son is very very attached to me and will only happily go to certain people . mainly family members.

I tried to do crech a while back to get him used to being around different people but every time they would call me and say he has cried until he sick , I know he is going to do this in nursery .

when we took him to sign up his older cousin was there so he ran off with him and played but about 20 minutes later he went off looking for me and became very tearful and when he doe start his cousin will not be there anymore.

I am really worried he is going to make himself sick every day and I dont want to upset him that much but I also really need him to go to nursery . I am looking to go back to work and also I dont think I can stimulate him enough and nursery will be good for him.

How long will it take for him to happily go? is there a chance he might just not be able to deal with it and Ill have to wait until he is 3 ??

I also NEED some time to myself,

Has he had settling in sessions? This is where they go for just an hour a couple of times a week for two or three weeks before they actually start. If no, could you see if he could do this, this week before he starts next week.

Have you told the nursery he's likely to do this? They might have strategies to deal with it.

Will he have a Key Worker? If so, they might become an adult he will go to, just like he will go to certain family members. The fact that he will go to certain other people he knows makes me think he'll be okay once the nursery staff become familiar faces to him. It might just take a while.

I agree with the above PP. Your son has got attached to family members, he will in the same way get attached to his key worker - they will become just like family to him. My DS cried at every drop off for ages, but he now knows all the staff and is happy to go to any of them there.

The key worker is lovely and I have told her how attached he is so she is prepared.

I just got an email this morning asking me to go in on Monday for an open day but not mention of warm up sessions. I will ask on Monday. Thank you

Also agree with pp's. You'll probably find that nursery are better equipped to cope with this issue. When I drop dd2 off at nursey she often cries but I know it's short lived. The only advice I can add is to try and keep your own emotions in check. If you're anxious they pick up on this so, as hard as it is, try to be really cheerful for the drop offs, full of excitement and don't linger. If possible give him something of comfort to take with him, mine has a rabbit thing. It's hard but once a routine is established it really gets easier, my first time I kept a brave face for drop off then cried all the way to work! Good luck!

Thanks everyone will let you know how it goes