Switching nursery at this stage?

[jinglebells123]

Looking for some views on this.

My dd is 3 and has been at the same nursery since she was 9 months old. She loves it and has made a really close friend who is pretty much the only person she bothers with - she'll partake in group activities but mostly, she just likes to play with her buddy.

The nursery is good. I've no major complaints - staff turn over can sometimes be high and there was a period of about 6 months where it fell like all of the staff were leaving. Just this week there has been another announcement that one of the staff in dd's room is leaving.

I'm not 100% sure who dd's key worker is - I don't think it really matters that much as it's a small nursery and the staff all know the children - the girl who I suspect is her key worker, don't ask me why but I've never warmed to her, neither has dd but there are plenty of other staff who she does love (at least for now).

Other than items occassionally getting lost and one instance where they forgot to give dd dinner that I'd provided (that never happened again). Having spoken to some of the other mums though I've heard some horror stories of kids being sent home soaked in their own urine and staff not always taking kids to the toilet when they ask - my dd is strong willed and will just head of to the toilet herself giving staff no option but to take her.

I'd already been thinking about whether I should move dd as the nursery she's currently at isn't our local nursery so literally none of the kids will be going to the same school as her.

There is a nursery just a short walk from our home that is effectively the feeder nursery for her school - it has pretty positive reviews but is much busier than where she is now - do you think at this age it would be a big upheaval to move her or do I put that off until she start school?

My DD moved nursery at nearly 4 and did one year at the new one. She then started school knowing no one at all. She was absolutely fine with both moves and her teacher said it is hard to tell which children have been together before.

Thank you Admiral. I think it's the strong connection she has with her friend that worries me most although they won't go to the same school so they'll need to get split up at some point - they talk constantly about each other and we go on play dates etc and have a lovely wee bond - I'd worry that she's move and not find that same sore of friendship which is silly as she is only 3!!

I would keep her where she is. I don't think there's much advantage to her knowing loads of children in her class. She'll make friends when she gets there. Mine went to a small private nursery, not the nursery in the village where her school is. She started school knowing two other children (one she doesn't especially like though because he's a bit of a bully). They have lots of settling in days before school starts where they can get to know the other children. And she fast became friends with several other girls in her class and it was an easy transition. I think keeping things stable and familiar now is much more important than knowing more children before they start, as long as you aren't unhappy with your nursery.