Son starts nursery in 2 weeks - hold my hand please!

[chargedproton]

My son will start nursery in September but I have decided to do 2 mornings a week for two weeks so he starts his settling sessions in two weeks and I’m dreading them!

I feel so teary eyed. He’s quite good at not crying when I leave him with family etc but he’s such a mummies boy that when he gets hurt, wants milk, wants to sleep...he wants mummy!

I’ll be doing 3 long days so he’ll be in nursery from 7:30am - 5:30pm. Which is a long day!

I just feel awful about it. They will look after him won’t they? He’ll be okay won’t he? He won’t hate me?

This was the exact same situation I was in a few months ago with DD.

I do three long days so she goes to nursery 8-5 (some days we pick her up early).

Settling in was hard, she was teething and didn’t nap much. I was worried how they would get her to sleep. She had colic and is a Mummy’s girl, always breastfeeding and still gets upset if I leave the room sometimes.

BUT. 3 months in. She absolutely loves nursery and is bonded with her key worker so well. She doesn’t even cry when I leave and says ‘bye bye’ with a smile most days.

She’s such a confident sociable girl and is so advanced for her age. I love our days together but I honestly think she would be bored if I was a SAHM - and I really did consider it (and still do sometimes!). She spends her days painting, playing outside, hanging out with the older pre- schoolers some days. She’s settled in so well and I’m really proud when I go to pick her up and they all wave her off and know her name.

He will be fine. Just make sure you’re 100% happy with the nursery, and his key worker- I think having that bond is so important especially when they are settling in. Make sure you have a comforter for him to take- a teddy or blanket. Luckily DD started taking a dummy at 8/9 months which helped us massively.

That was really long and waffly but I do know how you’re feeling! It still breaks my heart some days but I know that for now I’m definitely doing the right thing. Plus some Mums have to do full time so I try to remind myself how fortunate I am.

Good luck.

I'll be in this situation in January. I'm not looking forward to it but I honestly believe he'll thrive having a few days in a nursery environment. He'll get to do so much stuff that he wouldn't at home and will get to socialise with other children.

Good luck