Nursery Experiences-9 Month Old

[Dexy2020]

Hi
My 9 month old little boy is due to start nursery at the beginning of November when I return to work, he will be going 2 days a week. Very nervous about leaving him as he known to be a little mummys boy and is quite clingy, really don't want him to be sad although I imagine we may have some tears. Anybody got any experiances of sending their babies to nursery??
Thank you very much 🥰

I’ve had two babies now go at similar ages. One much more clingy than the other, both previously bf only! Is your nursery doing settling in?

Hi @Debradoyourecall thanks for your reply. Yes we've got 2 next week Tuesday and Thursday 10 till 11:30 I think we will be there for the majority of the first one getting to know the key worker but not sure about the 2nd 🥰xx

Mine went from 9 or 10 months. She was full-time so settled quickly, might take a little longer with only two days a week but he'll get there. My DD absolutely loved it after a quiet first few days, we very rarely had tears at drop off. She's still there now at 2.5 and clearly prefers nursery days to the weekend with boring mum and dad.

@Dexy2020 that’s great that they are doing settling in, I’ve heard that with Covid some nurseries aren’t doing any settling in sessions.

There may be tears but leave with a big smile and a wave and tell him you’ll be back.

@MindyStClaire 😂that's very reassuring to hear thank you! I also worry he's never going to sleep when he is there it's taken a lot of hard work to get him to sleep in his cot at home, he now gets put in a sleeping bag, read him a story, put him in a pitch black quiet room in his cot and leave, he may have a whinge for 5-10 minutes but does go off, not sure how he's going to be there he's been very much a nap resister as it is 😂xx

@Debradoyourecall yes I think we've got lucky in that respect 🥰OK will do that :) I'm sure he will love it in the end will just take a bit of readjustment I imagine xx

My son went to nursery 2 days a week from 8 months, he did the full day, 7:30-6.
He did a couple of settling in sessions and probably took a couple of weeks to understand that I was going to come back for him and I wasn’t just leaving him there to fend for himself!
The nursery he went to was really good with communication which I think was a key thing for me, they could tell me to the minute about playing, sleeping, eating, nappies, they look lots of pictures, it have me faith that he was having a good time.
After a couple of weeks he would stretch himself from my arms to his favourite lady as soon as we got there! Couldn’t wait to go with her!

@MonkeyPuddle ahhh that's really great to hear!! 😍I think our nursery are going electronic and will upload his days activities on there I'm not too sure how it's going to work yet 😂xx

Mines a bit younger - 7 months. He LOVES it. There may well be tears but what I found comforting was that the nursery staff were all so great. Within 30mins I had pictures through on the app they use of him playing. I think a good tip would be to keep you leaving short - a kiss, a hug and say you'll be back later. Long drawn out goodbyes do nobody any good.

[quote Dexy2020]@MindyStClaire 😂that's very reassuring to hear thank you! I also worry he's never going to sleep when he is there it's taken a lot of hard work to get him to sleep in his cot at home, he now gets put in a sleeping bag, read him a story, put him in a pitch black quiet room in his cot and leave, he may have a whinge for 5-10 minutes but does go off, not sure how he's going to be there he's been very much a nap resister as it is 😂xx[/quote]
They'll find their own jam for getting naps done. Nursery will have had dozens of kids they've had to get to nap!

@Letsallscreamatthesistene that's good advice thank you! Arr I'm glad your little one enjoys it :) makes it so much easier dropping them off doesn't it 😍
@00100001 haha my other half keeps telling me this 😂Il be shocked when they tell me he's actually sleeping soundly haha xx

Yeah definitely no long goodbyes. Cheerful kisses and cuddles. Our nursery also had us take in pictures of ourselves which they laminated so he could see us through the day which was sweet.
DS only ever napped on me before nursery, but they had a lovely little darkened room, played bloody whale music! He slept beautifully.

@MonkeyPuddle 😂😂That's so funny!! (whale music) it's so strange how differently they behave for different people bless them 🥰xx

That sounds like an easy napper compared to many tbh if he goes off by himself without being rocked or breastfed etc.

Agree with a quick and cheerful drop off, and then a longer pickup if you can. I think it does them good to see mummy and daddy chatting with the staff and in their room, gives nursery a parental stamp of approval if that makes sense. But obviously that needs to be balanced against the staff workload and covid restrictions.

I've had 2 babies go to nursery at 8 months. Neither of them cried at all... in fact I almost felt insulted that they were so relaxed to be leaving me as I'd never left them with anyone else!

My daughter is 3 now, but when she first started she was an appalling sleeper. the staff were brilliant and are used to dealing with problem sleepers... she was sleeping well there within a week or so... and they did it without the white noise, dummy, black our blinds etc that I thought were necessary!

I really thought my son who was a clingy baby, might take a few days to settle there without me, in comparison to my daughter. But no, he was the same... smiley and happy throughout the settling in sessions and ever since. A few months on and he couldn't be happier or doing better. The constant games and messy play etc is brilliant for them.

They both went 4 days a week to begin with before moving to 5 days, which I think does help them to settle quicker into the routine. And I suspect going at 8/9 months is actually advantageous as it's before the real separation anxiety phase kicks in. Whilst some babies do definitely seem to take a couple of weeks to adapt to nursery, and there may well be some tears, try not to project your feelings on to them as they need to see mummy as happy and confident when you hand them over. But it's natural to feel anxious and emotional about nursery and returning to work. Whilst neither of my babies cried... I did. A lot. Just not in front of them!!!

Mine went from 6m. Both clingy and breastfed bottle refusers so getting them to drink took a while but they coped. Tears at drop off most days for a while but after first few days was told that within 5 mins they stopped. And when I arrived they rarely even noticed me so clearly weren’t desperate to leave!

Both mine refused to nap for me except on me or while moving in car or pram but soon napped at nursery - I think even at young age it’s a “peer pressure” type thing as it’s just part of the routine and they all nap together.

@MindyStClaire it's taken a lot to get here literally used to have to do all naps in the pram on a walk or in the car and they were very short, only really over the last few weeks started to lengthen with a lot of perseverance with the cot, plus he's a lot more tired now he's crawling and pulling himself up on everything 😂definately will keep the goodbye short makes a lot of sense 🥰xx
@itshappened arrrr that sounds fantastic!! Think there may be a little sob back in the car in my behalf aswell 😂😂xx
@AliMonkey awww not the fighting past the other kids to get to mummy you were expecting, I bet my little boy will be like that 😂little monkeys!! Glad to hear they got them napping tho 😍xx
All lovely replies thanks everyone xx