Settling into childcare

[Newmamtoone]

Wondering if anyone has any experiences of a baby struggling to settle into childcare.
I’m back to work next week and I decided to spend a full month gradually settling my 10 month old baby into creche (nursery) before I returned to work. The first few weeks were very tough, she was very upset and not eating/sleeping very much in there. Her key worker is brilliant and always rings me if she feels she’s too upset, especially knowing I was off and could collect her.
After 2-3 weeks she became more settled and was doing longer days. Sleep and eating was still a bit hit and miss but she was happy which was the main thing initially for me.
Then last Friday evening she developed a temperature and had a runny nose for the weekend. She wasn’t massively ill but a bit run down and miserable so I kept her home Monday. Brought her back in Tuesday and she only lasted two hours, they said she cried all the time. The last two days haven’t been much better and she’s barely eaten a thing nor slept for longer than 20 mins while in creche. At home she is a bit unsettled too at times and I would definitely say her appetite isn’t great this week, but she’s for the most part happy and in good form, napping fine and no longer showing signs of illness.
I know the little headcold will have had an impact and she might still be feeling a bit crap even though her symptoms have gone.
But I’m just terrified now that we’re back to square 1 and I’m back to work next week so I won’t have the leeway to just collect her early.
I’m very happy with the creche itself, and there really aren’t any options in my area for different settings or childminders. I was expecting the first few weeks to be difficult but I wasn’t anticipating a setback like this after she had seemed to be settled.
Has anyone gone through something similar? Thanks.

Truthfully some little ones take a while to settle in. Mine did, took quite a long time. He also has a set back pretty much every time he had time off (sick or holidays) But I trusted that his childminder cared and that eventually he would settle and he did.

Her being sick has taken a step back but not back to the start. It's a horrible process and you'll likely both be upset at the start but it will get better again.

@talkalarm thank you for your response, I always feel so reassured by stories from other parents. I had heard so much about all the illnesses that come with starting in childcare and was prepared for that but hadn’t considered the impact of that on the settling process I guess. I trust her networker and do know in my heart she will settle but in my anxious moments the stories from others really help.

I completely understand how you feel. Mine is just starting school and then settling in process starts all over again!
Having trust and confidence in the setting makes all the difference, I hope you're both feeling better and settled soon. Good luck on the return to work.