37 weeks and DD hating nursery

[CBB2021]

Hi all

DD is 22 months and has been extremely unsettled at nursery, they’ve said she’s been quite tricky but think it’s all just down to picking up on the fact that a new baby is coming. One of the girls today was reassuring and said they see it all the time. She goes 4 days a week and I’ve just finished work for Mat leave. I’m taking her out for some quality time together two afternoons this week but otherwise keeping her in as normal.

I feel bad because today she was inconsolable when I picked her up but was fine at drop off. She normally loves nursery and she’s still an absolute peach at home with me and her dad. All weekend she’s been happy as anything.

i am so worried about her. I am just hoping this is a phase that will pass? Any advice?

Hi OP, I’ve worked in nurseries for over 12 years and 9/10 children eventually do settle even if it takes a while and it really can sometimes take a while!
some things that can help are:

• sending her to nursery with something familiar from home as a comforter.


• some nurseries offer home visits and these can help the child to get used to the people looking after them


• send in some family photos the staff can share with her


• it sounds bad but drop off as quickly as you can and don’t linger as children very quickly catch on to how they can make you stay longer and are always less upset in the long run when parents drop off and leave rather than hanging around

ultimately it just takes time and sometimes we have bad children come to us and the parents have said they settled immediately and at their last nursery they never settled so it’s about you and and your child getting the right vibe from the nursery and the staff, if it feels like the right place then just be consistent and hopefully she’ll get there in time. Very rarely I’ve seen a child not settle at all, it happens, but not often.

Had** not bad

Also I should have started by saying we do see that all the time when there are changes at home and children really do settle BACK IN with time once they become accustomed to the changes, and the back to basics settling routines can help her re establish her comfort zone.