Nursery - ease in slowly or not?

[chillichutneysarnie]

Hello, my baby will be going to nursery 3 days a week soon, just before he turns 1.
I have quite a lot of annual leave accrued that I was going to use to ease us back in, but now I'm questioning whether he'll settle better if he goes straight in for his full days from the start. I'm so worried about it all.
I was going to try to do half days for a few weeks and gradually introduce the full days slowly building up.
He'll need to be there for 9 hours a day for a full day, so should I just get him used to the full days straight away instead? Anyone any thoughts? He's breastfed and not a great sleeper, I'm so worried about him not napping and his stress levels 😫. Please feel free to tell me to get a grip as well!

Hi OP, he's still small, I wouldn't put him in for full days at first. Let him get used to it, to build bonds with the workers there. If you have the time then take it.

Disclaimer: daycare worker here albeit in a different country where the settling in period is quite different!

My DD started when she was 9 months old. She had two settling in sessions before just going straight into her 8-5.30 hours 3 days a week. I've always found just letting them get into it straight away helpful ☺️ my DS adjusted quickly when he started nursery too. Both were also breastfed and it wasn't a problem with their milk as they adjusted to just having boob before and after nursery and having formula at nursery. Naps can be a bit hit and miss to begin with but they will get used to napping in a new environment. The staff have looked after so many children they usually have a lot of tricks up their sleeves for helping with them adjusting

We went straight in for the full days with DD2 after DD1 had struggled with settling in sessions, and DD2 was fine - but their personalities are completely different.