Toddler crying at every nursery drop off since new baby

[Gardengirl247]

Help! Looking for advice to make drop off easier. 3.5yo DD goes to nursery three times a week, I’m on mat leave with 5month old and DH is working.

Every drop off DD cries as soon as we get to the nursery door. Fine getting ready in the morning, fine on the way there and always full of joy at pick up. How do we get through this behaviour? Nursery is great, we’re very happy with staff who try to help. They know she is routine orientated for example and will talk her through what’s happening next or get her favourite member of staff. Doesn’t drop the crying but helps a bit.

Before baby she would skip in happily so I am pretty sure this is being triggered by me being at home. Tears if me or DH drops her.

Any advice? Keep hoping it will pass but it’s been months…

I should add baby sibling is never at the drop off and is rarely at collection

Can you try and explore with her what is upsetting her? Is she not wanting to leave the baby? More likely, is she jealous of the fact that the baby will be at home with you all day and she's at nursery. Or is she just generally a bit unsettled.
It might help to get something like The Great Big Book of Feelings as she's probably at an age where she can't actually name her emotions which makes it harder to talk about.
I used to make a lot of fuss about how boring a day DC2 was going to have at home as all he'd do was sleep and feed and pop and then, when DC1 got home, we'd go to the park or have a tea party with her dolls or something and that was when the fun started at home and, in the meanwhile, wasn't she lucky being at nursery with her friends and doing lots of interesting things

Thanks very much I’ll look that book up. I think there is certainly FOMO so I’ll try that. We do reflect at dinner on our days and I always try to make mine not exciting but maybe I need to really go for how boring it was!! We keep talking about how lucky she is at nursery with her friends but again I guess it’s a period of change there as a lot of her preschooler friends are heading to school!