Looking for some advice re:separation anxiety in a 4 year old. They have been at school nursery for almost a year and drop offs have been extremely difficult. She screams and holds on so tight it takes time to peel her off. Shes in complete panic mode. She does settle down within 10-15 mins and seems to have an ok day. I wouldn’t say she loves it but not upset. She’s had two accidents at nursery that have led to A&E visits which seem to have traumatised her and after each accident we regress back to hysterical drop offs. We seem to make progress and then either a holiday/nursery closure or accident sets us right back.
Staff turnover at the nursery is high, all advice we’ve received has been to do with keeping the routine consistent and making drop off quick. We have kept things very consistent on our part for months - rearranging holidays etc. There’s not much else we can do in terms of consistency. When we arrive at nursery there are a few staff that will deal with her, the rest just refuse to make eye contact or even say hello. I understand she’s difficult but I suppose it’s not surprising she isn’t comfortable there. Over the year she has developed relationships with around 7 staff members but they’re all mat leave, sick leave, part time.
How would you approach dealing with this? Is it unreasonable to expect the nursery to have a plan in place prior to arrival (same time every day). I have a meeting tomorrow so wondering where to even start.
The nursery and health visitor have no concerns about additional needs. I don’t think I do either, she does well outside of nursery.