Nursery Places

[mellymooks]

Am I the only one feeling under major pressure and expectation that I have to send DD to nursery as soon as is humanly possible?!

She is currently 2 and a half and we are expecting baby number 2 in Sept. The logical time to send her would be Sept (according to eveyone around me) but I feel that she may then connect "being sent away" with the new baby arriving and if I send her at all I feel that after Christmas would be better.

But to be honest I'm not sure I want to send her off at all, is that really selfish? I just feel this time with her when she's little is so precious and it won't be long before she's off to school and growing up and this time will have passed so completely.

We go to lots of playgroups and activities together and she goes and plays at other people's houses without us and visits grandparents for wknds without us so I have no worries about her ability to cope without us about, I just love being with her and want to treasure every moment before she's too grown up to want her Mum hanging about!!

Sorry for huge post!

You know what, it is so lovely to hear a mum say how much she loved spending time with her young DC, as often it isn't the case . I can say this as I am one of those people - I found motherhood to be v stressful, PND being the major cause, and maybe not being as maternal as I thought I was (!), so I applaud your desire to be with her as much as possible.

I can comment on nurseries though, and if you find a good one the education and socialisation skills that she will gain are invaluable. I'd probably agree with the person who suggested not coinciding it with the birth of your new DC though; not only as she will associate it with that - but also I wouldn't want to be settling a child into nursery with a newborn to contend with at the same time. Get a routine in place before the baby is due if possible - even if it just a few weeks beforehand, as she will hopefully have settled in and be happy and content with going to nursery, giving you the time to settle in with you newest arrival without the guilt or concern of what/how your DD is doing.