DS1 starts preschool on Thursday - any tips to help him settle?

[hunkermunker]

I am a first-time mum this week, complete with collywobbles (or whatever it's called when you haven't a clue what you're doing).

I've left him before (regularly!), but never with anyone he doesn't know.

I arranged it so I stayed for the first few minutes playing with a jigsaw, then said I was going to have coffee and would be back soon. Oh, and I had been telling her that it would happen for a couple of days before so it wasn't a shock.

Oh, can you leave DS2 with someone? It is easier without them.

First day was fine... it seems to be the second and third as they realise its not going away that they get more clingy as far as I can tell... for those days I did peeling off me into one of the teacher's arms and running

As a CM one of the tricks I sugggst is the parent leaving something of theirs with the child - house keys, hat, whatever, so the child knows mum is coming back, as needs keys to get home, as well as of course wants to see them as well.

Any chance someone else could have DS2 for you while you take DS1 to nursery, so you can concentrate on DS1 fully? The nursery my 2 went to encouraged parents to stay for as long as the child needed to be settled
HTH

That's a good idea about leaving something of mine with him - not sure I'll leave keys in case he hides them irretrievably...!

I've been talking to him about it and he went there at the end of last year (though I was with him for the whole session as it was one specially for the new children and their parents) and he sobbed and wailed when he realised I'd left to go into a brief meeting about the preschool

DS2 won't be with me - MIL is having him I'd already thought of that! Mind you, DS2 would probably fare better at being left at preschool than DS1!