3 days of nursery, then she is refusing to go- URGENT

[ButterPie]

DD1 started her 15 free hours of nursery on Monday. She went for three days and seemed to absolutely love it, but yesterday and today she has refused to go. Both times I have said "ok, let's get you ready for nursery" and she has said "no, I don't like nursery, I don't want to go". She won't give me any more details.

She doesn't really NEED to go, although I was enjoying the break, but we were hoping to use it as a trial run to see if she took to being in a large group or if we should be looking at home education.

We are going on holiday next week, should we try again the week after, or is it just going to be more stress for a just turned 3 year old? Should I insist on her going today? (She has a place 1pm - 4pm)

Help!

(posting on the HE forum as well to see what people there think)

If she doesn;t like it and if she doesn't need to go, then don't take her - it's not compulsory!

And iut doesn't mean that HE is your only option - not liking nursery doesn't mean she's not going to like school.

And she'll be a different child with diofferent likes and nneeds in a year's time.

Make sure your ambivalence about school is well hidden though - they can pick up your thoughts!

Agree with seeker but I would give it a go for longer than a few days tbh - maybe have a timescale in you head. What about until they break up in July? That way you can say to DD that sometimes you have to persevere with things and then they will become enjoyable/worth it but equally, if she really is not enjoying nursery after that point, you don't have to take her.

I work in a pre-school and over the years have seen many many children come in crying, saying they don't want to come, only to be giggling and laughing before their parents have pulled the car off the drive.
Children know exactly how to pull on your heart strings, and I don't think 3 is too early to persevere for at least a little while longer. Keep talking to the pre-school staff.
We take photos of all the children and present them on a photo slide show at the end of the session so that worried parents can see exactly how their child settled.

I find with three year olds that when they say 'I don't want to go' or 'I don't like it' what they really mean is 'I don't like it when you leave me'

I have two children myself and went through this stage, which passes quickly, and before you know it you will have a child who trots off happily and excitedly, confident that you will come back.

Hope this helps x

I've just seen what Pammie has written, more or less word for word the same as me, so I hope it brings you some comfort.