Moving to a new creche

[Bubblesmum]

Hi, I will be moving my daughter to a new creche next month when she will then be 22 months old. She loves the place she is currently in and has been there since she was 3 months old. She is currently very attached to her main teacher/carer and if she is not working when we drop her off she is slow to settle. I'm a bit terrified to be honest of how she will react to the move and what if anything I can do to make the transition easier. Typically she is clingy when I drop her off so my husband normally does the morning drop off and I pick up. I am planning to spend some extra time with her for the period when she's settling into the new place but I'm wondering if its better to just act more or less as normal maybe staying an extra 15 - 20 mins at the drop off or should I plan to take time off work and spend the first half day / day there... Any advice would be really appreciated from anyone whose been through this before. Thanks !

I chnaged my dd's nursery when she was around 19 months old. she had been going since she was 11 months, though only 2 days a week which had its advantages (wasn't overly attached to carers) and disadvantages (took longer to settle in at new nursery). I took a week off work to settle her into the new nursery. She went for an hour first of all one afternoon while I stayed, then the next day I stayed for 5 minutes and she had an hour there on her own (the staff felt that me staying for longer would make me leaving worse, adn I think they were right). We then had a day off then she went back to her old nursery for an afternoon as I had to go into work for a meeting. She had a 'leaving party' there - not sure how much she understood she was leaving but always worth trying to explain something. The next week she went to her new nursery for a half day on her own, then a full day. From then onwards it was her normal days.

This seemed to work and she settled in within a couple of weeks. She is now 4 and the main ringleader as far as I can see! All I can say is that your daughter will settle. It might be an idea if her main carer has very little to do with her for the next couple of weeks so she is used to others caring for her.

Good luck!

Thanks Titchy - that really helps. I think I was also figuring that having me stay with her over long periods in the new place might confuse her - i.e. this is where me and Mummy go to play .. rather than this is my new school where I will be on my own...I think what might work then for us is seeing as she goes 5 days, is to start the transition maybe on a Wed .. so one hour Wed afternoon with me... an hour Thurs afternoon with me leaving her... a morning Friday to lunch (and home for nap and the afternoon)... and then Monday I could pick her up early after nap and then Tuesday more or less a full day etc... do you think that sounds about right ?
I agree with your point re. pulling away the main carer a bit from now on - I think she is gutted too as she has also become very attached to my daughter. What about the pals she has made - is it a good idea to try to keep up the friendship (one pal in particular) on weekends etc... or will she just replace her with a new pal in the new place ? Thanks a million for your advice.

Glad this helps Bubblesmum. Your plan to leave her for ever-increasing amounts of time sounds great - and by the end of the first full week she will be totally familiar with the people and routines of her new nursery. Although she may take another week or so to settle remember she will know where things are and who looks after her.

As for keeping her friendships up I doubt she will even think about her old playmates after a couple of weeks of new children to play with. Of course if you get on well with her friend's mum then it would be nice for all of you to meet up on a weekend, but I'm sure your dd will have new friends very quickly.

Good luck!