seperation anxiety

[rattie77]

My 16month old was in nursery f/t from 3 months as I was on a placement f/t as part of a course. This ended in July and since then he has been going 3 afternoons a week to keep his place open with a view to going f/t when I get a job. I now have the job and am due to start in 3 weeks, but for the past 4 weeks he has cried every time I have taken him in. The staff say he always settles but he is so distressed going in and I just wander is it worth it. Is he too young? Should I be concerned? I am lucky enough to be able to postpone returning to work for a year or so - so is it necessary to put him through this or am I just being too sentimental and worrying uneccesarily.
Has anybody survived this and if so can you please advise me?
Thanks

My DS went through a phase of this at nursery - crying desperately when I dropped him off. He was always fine (apparently) after I'd gone.

We've recently changed our routine and now his godfather drops him off and he never ever cries - I think it's just the moment of parting from Mummy that is horrid. Take heart - I bet he has a brilliant time when he's there.

Thanks for replying MrsCMAW, surprised that the post received so few replies - thought it would be a prevelant issue amongst parents?.
Can I ask how long your little one has been in nursery? Thats a great idea to change who drops him off - sadly, I have no family near by so not an option for me. This is his fifth week of being upset and he is still crying each day- just want to know when it gets any easier as I really can't see me returning to work if he is still so upset.

There have been a couple of discussions about this on here in the past week or so - have a look at this one

My LO has been in nursery 1 day a week since the end of September last year. He used to start crying as we went in through the gate quite often, and wail as soon as he saw me in the evening - that was for a couple of months at least. I wasn't happy about the wailing in the mornings but they showed me photos in his EYFS report file of him smiling during the day so I knew that he was ok once I'd gone.

My nephew and nieces have all been to nursery and they have benefited from it so much and really loved it as they get older so I stuck with it because I knew that he'd get so much out of it in the end.

If your DS was fine before and only recently upset it might be just a phase - I'd stick it out if I were you. You could also consider whether anything has changed in the past 4 weeks - did he change rooms, has your routine changed etc. Maybe you'd get a clue there as to why. Good luck!

Thanks for your link, that could be me!. There haven't really been any changes in his routine, except that he increased one of his afternoons as there was a waiting list forming for that particular afternoon and the manager advised I book him in to secure it for my f/t return. This is what makes me think it may just be too much - he was ok until then and if that is the case how will he cope with 5 long days if he can't manage 4 afternoons?. On the other hand maybe it is just me worrying too much as it would appear lots of little ones go through this, I just think if I don't have to do this right now - should I wait until he is more mature and ready.

My ds has been going to nursery for a year and a half now and he still cries every time i drop him off, he loves it once ive gone (my sister in law works there so i know its true) ive just come to accept it now as part of the drop off process, he just hates the goodbye. and hes going to school this september so not looking forward to that!!