how to introduce nursery?

[OTTMummA]

How did those of you introduce your LOs to nursery?
was it gradual and if so how many hours per day for how long?
did it work?
did you spend time with them there before you left them full time alone?
or did you put them in full time after 1-2 visits and you felt happy with the childcare etc.

I am wondering what approach would be best for my DS 2.3yrs old as i start a new job in 3 weeks time and am worried about him :S

Please don't worry, he will love it, I did with both DS's a combination of the above, the nursery should guide you as to what suits you and him.

They should do some introductory sessions, a hour or so with you and him together, then take it from there. I then left him for 30-45 mins or so a couple of times, then went for the full day.

They did sometimes get upset when I left, and went through stages of crying a little or not at all.

What do the nursery suggest?

With ds (1yo), the first week we did 30mins first day both of us together, second day 1 hr with me going off for 15mins, third day 2 hours with me leaving him for an hour, 4th day he stayed for 3 hours on his own, 5th day he staying for 4 hours on his own. We then had 3 weeks of short days (10-4) for the days he would be going before I started back at work this week when he's been doing 8-6 for the 3 days I'm at work. I was lucky to have a few extra weeks before I needed him to be there for the full day but I think it helped both of us get used to it - in fact I found the whole thing far harder than he did!