Preparing for first day at Nursery

[UglyFace]

Any tips for preparing my 2 1/2 yr old for his first day at nursery? He bursts into tears if we leave him with relatives (although he calms down as soon as we've left) and he doesn't know anyone at the nursery. Does anyone have any advice for making the whole process less stressful for him and us?

[RevShirls]

Are you in Britain? I'n not so sure about the system in Britain (I live in Sweden now). Is it possible for you to stay at nursery for a wee while each day just till he gets used to it. Our daughter is just 1 1/2 years old and I have begun to work 50%. In Sweden they have "schooling in" at nursery. It last 2 weeks. For the first few days the parent/s go with their child to nursery for 2 hours and stay with them the whole time - and over the two weeks it builds up to 5 hours - by the last 2 days we should be able to leave our daughter there for 5 hours. After that she can start full days. Today we were there with her for 2 hours and had lunch with her there. Tomorrow I will be there with her but she will have lunch with the other children (without me there). Children go to nursery here until they are 7 - then they start school. Having said that, children between 4 and 7 are in another section of the nursery and the things they do are much the same as primarys 1 and 2 in Britian.

[natalie_1982]

My neice started nursery at the same age earlier this year, she really missed her mum and the teachers said to tie a photo of her and her mum around her neck so that when she was at nursery if she missed she could see her mummy still! My mum was ashamed of me when I started nursery as all I did was shout "bye mum" and cried when she picked me up to take me home when all the other kids cried cos they missed their parents!! I'm sure your son will do fine, good luck to both of you :)

[frizzytwig]

My little boy cried everyday for 3 months, it broke my heart but after that he was fine , the staff said he only cried whilst he could see me so I had to beat a hasty retreat every morning. Now he is a very confident little boy who makes friends easily. The staff are well prepared for the children who take time to settle, be guided by them. Im sure after a while your son will have a whale of a time and wont even look back at you when you leave.

[brawburd]

My grandson was the same Fizzy, although it was only 3 weeks compared to months! He also stopped crying after his mum was away, she found it got easier when she just made off quickly with no fuss.

[Starman 2112]

We found it best to just get out of the way as quickly as possible. It makes it easier for the careers to 'do their job'. We were told that both our kids settled down as soon as they knew we had gone.

[UglyFace]

Thanks for all your suggestions, they're all really helpful - it's such a stressful thing! We had been told that sometimes it's better to take the initial tears and just leave him to it. There's alot to be said for that but it's very difficult to do! If possible we would like to ease him into it by getting him used to the carers and the environment a few times before leaving him so I'm getting some advice from the lady who runs the playgroup on that. Thanks again for all your advice and good wishes.

[zgma]

We have to start daycare for my 2-year-old son next week, and we're in the same boat. In the past, when we've left him with friends, he has literally cried the entire time he was there. Once he cried so hard he made himself vomit. I think it may be a little easier on him right now, but I'm still nervous. My mom just bought us a book called "The Kissing Hand" for him - it's about a little raccoon that is afraid to start school. The mama raccoon tells him the secret of the "kissing hand" which is that if she kisses his hand, he can put his had to his cheek and think "Mommy loves me" all day. It comes with little heart shaped stickers. I read it to my son this morning for the first time, and he liked it. So that may make things easier for him. I'm going to read it to him in the mornings this week, and give him a sticker each day, so that when he starts daycare he'll know the story and will feel better about it.

[zgma]

An update... my son started daycare today - not a tear. When my husband went to pick him up, he didn't notice at first, then said "Hi Daddy" and went back to what he was doing.