Preparing yourself and your baby for nursery.

My name is Robyn, I am the Lead Early Years Teacher here at Great Wood Farm Early Years Centre, I am also the current Baby Room Leader while our Baby Room Leader is on maternity leave.  I have worked across the nursery and helped to settle children in from all ages and I have noticed how difficult this can be for parents/carers of all ages.  From doing the taster sessions for the babies especially I wanted to write a blog to help support parents/carers and families to understand the process of starting nursery and the ways in which to support this transition.

You've spent lots of time at home with your baby but now it's time to go back to work and for your baby to start nursery.  We know how difficult this moment is for so many babies and we reassure parents that they can phone as much as they'd like to for updates and we'll send photos and give as many cuddles as needed.

Top Tips 

1. Socialise your baby 
It is so important that your baby is socialised as much as possible, so that they are used to not only other children but other adults too.
There are lots of different baby groups out there, we run one on a Friday morning from 10 till 11 so that your baby can also get used to the staff that they will be with, in the baby room. Also, things like trips to the park and days out so they are used to the sounds and sights of other children, by doing this the first day of nursery will be a lot less daunting and they will be developing their social and communication development.

2.Solo Time & Practice
It is important as your child’s first educator that you have the best bonds with your child, however, allow them where possible to spend time with others too. Allow other adults to change nappies and give them bottles too, leave your baby with other adults for short periods of time, this not only prepares your baby for not being with you, but it prepares you too to know what it feels like to be without them.  This helps make the initial drop off not so scary.
Spending short bursts of time away from your child when they're with someone else also gives them the reassurance that you come back again.  On a different note, lets talk about sleep.  We know this is a difficult area for babies and often we hear parents do contact naps with their baby.  This can make it challenging for the transition to nursery, it is useful for us if you can help prepare your baby to sleep in a cot for naps where possible.  We offer sleep in a range of ways in our sleep room or garden sleep hut.  We use coracles for our smaller babies and mats for the older babie and also have a traditional cot if that is your preference.  We find the younger babies settle well with our coracles as they feel cacooned and staff can eaasily reach them to help soothe them to sleep.  If a baby is struggling to sleep we will begin with a contact nap and then transfer them to their bed.  Having a similiar routine at home, really does help your baby sleep at nursery.

3. Settling in sessions 
We typically offer three settling in sessions, we begin with a taster where you fill out the paperwork and we get to know yourselves and your baby, we will often encourage you to fill out some paperwork on the sofa near the office or in your car for 10 minutes or so while we spend some time with your child, the second and third tasters are for two hours, one of these is usually over a meal time too so they know what to expect when they start nursery.

You also have the opportunity to do a gradual start to nursery, begin with a couple of mornings and then build up to full days - there is no pressure to do it all at once.

4. Talk about nursery

The older children get, the more that they understand, and they understand that Mummy, Daddy or whoever is at home is leaving them in this new scary place. Make sure that you talk about nursery, talk about the morning routines of what’s going to happen before you leave the house in the morning, recognise their own coat and wellies and practice putting them on and talk about sharing feelings with adults at nursery and making new friends. Talk about sharing toys and practise putting toys back. You can also get books about starting nursery which you and they will be able to relate to.

Be prepared for the rush of coming off maternity leave and now you suddenly need to get yourself ready for work and your child ready for nursery.  It is difficult getting out of the house together, be prepared and plan ahead as much as possible, a smooth start to the day will also help your baby settle more quickly, as they will pick up on your stresses.

5. Acknowledging everyone’s feelings

During this whole process it is important to acknowledge everyone’s feelings, all feelings about your child starting nursery are valid and it will be different for every family.

When you drop off for the first tasters make sure you have something planned for the couple of hours - go for coffee, see a friend, try to keep your mind busy so that you’re not worrying all about your little one and please don't feel guilty.  Babies and young children soon get into routines of nursery life and after a couple of weeks of building attachments with the staff here, they know that their parents always come back and nursery is a place where they go and do fun play.  When you drop off this will all be done at your own pace, you can come in for a while and then go or do a quick good bye at the door, whichever you think will work best for yourself and your child, don’t be surprised if they also become upset when you come to pick them up, they do so well throughout the day and can become overwhelmed to see you when you get there.  Please do not think that they have been upset all day, this is very unlikely, and if they are ever too unsettled we will phone you, we never want them to leave with bad memories of their experience. You will first and foremost always be there first educator and most important person in their life, so we do not mind how many times you phone or email to see how they are getting on. 

Staff in the rooms are used to every different scenario and we will work with you every step of the way, we enjoy building bonds and gettting to know each child.  Every child is their own ‘tabula rasa’ a blank slate and what they become is dependent on their own individual learning and experience. Most importantly we want them to come to nursery to make memories and to have fun and to get a little messy along the way - there’s no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing!