Are we ready to start nursery?!

Pregnancy felt like forever & my maternity leave flew by! My time had come to return to work, it was gradual but once I got to the stage where working was full time, although I was working from home, I started to feel guilty thinking that I wasn’t giving my little girl the full attention that she needed, we stopped going to baby groups and having days out just us because I needed to be at home to work, I would play at home but would still need to have my laptop nearby to get some work done at the same time. 

We decided that nursery would be the best for Aida. 

I worked in a nursery for almost 5 years so I know that children who attend are learning and playing all the time, they have fun, make friends, build confidence, learn new skills, and they are well looked after and safe – but I was still an emotional wreck just thinking about it. The nursery we went for was a smaller setting, it wasn’t as busy as others and Aida seemed happy to go ahead and play independently and interact with the staff members when we were being given the tour.  

I had a list of questions to ask the staff when we were being shown around, I wasn’t grilling them, but I wanted to make sure that it was the right fit for Aida. 

• How do they track development, growth and learning etc. 

• What food do they provide – Aida doesn’t have allergies but can be quite fussy at times so wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to go hungry (not that they would let her) 

• What is the ratio? (how many children per member of staff) https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/advice/childcare-nursery-staff-to-child-ratios-in-the-uk 

• What is your daily routine? 

• Do you provide nappies/wipes for the children / what is your potty training policy? 

They also had a few questions to ask me: 

• Does Aida have any allergies? 

• Does she have milk/bottles during the day & what time? 

• Does Aida have a strict sleep schedule? 

• Does Aida have a comforter? 

• What are her favourite things to do? 

• Are you okay with her photo being shared on our nursery facebook page for other parents to see? 

• What people will be on the collection list? and can you provide photos and a password so that when it is not you or dad collecting we know that they are allowed to pick up. 

• Are you happy for Aida to go out on our nursery transport? (small mini bus) 

• Would you be happy with Aida taking part in external activities (they have visitors come in to do activities such as learning Spanish, dancing etc.) 

Contracts signed; Aida was ready to go! Nursery fees can be a bit pricy, so to help soften the blow financially we pay the nursery through tax-free childcare on the government website. The nursery will send us our invoice for the following month (example £500) and so we will pay £400 into the portal and the government then pay the remaining 20% (£100) https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare 

The settling in sessions were booked and these went as well (in our case). Seeing Aida comfortable and happy made my mind rest a little bit and I started to feel excited about her starting nursery and her own little adventure. Now I was excited and no longer an emotional wreck about my little shadow starting nursery I started thinking about getting Aida prepared, and of course, me being slightly over the top needed to get Aida EVERYTHING new for her days at nursery. 

• Leggings/tops/socks that were easier replaced if trashed in paint/mud etc. 

• Trainers (not overly priced or too fancy so that if, like the clothes, they were trashed could be replaced) 

• Slippers – the nursery we chose promote children taking their shoes off when they come inside and to wear slippers  

• I also found a cute website https://www.my1styears.com/ that do personalised items, we found a bag that Aida could keep in everything she needed.

• Suncream

• Name labels (I found mine on amazon and they are stickers, but there are all sorts: iron on, sew on, stamps, stickers)

Aida’s first day arrived, I took about a thousand pictures of her stood at the front door all smiles and sent it to all grandparents. We got to the nursery and she cried straight away :’( I didn’t hang around just kept the handover short and sweet: 

• I explained that I was going to get some work done and I would be back after lunch. 

• Gave her a kiss and a cuddle.  

• Handed her over to her keyworker.  

• Waved bye-bye and walked away.  

I heard the door shut and could still hear her crying as I walked down the corridor. I didn’t cry until I got home but when I did it was the biggest ugliest cry EVER! I felt so guilty about leaving her being as upset as she was, I felt like the worst mum in the world. Within 20 minutes of me being home, I had calmed myself down and I had a message from the nursery, it was a picture of Aida, she was happy as larry playing with the sand – turns out it took me longer than her to calm down.  

This carried on for 3 or 4 weeks, eventually it all changed, Aida pushed the button to let us in the building, she knocked the door to her room and ran in without a second look back to me, and she was eating the breakfast/snacks/lunch which they were offering her. She was finally settled!  

I’ll admit it was heart-breaking putting her through the upset in the mornings and the mum guilt is 100% real, but seeing how well she is improving with her speech & communication, and her development & confidence is all so worth it <3