How to prepare for nursery
Dropping your little one off at nursery for the first time is a BIG deal. The anxiety, the tears – and that’s just us mums. But if its like my little one’s first drop off, they’ll barely turn around at the door because they’re so excited. Here’s how to prepare for nursery…
Read books to them about going to nursery
I used ‘I’m Starting Nursery: Helping Children Start Nursery‘ by Campbell books because it had lots of flaps and wheels in the book but there’s also ‘My First Day at Nursery‘ by Becky Edwards or ‘Lulu Loves Nursery‘ by Camilla Reid.
Talk about it
Use the word ‘nursery’ a lot in conversation with lots of phrases like ‘so much fun’ or ‘[child’s name] will love it’ so your toddler knows it’s a good thing to look forward to.
Follow your nursery’s timetable beforehand
Before my daughter started at nursery, we researched its lunch and snack times so we could match them at home. We didn’t want to inflict a hangry toddler on our daughter’s new key worker.
Make sure your child is vaguely up to date with their milestones
This doesn’t mean force potty training on them when they’re not ready but it would help for them to not feel too overwhelmed if they can use a spoon to eat their lunch with the rest of their three year old friends.
Keep a consistent timetable
Try to keep your drop-off and pick-up schedule the same, for example after lunch or before snack time, to help your child feel confident that someone is always coming back for them. If pick up time is different, make sure you explain that before you drop them off.
Tell them about what’s going to happen before you arrive
Say, ‘When we get to nursery, I am going to give you a hug goodbye, then you will play with your friends and have fun. I’ll come back later.’ If children are informed about what’s going to happen beforehand, they are much more relaxed.
Make sure you look relaxed when you say goodbye
Children trust their parents’ instincts so if you look anxious, it will make them worry too. There’s a good chance you’ll worry about putting them in someone else’s care for the first time so you might need to rehearse your best confident goodbye beforehand.
The perfect ‘see you later’
Nursery practitioners advise that you don’t sneak out when your child isn’t looking as this makes them not trust you – but also don’t linger or go back after saying goodbye. Phew! When my daughter first started nursery, I would overplan and rehearse everything so I wouldn’t forget anything for this ‘perfect’ goodbye.
Use comforters
Some nurseries might advise against it in case your child’s favourite bedtime comforter gets dirty in their mud kitchen but letting your child pick something to take to nursery might let them feel they are back in control if they feel helpless or overwhelmed.
Use praise
When you pick your child up, make sure you say how proud you are of them and point out how well they did at drop off. Also, remind them that they had a good time!
Make it a home from home
Display any artwork they have completed at nursery at home in a place your child can see it. It makes the nursery feel like a home from home and gets them excited for their next visit.
