Our Experience Starting Nursery

We chatted to Parent of one, Lou, to hear about their family journey in relation to all things nursery. From choosing a nursery for their little one, the transitional period of adjustment and their overall experience.

There are a few childcare options available in the UK, tell us why you opted for nursery?

We decided that nursery was the childcare option for our daughter because we felt it would prepare her best for primary school (albeit a few years down the line). By that I mean, going to an external place where her peers are of a very similar age and they have the structure of moving up as they get older. We also liked the reassurance that nurseries are Ofsted inspected.

Tell us about researching nurseries in your area:

Whilst there lots of nurseries where we live, there is also a national shortage of places so I would caveat my response by reminding fellow parents and expectant parents, that the sooner you start looking for a place, the better!

There are a number of nurseries where we live, each one varying in size, cost, what age range they offer places, and of course how far they are from our home/work. Before going to see any, we also looked at their websites, Ofsted reports and I am also lucky enough to have a family member who has worked at some of the local nurseries so we took the opportunity to ask her respected opinion too.

Following this, we booked to visit three nurseries in person. Some have open-days, others have appointment-only visits so it’s worth checking this when doing your research.

How did you ultimately chose the one?

We actually liked all three nurseries that we visited, but the one we chose had a lot of outside space and it was quite clear that they spend as much time outdoors as possible. The food they provide for children was also well thought out with balanced and nutritional meals. Both of these aspects were important for us so they were influential in our decision making.

We also factored in meeting different staff members, what facilities they have, the monthly cost and what our gut feelings were. Of course there are also things that are outside of control such as availability of a place and what days the nursery could accommodate.

How did your little one settle into life at nursery?

Our daughter started nursery at 13 months old, we secured her place for two days a week initially (we have since added a third). In the weeks running up to her start date, our nursery offered three settling in sessions, whereby each one got longer in duration. This really helped her get used to the surroundings, as well as being around a larger group of children and also beginning to establish relationships with the nursery care workers.

Whilst our little girl had experienced being cared for by family members (when we had the occasional child-free date!), she had largely been fine with this since she knew the environments and people well. So leaving her at nursery was initially upsetting for her which we were told was normal and to be expected – and really another reason for the settling in sessions!

The drop-offs were the hardest part because she did get upset, however, we took comfort seeing her accept cuddles from the nursery workers. Over the course of a few weeks, the drop offs improved and we could tell she was getting used to it as it became part of her routine. As we chose two days a week, we were lucky enough that the nursery could accommodate spacing these out so the gaps between her going were even.

What amazed me was that our daughter was napping at nursery! This was something I had worried about, as we had always assisted her to sleep through rocking or patting, but it seems the nursery staff are sleep wizards who quite easily get all of them to sleep – we were so relieved!

The nursery did inform us that she wasn’t eating much to begin with, which really isn’t like her as doesn’t stop eating at home! So this was a tell-tale sign that she was still adjusting to life at nursery but we all kept an eye on things and quite soon this changed and her appetite soon made an appearance whilst she was there. More often than not, we now hear that she has second helpings of lunch so all is well!

How did you adjust to your little one going to nursery?

Our reason for needing childcare was because I returned to work on a part time basis, so there was an initial feeling of ‘something is missing’ after spending a year on maternity leave, however I was distracted by work which helped.

Our nursery utilise a third party app where they add a daily diary which includes sleep times, food consumed and nappy changes throughout the day. They also add updates with photos which we found really helped put our minds at rest in the early days; that she did settle after an upsetting drop-off, and we could see our happy little girl taking part in activities and creating new skills amongst her peers. We still love the updates, particularly when they are doing activities that you might not do at home for one reason or another.

Any final tips or advice for fellow parents starting their childcare journey?

There are a couple things that have done from the start and stuck with them. The first is not delaying drop off, where possible we try not to linger and before you know it she is distracted by toys or songs and hustle and bustle of the room! We also take a soft toy in her bag which they give to her at naptime, this smells like home and provides her with that comfort.

We no longer have tears at drop-off and we can see how much she is thriving there, so even in the moments of missing her, we just remind ourselves of how much nursery benefits her.