How to Prepare Your Child for Nursery

That first step to nursery can feel monumental for both parents and children, which is why we try to make it as smooth as possible. The staff at our day nurseries in Exeter go above and beyond to ensure both you and your child are excited by the prospect of learning and developing in our wonderful spaces.

Whether you’re joining us at Devon Nurseries or somewhere else, it’s natural to feel a lot of emotions in the lead-up to that first day, often one of the first you’ll have separated from your little one. However, there are things that all carers can do to help make that transition more successful for both you and your child.

1. Start Socialising

In many ways, nursery is your child’s first steps into the wider world. However, if they’ve had a taste of this already, it will feel much less daunting.

For some children, nursery can be their first experience of being in larger groups with other kids. If a child isn’t used to this, it can feel overwhelming when they get to nursery. So, try to give your child opportunities to interact with other children before their first day at nursery by attending play parks, play dates and other social events.

Group events allow young children to develop social skills and also learn things such as taking turns, which will make their nursery experience smoother.

Socialising also relates to your child’s interactions with adults. Often, young children get used to their parents or carers being the sole provider of everything they need. So, when they go to nursery, they are understandably worried when you’re not there.

This fear of separation can be reduced somewhat by getting your child used to having other people care for them. Having other family members or friends help with feeds or nap times can be a really good way of getting young children more used to other adults, which makes the transition to nursery a little easier for them.

Preparing for Nursery: Socialising Checklist

• Attend play dates or baby classes to get them used to being in a group of children.
• Let family and friends take over caring duties for small periods, so your child gets used to others providing them with what they need.

2. Introduce Nursery At Home

Another great tip for getting your child ready for nursery is to start introducing little bits of nursery to the home setting. Again, this will help alleviate some of the uncertainty they (and you) might feel going into that first day.

Your child might have settled into a certain routine at home, particularly with things like nap times and snacks. Routines are really helpful, but ahead of nursery, it’s worth trying to change it a bit so home starts to feel more like what they’ll experience at nursery.

Speak to your nursery about how a regular day plays out and try to introduce a similar routine at home for your child to help it not feel as strange when they start.

In the same way, your child might be asked to do different things at nursery, such as putting on their coat or sharing with other children. The more you can get your little one used to doing these kinds of things, the more comfortable they’ll be when asked at nursery. You can also use this as an opportunity to have fun, so your child is excited about the idea of nursery.

Many nurseries offer settling-in or orientation sessions to further help with this transition, letting you and your child experience time at the nursery playing with toys and meeting caregivers. If you know exactly who your child’s carer will be at the nursery, introducing your child to them in any way can help to make them feel more comfortable.

Preparing for Nursery: Introducing Nursery Checklist

• Tweak your home routine so it’s similar to what your child will experience at nursery.
• Teach your child about things they’ll be doing at nursery, like putting on their coat or sharing toys. Try to make it fun so they’re excited about nursery!
• Speak to the nursery about things like the daily routine, who the caregivers will be and any settling-in sessions you can attend with your child.

3. Get Prepared

The first day of dropping off your child at nursery is bound to be emotional for you and your child. We’re used to this, so don’t worry. However, you can help to make it go a little smoother and easier by making sure you’re as prepared as possible.

When speaking to your nursery of choice, make sure to ask about what your child needs to have in their bag. What’s required is different for each nursery, as some will have certain things that they provide and others will need parents to provide them, so make sure you ask.

Once you know what’s needed, get their bag packed and ready the night before. This will reduce your stress and allow you to focus on making the morning of the first day as normal as possible for your child.

Preparing for Nursery: First Day Prep Checklist

• Speak to the nursery about what you need to pack in your child’s nursery bag, and make sure it’s ready the night before.
• Try to keep your child’s morning routine as normal as possible.

4. Acknowledge Emotions

No matter how well prepared you or your child is for nursery, it’s inevitable that dropping your child off will cause emotions to stir in one or both of you.

Many young children have separation anxiety around their parents, which is totally normal. This naturally results in children feeling upset or crying when their parent leaves them. This can have a knock-on effect of causing parents to feel anxious or distressed about leaving. It can also cause feelings of guilt inside parents who perhaps don’t feel separation anxiety to a similar extent.

The first step is often the hardest when it comes to nursery. The best recommendation is to have a positive goodbye routine when going to nursery and then allowing the nursery to take over, even if you or your child begins to feel emotional.

Take the time to acknowledge the new feelings you are experiencing. You can always phone the nursery after thirty minutes or so to check that your child has settled down into their activities.

While it can be tough at first, it can help to remember the wonderful benefits children can get from nursery. Once the new nursery routine is established and your child is used to that environment, dropping your child off will start to feel like another fun part of the day.

Preparing for Nursery: Acknowledging Emotions Checklist

• Understand that separation anxiety is natural; both you and your child will feel strong emotions when leaving them at nursery.
• Acknowledge that your emotions are valid and normal. You can phone the nursery once everyone’s settled down if you need more reassurance.
• Stick to the nursery routine. Eventually, both you and your child will get used to it, and drop-off times will feel more enjoyable.

Remember, at every step, one of the best things you can do to prepare for this step is to speak to your nursery of choice. Get to know them, make sure you know what they need from you and speak to them about your concerns.

Established nurseries like ours are used to dealing with anxious parents, so if you are thinking about joining, do please contact us – we’re always happy to help.