Settling into Nursery

Written by Hollie Cox at Spring Howdon  

Starting nursery is a big milestone in a child’s life, and also a big step for parents! At Spring, we know just how important a positive start to your child’s nursery experience can be. Getting it right from the start really supports your child’s educational journey and can also ease your worries as a parent, supporting a positive transition.  

As children grow they experience amazing developmental changes in their early years which are essential to their learning and progress. Peaks in development can sometimes make it tricky for children and parents when it comes to settling into nursery. Our staff at Spring are extremely mindful of this and will work with you and your child, as individuals, to ensure the settling in process is tailored to meet your child’s needs.  

Children benefit enormously from attending nursery through building life-long friendships with other children and secure relationships with adults in the nursery  They develop their sense of curiosity and imagination and become more independent. Attending nursery has a positive impact on children’s language development and is exciting time in a child’s life.  

Here are our top tips to help you get off on the right foot: 

• Build relationships. Get to know your key worker and other staff through settling in visits. Use these visits well by sharing as much information as you can, regarding your child’s health, routine and family dynamics. Also find out from the staff what your child will be doing as part of their routines, lunch / tea times etc.  

• Be organised. Pack a bag each evening with nappies, wipes, formula, spare clothing and sun cream, anything that your child will need for the day ahead. Make sure that bags and clothing are labelled as much as possible. Mornings can be tricky, getting out the house can feel like a military operation so being as prepared as possible the night before can help! 

• Give yourself plenty of time. Allow plenty of extra time In the morning or afternoon before drop off whilst you adapt to new routines, especially in the first few weeks. This will help you to stay calm, which will then ensure your child to feel calm, relaxed and happy before entering nursery.   

• Make plans but be contactable. As long as you can be contacted, make plans and keep busy while your child is settling in. It can be tempting to catch up on jobs and tasks whilst your child is settling in, however try to take time to do something nice like meet a friend for a coffee, or plan do nothing at all. 

• Use photographs. Talk to your child child’s nursery, share photos of staff and rooms. Talk about the day that they are going to have, or share observations with them from our FAMLY app and talk about their day when they get home.   

• Communication is key. Always talk to your child positively about nursery, even if they have had a bad day, or are taking a long time to settle, embrace the positives. Listen to what your child tells you and share any concerns with staff as soon as they come up. This will support positive relationships and also help your child to settle more quickly. 

We hope by sharing our top tips we can help you and your child navigate this next milestone. To find out more about Spring and the services we offer please click here.