5 Ways to Prepare Your Child for Starting Nursery

Starting nursery is one of those milestones that can feel enormous, even when everything goes smoothly. As a parent, you might find yourself lying awake worrying about whether your child will cry, whether they will make friends, whether they will eat their lunch. These worries are completely normal. The good news is that there is a lot you can do in the weeks before their first session to help both of you feel ready.

1. Talk About It Positively and Specifically

Children pick up anxiety from the adults around them, so how you talk about nursery matters as much as what you say. Avoid vague reassurances like "it will be fine." Instead, be specific and warm:

• "You are going to meet your key worker, Jamie. Jamie loves building with blocks too."
• "There is a sandpit just like Grandma's garden."
• "After nursery we are going to the park together."

Giving children a concrete mental picture of what to expect reduces the fear of the unknown. If you have visited the nursery, talk about what they saw. If you have not yet, describe it using the photos on our website and social media.

One thing to avoid: do not say "you are going to love it!" This sets an expectation that, if not immediately met, can make a child feel they are failing. Instead, say "you might find some things tricky at first, and that is okay."

2. Read Books About Starting Nursery Together

Stories are one of the most powerful tools children have for processing new experiences before they happen. We recommend:

• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell: gently explores separation anxiety through three owl siblings waiting for their mother
• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn: a mother raccoon shares a secret with her son before he starts school
• Starting School by Janet and Allan Ahlberg: a warm, funny look at the first days of early education
• Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes: perfect for anxious children who overthink everything (lovingly)

Read them more than once. Children often want the same story repeatedly when they are processing something, and each reading lets them notice new things.

3. Practise the Morning Routine Before Day One

One of the biggest stressors on a first nursery morning is not the nursery itself but everything that happens beforehand: getting dressed, eating breakfast, finding shoes, being in the car by a certain time. When a child is already stressed before they arrive, separation is ten times harder.

In the two weeks before they start, run the nursery morning routine at least three or four times. Wake up at the same time, get dressed in their nursery clothes, have breakfast, then do something fun. The routine becomes familiar, and familiar feels safe.

If your child is going to need a packed bag, let them help choose a backpack and pack it themselves. Ownership of their kit builds excitement rather than dread.

4. Use Our Settling-In Sessions

At Bade Nursery, every new child has a structured settling-in period before their full sessions begin. These are not optional extras; they are fundamental to a smooth transition.

The settling-in process typically looks like this:

1. First visit (30 minutes): You stay with your child while they explore the room. This is about them seeing you are comfortable in this space.
2. Second visit (45-60 minutes): You leave briefly, perhaps for a cup of coffee in the foyer, while your child stays with their key worker.
3. Third and fourth visits: Gradually longer periods, building to a full morning or afternoon.

Some children settle in two visits. Others need six. We follow the child's pace, not a fixed schedule. Please never feel pressure to rush this stage: time invested here saves weeks of difficult drop-offs later.

5. Keep Goodbyes Short, Warm and Consistent

This is the hardest one, because every instinct tells you to linger when your child is upset. But a prolonged goodbye almost always makes things worse, for the child and for you.

Create a goodbye ritual and stick to it every single day. It might be: one big hug, a high-five, "I love you, I will be back after lunch," and then you leave. That is it. The predictability of the ritual is what reassures children, not the length of it.

If your child cries when you leave, they are almost certainly settled and playing happily within three to five minutes of you walking out the door. Our staff will always message you if a child is still distressed after ten minutes, but in our experience this rarely happens. Trust the process, and trust your child. They are more resilient than we sometimes give them credit for.

A Note for Parents Who Are Struggling Too

Leaving your child for the first time is emotional for parents as well. If you find yourself crying in the car park, you are in very good company. Please come and talk to us. We work with parents just as much as we work with children, and there is no question too small.