settling in..how long?

[mama2three]

Mindee starts with me in January , he will be 7 months old then.
Mum wants to start settling in asap.......I really dont think its needed til mid November or so which will still give us a month even with xmas time off. What are your views , how soon would you start? Mum calling round with her diary for a coffee and chat this afternoon. Thankyou x

[Tink]

I look after an 8 month old and we did the settling in period a month before. They are very young at this age, I suppose it depends on the child and mum, you could offer an early visit and if child is ok suggest to mum that lo has been fine and you feel a visit nearer the time would suit both you and the child.

[jelly15]

I have a new 6 month old starting Nov 1st and only this week is he coming for his first settling in session - and I think that this is a bit early.

[Andrea08]

hi, just done a new policy on this...

i would not start too early i was going to have a jan 2011 starter and because i close for 2 wks in dec i said end of nov for 2 free settling in sessions and if the child needed more then the parents had to pay for it..

if you start too early you will have to have the child at least onece a week till starting date..sounds like mum just wants some free childcare ..

think of the baby/child... what is his needs ... get all paperwork done likes dislikes.. routine etc and help mum with the transition

good luck hun x

[PixiePetal]

Sometimes it is the parent who needs settling more than the child so I go with the flow, within reason.

new mindee starts Jan and we have arranged 3 settling sessions in Dec - 2 hours, 3 hours and 5 hours. She is paying retainer from Nov and will top up on those times. Mum feely admits it is more for her sake than the laid back child :)

[babs]

baby that started with me in june came to see me once a week with mum from day she signed up 3 months before only for hour in morning and then started to come to play groups with me too so by time lo started was already use to me... depends on how you want to start i didnt mind her coming 1 day a week it was company for other lo i had and also got mum out the house on play group days, she only left her with me roughly about 2 weeks before we did 2 2 hr settling in and she was fine never had days trouble even waves mum off in a morning now aged 10 months

[gigglinggoblin]

I offer 2 x 2hour sessions for settling in free, after that its paid for. I usually settle in the week or two weeks before they start but if she wants to pay for settling in from now it would be ok with me, its still work.

[AliceK]

I've got a 5mth old starting in 3 weeks time. I offer 4hrs free settling in and mum is starting them off with 1 hr next week. With them being so young I can't see the point of starting them until quite close to the start date. I've had him signed up for a while now and mum has popped over with baby for a coffee and a chat a few times so I hope she feels comfortable (and I've enjoyed lots of cuddles with LO :) )

xxxxxx

[mama2three]

Thanks ladies , Ive suggested she starts coming to the tot group I use , that way we can interact and she gets to meet other new mums too. W is coming for half a day in November , and depending how that goes we can break it into shorter sessions , or go straight to full days , just a couple between then and starting.