Settling in sessions for a baby

I am due to sign up a baby shortly & she will be 9 months when she starts with later in the year. I am not sure what to do about settling sessions prior to her starting as previously my mindees have been older & I've just done a one off session of an hour or two for us to get to know each other.

I am thinking that may be she could come 3 or 4 times for an hour each in the week before she starts, as I am worried if I leave too long a gap between sessions she won't remember me too well.
What do you all do please?

start by asking the parents what they think would be best , as some babies are willing to be left , but i would suggest 2/ 3 mornings over the the weeks before would be ok , its a good idea for you aswel as its hard being left with a new baby / new routine and it will ease you in gently

do as many as you can, 9 months can be a difficult age with regards to separation anxiety, if you only do a few she may have difficulty settling and it may take her longer to settle. I recently had an 8 1/2 month old start and she took 8 weeks to settle even though she had been coming to twice a week for 4 weeks before she started

I offer 4 x 1 hour settles free of charge to be taken as it suits parents (and our routine). If a baby needs more than that I am happy to offer additional settling sessions.

My latest, a 10 month old, came at different times with mum so on the 3rd settle she fed him here, then she also came to put him to sleep here in the cot. It made his first day really easy.

My 13 month old is going to do the same next week. The others (12 and 16 months) have done the same but the nearly 3 year old only needed one settling session.

That works well for me.

xx

New lo 7 1/2 mths starts with me on Monday. She has been coming with her mum over the last couple of weeks. Mum stayed and then left for a couple of hours and things were fine. As mum was paying a retainer she stayed for a good few hours and it is amazing what you can learn just by watching. Mums also fill in forms like Individual Needs and I can sheets so I think i have a pretty good picture of her family life and will try to replicate it here as best I can.
i know this age can be stressed by leaving but lo's tend to fit in with our "routine", certainly with two other under 3's the attention will not only be on the new baby all the time and this is something she will get used to eventually and learn to play herself.
Mum and Dad also took a photo of me for lo to look at at home which I think was a good idea.
Good luck with your lo.
Carol xx

i have an 8 week old baby signed for September. I've told mum she can visit with her for a coffee/play as much as she feels comfortable with between now and September (within reason:laughing: ) and then we are doing settling in in July (as she has to go back to work briefly before the summer school break) and then last week of August.

I only offer 4 hours free to be taken as the parents wish. Any more is chargeable.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions :)
This is Mums first baby and I think when it comes to it, she will find the separation really hard as well as baby having anxiety. I will be having a meeting with her in a couple of weeks and I want to be clear in my own mind what I am prepared to offer before I speak to her. I want to be sure that I come across as positive and confident so that Mum doesn't have a wobble.
Thanks again for your advice :)

I had a 6m old start last year and she was fab from day one, but despite being an only child her parents are very laid back and so is she which helped. She came once with her parents to finalise everything and then came back a couple of days later and stayed 2 hours, then started 2 full days a week the following week and has always been fine and very happy. I'm not kidding when I say I looked after her for a month before I heard her cry, she is that chilled!

I had a 13m old starting at the beginning of March and am a bit worried about that cos it's 3.5 days a week and at that age seperation anxiety can be bad but she visited last week and again seems quite chilled and was happy with me cuddling her etc. So, we're going to do a couple of hours one day and based on that will decide if she needs more.

I had a 6 month old start in October, we did a couple of settling in sections. He is an only child and found all the noise of my setting a bit overwhelming, he also wanted picking up constantly for reassurance bless him, I found it quite tough the first couple of months and was exusted on a night, but we soon fell in to a routine, he is a pleasure to have now and he loves school run time as he loves my children, it's so rewarding having a little bundle of joy.

I think it's a good idea to have the baby for a nap and at least a few meals before they start to make sure there will be no problems for you when they start.