I am not sure how much longer I can keep calling our daughter “the baby”, we are getting super close to toddlerhood! One of those huge developmental milestones happened yesterday: her official first day at nursery.
Even though we booked her place months ago, the reality hit as a bit of a shock to the system.
From navigating settling-in sessions to surviving the emotional drop-off, here is how our first full day went and what we learned along the way.
At a Glance: Nursery Settling-In & First Day
| Milestone Stage | Details |
| Nursery Choice | Medium-sized near Mammy’s work (6 babies per room) |
| Settling-In Timeline | Week 1 30 mins ➔ Week 2 1 hour ➔ Week 3 3 hours ➔ Week 4 Full 9am–5pm Friday |
| Drop-Off Tears | Baby cried for 5 minutes at drop-off, then settled completely |
| Nursery Naps | 40 mins (AM) + 30 mins (PM) Much shorter than home naps! |
| Reunion Reaction | Instant tears when she saw us, followed by quick cuddles |
How We Chose Our Nursery
Months before she was born, we started looking around local options.
We ended up visiting three different places: one near my work, one near my wife’s work, and one near home.
- Near My Work: It looked awful. It felt like they were just trying to cram as many kids in as possible. Secure, planned, but chaotic, where our daughter would just be a number.
- Near Home: It was amazing and close by, but simply too expensive due to their rigid drop-off schedules and pickup window structure. It would have added an extra £12 per day, which 2-3 times per week builds up fast.
- Near Wife’s Work (The Winner): Smaller, quiet, capped at 6 babies per room, very flexible for drop offs and pick ups, and convenient for Mammy to get to and from work.
Once you choose and sign the paperwork, you wait over a year, almost forgetting about it while your baby grows up.
Until suddenly, the start date arrives.
What We Packed in the Nursery Bag
Packing for day one felt like preparing for a week-long expedition.
Knowing us, we over did it, on the side of “overkill,” but having peace of mind was worth it.
- 5 Nappies: Total overkill for a single day, but we didn’t want them running short!
- 3 Bags of Expressed Milk: Again, more than she usually drinks, but better to have spare, plus, she can finish off the rest when we get home.
- 5 Full Sets of Spare Clothes: Extreme? Yes. Maybe. But she actually needed a change that first day! During her very first nappy change at nursery, she managed to wee all over herself, so having plenty of fresh outfits proved useful.
- 2 Labelled Cups: One sippy cup for water and one straw cup.
Settling-In Sessions & Drop-Off Drama
She did a few gradual “taster” sessions over the preceding weeks.
We started at half an hour, then an hour, then three hours, before jumping into her first full Friday from 9am to 5pm.
She’s been a bit unpredictable recently, and has changed a lot in the past month and has also been going through a bit of a sleep regression, so I was a little apprehensive.
I was at work for morning drop-off, but I received a phone call from my wife about two minutes after leaving her.
Naturally, our daughter was upset about being handed over to people she didn’t really know well yet, and Mammy was understandably tearful leaving her behind.
Being stuck at my desk while my wife handled drop-off was tough.
As dads, we can feel a bit helpless during these big transitions.
We found out later she only cried for the first five minutes before settling down.
My wife had taken the day off work, expecting a call if anything went wrong.
Instead, she managed a full day of shopping, DIY, and a long walk with Benny, our dog.
When she phoned the nursery at lunchtime for an update, they reported she was doing brilliant, had enjoyed her morning nap, and drank most of her milk without fuss.
Sigh of relief!
The Daily Report & The “Nursery Sleep” Shock
We went together to pick her up at 5pm.
As soon as she spotted us in the doorway, she went shy, then the bottom lip went and she burst into tears again.
Though she calmed down quickly once we gave her a hug.
They handed us her daily handover sheet with all the info of her activities and meals:
- Activities: Soft books, wooden spinners, sensory squares, fabric emotions, and block building.
- Food & Milk: Demolished her morning snack, didn’t have much of her lunch main meal, but ate all her pudding (definitely my kid!), drank 6oz of milk, and ate most of her tea.
- The Nap Shock: The biggest surprise was her sleep. At home, she usually does a solid two hours of nap time during the day. At nursery, she only managed a 40-minute morning nap and a 30-minute afternoon catnap.
But, the shorter sleep makes sense.
At home, she sleeps in a dark room with her white noise.
At nursery, even during quiet time, it was all new for her, new toys, new voices, and other babies babbling.
Returning Home & Prepping For Bugs
Once we got home, things returned to our normal routine almost immediately.
Because her nursery naps were so short, we opted for an early bedtime.
She slept soundly until 4am then she woke up bright-eyed, seemingly ready to show us every single thing she had learned during her big day! Great! Hopefully the nights get better.
Now that day one is ticked off, our next hurdle is bracing for “nursery germs.”
Everyone warns you about the non-stop bugs kids bring home, so we’ve already stocked the medicine cabinet with Calpol just in case.
Surviving the first day at nursery is tough, but seeing how quickly she has settled has given us massive confidence boost for the weeks ahead.
