Your kid's first reaction to nursery?

[tchan03]

Hi We will be on the Dream late this month.

Now we are interested in PALO but that would mean dropping off my 2.5 yrs old son to nursery for two hrs.

He's very dependent on us. He has an elder sister but she's 5 and gonna play in the kids club. I am curious how your little id's reaction was to the nursery?

The worst thing i want to avoid is , he ends up crying for full two hours at the nursery.

You know kids back in home, when they get dropped off to normal day care the very first time , it takes at least a week to get adjusted.

Our initial thought is that we hang out with our son at the nursery for 20 min or so during open house hours on the first day. Hopefully he gets a tiny bit familiar with the environment and nurserystaff.

Thanks
Tc

 

[k3chantal]

Hi We will be on the Dream late this month.

Now we are interested in PALO but that would mean dropping off my 2.5 yrs old son to nursery for two hrs.

He's very dependent on us. He has an elder sister but she's 5 and gonna play in the kids club. I am curious how your little id's reaction was to the nursery?

The worst thing i want to avoid is , he ends up crying for full two hours at the nursery.

You know kids back in home, when they get dropped off to normal day care the very first time , it takes at least a week to get adjusted.

Our initial thought is that we hang out with our son at the nursery for 20 min or so during open house hours on the first day. Hopefully he gets a tiny bit familiar with the environment and nurserystaff.

Thanks
Tc

We had very good luck with our 18 month old baby DD. Part of what worked, I think, is that we did not bring any toys with us, so the nursery was the only place to really 'play'. We even took a 7 hour port excursion while she was in the nursery. They fed and took great care of her! We also discovered that dinner was tough on her so we scheduled nursery time during our rotation and that worked well too! They fed her and everyone was much happier. I don't work so my daughter's exposure to being left is very minimal. We were very happy with her sense of independence.

Also, keep in mind, and this is the teacher me speaking, most kids cry when their parents are around. Crying, unless it is a serious case, usually stops within minutes of the parents leaving. Your ability to act like you trust the staff and your ability to show your son that you believe he will have a great, not good, time is imperative. It is highly unlikely that he will cry the entire 2 hours.

Good luck!

 

[Meghatron]

DD had a fantastic time in the nursery. She was just shy of two and we had concerns about her ability to nap or be comfortable in a strange new place with unfamiliar people and new toys. The CMs had her asleep within ten minutes of us dropping her off, she had a full two-hour nap, and then proceeded to play happily the rest of the time. The one-way glass assured us she was fine. We enjoyed adult time at a movie and in Outlook Cafe.

 

[Mauierlyn]

If you are not sure I would do what you were thinking and go during open house, when open house is over I would see what happens if you leave him there after to see how it goes.
A trial run will test the waters then when the time comes can relax and enjoy Palo knowing your little one is happy.

 

[Meghatron]

If you are not sure I would do what you were thinking and go during open house, when open house is over I would see what happens if you leave him there after to see how it goes.
A trial run will test the waters then when the time comes can relax and enjoy Palo knowing your little one is happy.

OP would need to pre-book that time in order to make sure they can just leave him there when open house time ends.

 

[Mauierlyn]

OP would need to pre-book that time in order to make sure they can just leave him there when open house time ends.

Yes, definitely. I should have mentioned that

 

[lanejudy]

Hi We will be on the Dream late this month.

Now we are interested in PALO but that would mean dropping off my 2.5 yrs old son to nursery for two hrs.

He's very dependent on us. He has an elder sister but she's 5 and gonna play in the kids club. I am curious how your little id's reaction was to the nursery?

The worst thing i want to avoid is , he ends up crying for full two hours at the nursery.

You know kids back in home, when they get dropped off to normal day care the very first time , it takes at least a week to get adjusted.

Our initial thought is that we hang out with our son at the nursery for 20 min or so during open house hours on the first day. Hopefully he gets a tiny bit familiar with the environment and nurserystaff.

Thanks
Tc

I'm assuming he's not used to being left - either at home with a sitter or dropped off at a childcare situation. Could you try this at home a couple of times so it's not entirely new to him? I'm thinking the church nursery, the gym childcare, or even a neighbor or relative while you go do an errand for an hour. Let him get used to the idea that you WILL return.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Woodmnky]

My almost two yo was only interested in playing in the nursery for about ten minutes during open house time. There is no way we could have left him there. You know you child better than anyone so follow his cues, but be willing to change your plans if needed.

 

[Melissa S]

Like PP wrote. We don't bring any toys either. DD asked yesterday if she can bring her princesses and we reminded her that she will be going to the "toy room" so she won't need them. She really doesn't watch tv during the cruise (too much to do) so she likes to plop down on a bean bag and watch Mickey mouse when she is there too. We used the nursery for the first time on our second DCL cruise when DD was 23 months. Prior that she was never left with anyone other than Mom, Dad, and Grandma. And only Grandma when we were both at work. To our surprise she was fine. Somehow she was pixie dusted and she ran in there willingly. We only used it for one hour during dinner each night. I'm sure if she was left much longer it would have been a different story. Every child is different but the fact that she was never left with anyone before made it easier for us because it was new and fun for her.

 

[Rizzo1]

Please elaborate onm the 'open house' for the nursery. Our son has mentioned dropping off his (going to be 20 month at the time of the cruise)DS in the nursery for an hour or two in the evenings, so he could have adult time with his wife and us. They also have an older daughter who is very independent, so she will be busy 'at her club'.

When is the open house and do the parents receive more info on this when it is reserved??

Please help! Our DS always had a club to go to, so we missed the nursery phase.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Meghatron]

Please elaborate onm the 'open house' for the nursery. Our son has mentioned dropping off his (going to be 20 month at the time of the cruise)DS in the nursery for an hour or two in the evenings, so he could have adult time with his wife and us. They also have an older daughter who is very independent, so she will be busy 'at her club'. When is the open house and do the parents receive more info on this when it is reserved?? Please help! Our DS always had a club to go to, so we missed the nursery phase. Many thanks in advance!

Open House means unsecured programming where anyone can come in. The nursery will only have Open House on embarkation day until some point in the evening (usually first dinner seating). The rest of the cruise will be secured and you will have to drop off for a fee of $6/hour. The other youth areas will have Open House times periodically throughout the cruise but NOT the nursery.

Sent from my Tricorder using DISBoards

 

[AZMermaid]

Our cruise in July also had Open House every morning for the hour before they opened, I think 8-9. I had two nursery aged kids, 17 months and close to 3. They are very different kids but both loved it. I can't say enough good things about it. My younger one fussed/ whined a bit at drop off like the third time, but I watched her through the two way mirror for a few minutes and she was fine right after I left. My son is high energy and all boy, so I worried he'd be bored but he loved it too.... Although maybe because it was the only place he could get his Disney Jr fix! They spent about 2 hours every day in the nursery, usually during the evening.

 

[Poohbug]

Just be prepared to change your plans.

When we left our son (who was not used to a daycare setting) he had a hard time. He would last maybe 20 minutes and he would be done. We tried it a few times(over two cruises) and it never got better. After the 911 call from the nursery, we gave up and just kept him with us.

I am glad all of our kids are now old enough to just to the clubs.

Not saying that the staff was bad in any way. Our son was just not used to being left and was not having it.

 

[lorenni]

Just be prepared to change your plans. When we left our son (who was not used to a daycare setting) he had a hard time. He would last maybe 20 minutes and he would be done. We tried it a few times(over two cruises) and it never got better. After the 911 call from the nursery, we gave up and just kept him with us. I am glad all of our kids are now old enough to just to the clubs. Not saying that the staff was bad in any way. Our son was just not used to being left and was not having it.

This was our experience as well. We even tried dropping him off sound asleep and still no dice. Wasn't a big deal for us but we were very flexible with our plans. We'll do Remy some other time (they were also very flexible - I'm guessing they get nursery related dinner cancelations pretty frequently).

 

[acamechis]

Our DS was a little over a year and a half when we used the nursery on our 5 night cruise last July. He loved it! We even left him there during the day so we could do an excursion. He fell in love with one of the ladies that work there and would run to her as soon as he saw her. He is just shy of 3 when we go next week and DCL said we were welcomed to ask for him to join the clubs since his birth day was so close but we will use the nursery again. we just don't want him getting running over by older kids.

 

[egesicki]

We had very good luck with our 18 month old baby DD. Part of what worked, I think, is that we did not bring any toys with us, so the nursery was the only place to really 'play'. We even took a 7 hour port excursion while she was in the nursery. They fed and took great care of her! We also discovered that dinner was tough on her so we scheduled nursery time during our rotation and that worked well too! They fed her and everyone was much happier. I don't work so my daughter's exposure to being left is very minimal. We were very happy with her sense of independence.

Also, keep in mind, and this is the teacher me speaking, most kids cry when their parents are around. Crying, unless it is a serious case, usually stops within minutes of the parents leaving. Your ability to act like you trust the staff and your ability to show your son that you believe he will have a great, not good, time is imperative. It is highly unlikely that he will cry the entire 2 hours.

Good luck!

Our youngest was 20 months on our last cruise. We scheduled him in the nursery during dinner and it worked out well. He did cry at first then adjusted. You can bring a blanket, lovie, nuk, etc and the staff we found to be very caring.

 

[daisy112878]

We were on the Dream in late september and the staff was awesome. Our 15 month old went every night for dinner b/c anything over 20 minutes for dinner is too much for him right now. He cried at drop off every time but was fine within a few minutes. I tried hard to get there when the line wasn't long to check him in b/c the faster I handed him off the better. Our almost 3 yo went with him during the afternoon one day. He loved it as well especially when they had some characters come out to play with the kids.