Small World Nursery concerns... might be silly...

[WinterSux]

So, I do want some adult only experiences while on my Fantasy cruise, but I have a 14 month old...who will be 17 month old who cries his eyes out when I leave him at the childcare center at the gym. This is a really good child care center...not Small World Nursery caliber, I'm sure... but they're darn good for gym standards. I don't want my baby to be miserable while I run off to have fun, any input on the nursery? Any reason for me to be concerned?

 

[DVC_Chris]

My DD loved it there, and her first visit was around your child's age, her first vacation, we would only have to start walking down the hallway to the nursery and she would start crying, we would drop her off, still crying. However, according to the staff, she would stop crying and have a blast within a few minutes of being dropped off. Worse case scenario is you do have your wave phone, and if she truly doesn't acclimate, they can call you to have you do a pick up.

 

[Quellman]

Take advantage of the open house times (on sea days especially). It allows you to be in the nursery in the morning so your little one can get used to it. Then when you have to drop him off, he will already know some of what to expect. Ours wasn't a day care kid, but he loved his time in the nursery!

 

[fab1976]

If he doesn't calm down they will call or text you! Take a chance, their ratio is pretty good and strictly kept to so there should be arms to hold him and rock him. They can handle it .

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I agree with Quellman. Use the Open House times to acclimate your little one to the setting. I believe they have a 2 way window so you could drop him off for some set time without you and watch how he does without him seeing you.

 

[WinterSux]

Thanks! I'm a little concerned but will keep my fingers crossed!

 

[mommysaurus]

Do they calm down quickly after you leave? My boy was a daycare kid and right around 1 was when he started to cry when I left him. But I would watch (cameras in the classroom and you could watch on a monitor in the office) and he would stop as soon as the teacher got him involved playing with something. They also had a policy where they would call you after 20 minutes if your child didn't calm. Im sure there is a similar policy at the nursery. Even if they don't you can request a call after so many minutes of crying. Childcare staff is great at disney.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would really recommend thinking it through, about what would happen IF he doesn't calm, and IF you needed to get him from the nursery. Kind of gear yourself towards that, just in case it happens. Things to do with him, etc, if he just doesn't deal well.

My cousins traveled with their then 4 year old (and autistic 9 year old) on a Disney cruise and the 4 year old just NEVER got into the kid's club. She never even stayed there an hour. (same with the second Disney cruise, actually, but that time they brought grandma) They had thought that she would love the club, and that she wouldn't be the issue, and they never "recovered" emotionally, having planned lots of alone time for the cruise.

He'll probably be OK, but come up with some alternative plans if he doesn't.

Second to last Disney cruise I chatted with a dad who had been at dinner with his wife at Palo, when they got the word that one of their sons (brand newly adopted) wasn't enjoying the club. They had thought about it ahead of time, and the husband let his wife continue to enjoy Palo, while he went and got that one son from the club (their older child was having a fine time and didn't want to leave). He ended up getting bonus time with his new son, and *both* of their evenings weren't totally changed, in that his wife continued to enjoy the meal. (obviously if you are in a couple that loves to be attached at the hip 24/7, you would make a different choice)

They had thought about it ahead of time and had a game plan, so no one was overly "thrown" by the change.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I would really recommend thinking it through, about what would happen IF he doesn't calm, and IF you needed to get him from the nursery. Kind of gear yourself towards that, just in case it happens. Things to do with him, etc, if he just doesn't deal well.

My cousins traveled with their then 4 year old (and autistic 9 year old) on a Disney cruise and the 4 year old just NEVER got into the kid's club. She never even stayed there an hour. (same with the second Disney cruise, actually, but that time they brought grandma) They had thought that she would love the club, and that she wouldn't be the issue, and they never "recovered" emotionally, having planned lots of alone time for the cruise.

He'll probably be OK, but come up with some alternative plans if he doesn't.

Second to last Disney cruise I chatted with a dad who had been at dinner with his wife at Palo, when they got the word that one of their sons (brand newly adopted) wasn't enjoying the club. They had thought about it ahead of time, and the husband let his wife continue to enjoy Palo, while he went and got that one son from the club (their older child was having a fine time and didn't want to leave). He ended up getting bonus time with his new son, and *both* of their evenings weren't totally changed, in that his wife continued to enjoy the meal. (obviously if you are in a couple that loves to be attached at the hip 24/7, you would make a different choice)

They had thought about it ahead of time and had a game plan, so no one was overly "thrown" by the change.

Great suggestion. I'm a "what will I do if....." planner (so much so that my daughter feels that I'm "too controlling") but it works for me.

 

[ayz75]

My daughter (then 24m) and our family friends son (22m) went together last May, and I will warn you that they were the crying ones you don't usually hear about (seems like everyone's kids always loved the nursery but ours didn't). But the things is they did a really good job at not disturbing our dinner and calming the kids down. They sent messages every 30 min (though each time it always said she was "a little upset" lol) my understanding is that they were both crying on and off (most when we did the drop off), but as long asthe bawling was not out of control, the nursery will try not to disturb you. While at Remy's, the staff was telling us they rarely had people who had to leave to get the kids but it does happen, but rarely.

Having said that, I don't know if I would do it again knowing she would cry half the time (we will be traveling with family this time so I'm just going to ask them to watch her) but it's still worth checking out.

 

[FamilyHolidayPlanner]

Not strictly small world related, but thought I'd ask here anyway-
Our DD will be 20mths at time of our trip. We have late dining (main full already when we booked, on WL to get main). We are also a little apprehensive about the crèche. Is it possible to bring her into the MDRs whilst asleep in her stroller?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Not strictly small world related, but thought I'd ask here anyway-
Our DD will be 20mths at time of our trip. We have late dining (main full already when we booked, on WL to get main). We are also a little apprehensive about the crèche. Is it possible to bring her into the MDRs whilst asleep in her stroller?

It may depend. I know I've seen strollers in the MDRs on the Wonder, but I believe I've read that strollers aren't allowed on the Dream class ships. There's a lot less room around the tables on the Dream class ships, so it could be an issue having a stroller in the minimal walking areas.

 

[FamilyHolidayPlanner]

Thanks for the reply. Ideally she'll be happy in crèche, or reasonably awake after a long afternoon nap. Understandably they'll not want loads of strollers cluttering the aisles.

 

[Heard02]

We took our 22month old daughter with us and put her in the nursery once....she cried the whole time.
Nothing they did wrong, she just didn't like being with a stranger.