Transitioning 2yo to new nanny

[Anonymous]

We just moved to a new house and while we are only 20 mins away from where we used to live our nanny said the extra commute is too much for her and wants to part ways. She has worked with us since my 23 month old was 3 months and they are extremely close. DS is a bit shy and clingy - especially thanks to Covid and rarely being around others. But he loves her so much and asks for her on weekends and talks about her all the time.

We have her for another week and hired a new nanny who came today to work with our existing nanny and it was kind of a disaster... DS would not talk to or engage with her at all and just wanted our current nanny. Not so surprising since she was there, but I am really worried about the transition once she is gone. He is really, really going to miss her.

Also, she decided she is going to live with her daughter in Atlanta for a little while so we can’t do a slower transition or have her come to visit, unfortunately.

Has anyone been through this? Any tips or advice? How long did it take your child to get acclimated to someone new? Really dreading this!

[Anonymous]

Have new and old nannies there all day right now. New nanny should observe one day, then gradually start to take over, eventually just stepping back. Verbal encouragement like “Larlo, new nanny told me that she likes to play tag. Can you tag her?” and “Larlo, can you tell new nanny what your favorite food is?” will go a long way.

[Anonymous]

That’s tough. If you can’t have old nanny come over than sit with DD and new nanny and talk about the old nanny. Tell stories to new nanny and ask new nanny to speak warmly about her. When you FaceTime with the old nanny, have her talk about the new nanny.

Transitions like this are really hard on toddlers and preschoolers. Handle it like you would a death - bringing up old nanny and telling your child how much you, yourself, miss her.