Anonymous wrote:I tried transitioning my son that early and it was a DISASTER. He lasted 2 days. He was beyond distraught. In the end i scrambled and found a new nanny. Going from a loving warm nanny to a warehouse was not good for him . I'm sure he would have been fine had we started him as a baby. Ended up at a very small PT preschool 3hrs a day, which wasnthe perfect balance for him. We kept the nanny until he was out of kindergarten.

We have the money for a nanny, not sure WTH i was thinking.

Maybe picking a warehouse instead of a daycare was your problem.

Anonymous wrote:I tried transitioning my son that early and it was a DISASTER. He lasted 2 days. He was beyond distraught. In the end i scrambled and found a new nanny. Going from a loving warm nanny to a warehouse was not good for him . I'm sure he would have been fine had we started him as a baby. Ended up at a very small PT preschool 3hrs a day, which wasnthe perfect balance for him. We kept the nanny until he was out of kindergarten.

We have the money for a nanny, not sure WTH i was thinking.

3 1/2 is not very early. The naps might be an issue for the first few weeks but they get used to it.

I tried transitioning my son that early and it was a DISASTER. He lasted 2 days. He was beyond distraught. In the end i scrambled and found a new nanny. Going from a loving warm nanny to a warehouse was not good for him . I'm sure he would have been fine had we started him as a baby. Ended up at a very small PT preschool 3hrs a day, which wasnthe perfect balance for him. We kept the nanny until he was out of kindergarten.

We have the money for a nanny, not sure WTH i was thinking.

Why would you have him drop a nap if the daycare still has them nap? Then hes got to lay there for 2 hours while everyone else sleeps.


I think its ok to do it OP but let him transition in. Maybe start mornings only for a week, then start going all day, this may cause some overlap with the Nanny for a week but I think it will be worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he should b fine and will need it. Just slowly transition him into no nap during the daytime and make sure he sleeps well at night to wake up at 8:00 am and is potty trained.

He may still require a nap then and I think most daycares for kids that age still have a dedicated nap time in their schedule.

I am the first poster to ask about nap times. While he may still have an opportunity to nap at school, I would guess that a kid that age who has never been in day care will struggle to nap in that setting. Therefore, OP should be prepared for him to drop the nap if he hasn't already.

I agree that it is a good time to transition however sticking a child in daycare for potentially nine hours a day is not good. Think about hiring an afternoon sitter to get your child out of daycare at around 3:00 PM. And daycares usually do not offer the best preschool. Maybe a good preschool with aftercare.

Its a good time to transition to get him ready for K.

Anonymous wrote:I think he should b fine and will need it. Just slowly transition him into no nap during the daytime and make sure he sleeps well at night to wake up at 8:00 am and is potty trained.

He may still require a nap then and I think most daycares for kids that age still have a dedicated nap time in their schedule.

I think he should b fine and will need it. Just slowly transition him into no nap during the daytime and make sure he sleeps well at night to wake up at 8:00 am and is potty trained.

That's a good age to make that kind of shift but I would weigh in a few factors such as
1) does he still nap?
2) how many hours per day would he be at the center?

If you do decide to make the change, I would try to do so somewhat gradually (e.g., pay for july as well and only send him 3 days per week or sending him 9-12 for a week, then 9-3, then 9-6), because it will be a ton of extra stimulation for him and he will be exhausted and overwhelmed at first. Also making the transition while his beloved nanny is still around will help him to adjust vs. two big changes at once.

Our son just turned 3, and he has had the same amazing nanny since he was 4 months old. Unfortunately, she recently told us that she'll be moving in August (was very kind to give us that much notice. So now we face a dilemma: find another nanny until he is in kindergarten, or enroll him in daycare. A well-liked center near us has an opening for the fall. He loves being around other kids, so we think that this would be a great opportunity for him. But we're a bit concerned that the transition to daycare would be rocky. It also would be a significant cost-savings, but we could afford a nanny so that's not the main driver of this consideration.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has switched from a nanny to daycare around that age.