Selina

So my little niece Selina, all of 12 months (bless!) will be starting nursery in a weeks time. And like any mother, my sister is worried about lots of things but most of all her food.  My sister tends to mix it up with home cooked dishes of lentils with cumin, salmon with spinach and chicken stew as well as Ella's baby food pouches.

Her munchkin loves to eat but she needs her food in a certain way, pureed with some lumps. While this is ok when at home, as her mom makes it just the way she likes it, my sister isn't convinced that this will take place at nursery. The trend tends to be that once they are over a year, its about babies trying to feed themselves, using cutlery and eating finger food. But little Selina is the youngest and frankly not all kids are at the same level of eating. Some children are super confident with lumps while some are not.

Then there is the times for lunch, which is at 1130 am, followed by a nap. This is the norm in nurseries, which seems very early. Selina has her lunch  at 1230 (an hour later) and a nap earlier in the morn. There is a rush to feed her straight away from her sleep and drop her off to nursery. So its all a bit topsy turvy at the moment, but then these things tend to sort themselves out.

The whole nursery experience, brings up a lot for moms. Now that there are other children in the same age bracket, mothers tend to compare their little ones to other babies' developments. Perhaps putting some pressure on themselves? Some babies are walking at 10 months while others start at 12 months. My kids were over 13 months when they started. Or with food, why isn't my child more confident with bread sticks? All this will happen over time, and at nursery they will be given this opportunity to watch other babies and test their new skills.

I wish my niece and my sister all the best over the settling period!