Cheezel, Janet, CD,
dun wori, i wen tru tat. i m a very soft person n i took care of ash full tx, alone since his birth till b4 he went cc, so he is very very close to me.
sure u wld feel a bit upset or 'se bu de' but tink of d bright side, they really grow n learn lots of new thgs. ash started w half day cc in dec. it was a good tx as d term had closed n was hoilday/play time. so the teachers spent lots of tx engaging him tru play. guess he felt less 'stressful' to start like tat instead of lessons. ash's cc has a very low teacher to child ratio back then so it helped.
what u can do: start 'preparing' them slowly. talk to them, have a 'pretend' structured programme at hm in the day, try to get them to eat n nap on a fixed tx so is easier for them to adjust to a fixed schedule in cc.
for me: i even make effort to toilet train ash b4 he started cc. i try my best to prepare him. before the actual day, i brought ash there 2 times to join the kids in meal, play etc.
lastly, i stay with him for abt 1.5 days there n decided to stop doing that, cos as long as i m there, he wld sure follow me.
last last, to minimise the seprartion anxiety, i ask hb to send him.
nellu,
undstd. many tx women n men jus tink differently. we wld tinkg of Pat's then too. discuss with ur hb n at d end of d day, for me, i wld choose 1 tat i feel the kid wld be most happy n comfortable in. cos esp at 18m, i tink they still needs lots of care and love in cc, a gd environemnt is very important. academic wise wld b no. 2 for my consideration.