leaving chilren in the church nursery/ Sunday School

[apbristowmom]

I posted something about this the other day and now I can't find it....so I'm not sure where it went!! :banghead I'm still learning about all this! My question for you all is....how have you handled leaving your kids in the nursery/sunday school setting when there are different caregivers there on a rotation basis. Nursery was always hard for us when our son was little so we really didn't leave him there much at all. It was during his morning nap time and it just was a difficult scene all around. Then as he got a little older and was in a Sunday School class we decided to teach every other week to help him get adjusted. But he still, at age 4 does not want to go in without us on the days we don't teach. We have started letting him come to big church with us instead of having him crying and screaming. We never leave him like that when he gets so very upset. We attend a very large church in the metro area of DC and I wonder sometimes if the size of it just really intimidates him....fearing that if something happened he would not be able to get to us if he felt he needed us. By the way...he sits very well in church and seems to pick up some of what the pastor says also!

We were also involved in a ladies Bible study at a woman's house. I tried this both for him and for me. I needed some time studying the word but I also felt the situation would be much like our preschool co-op and he would feel comfortable with it. That it would give him another opportunity to have some time away from me with someone except my mother. He was not comfortable and there are some interesting stories about that that I won't go into here...yet. I'll need a rant posting for that! :D

How have you all handled these types of situations with your older ap'd chilren?

Dionne

[snlmama]

Here it is: http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/mb/index.php?topic=13100.msg116223#msg116223

:)

I don't think I'd worry too much about it at 4. If he's doing fine in church, I'd just take him w/ me until he was ready for his own class. :)

[phathui5]

Both my 4 1/2 year old and my 21 month old go to "big church" with us. I'd personally rather have them there than in the kid parts.

[MagnoliaMommy]

Our church is larger and on a rotational schedule for the classes and nursery as well.

Ds never really did the nursery until he was about 2.5 and dh and I took turns staying with him. He could make it through 1/2 of our service and then we would take him down to play. (Our services are long for little ones.) Depending on who was in the nursery and how comfortable he was, there were times we could leave him to play. We ended up staying most of the time...the nursery was usually maxed out with kids and the workers could use our help. Dh and were both on the nursery schedule as well.

Does your church have more than one service? It really helped us to go to the early one. Everything is smaller and more relaxed.

I personally prefer my children to be in service with us for as long as possible. Ds will go to a preschool class now, but usually asks to stay with us for worship. We are struggling right now with the rotating class schedule...everyone has a different style of teaching. One week it is okay to run around and play and the next it is expected for him to sit and listen. Things like that. I also hate the largeness of everything and not really knowing who is teaching my son. :/

[Tex]

Lil (3) goes up to big church with me and always has. I think that its better to have them in big church to get used to sitting quietly and etc. It really helps to have a church who encourages families to stay together in church.

[CandyLayne]

we were at a small church where my kids were two of only 4 or so and dd(4) grew up w/ just one woman there keeping her. ds(7.5 months) had never stayed in the back. we recently just left that church and are going to a huge one that i grew up in and i'm leaving them both there. they have strict instructions to page me if ds is crying and are really good about it; although, they rarely have too b/c he's just a really laid back baby. dd, otoh, would refuse to stay in there when we'd visit when she was a baby & toddler, so i never left her. she loves it now though. if either of my kids were upset by the experience, i don't think i'd do it.

[apbristowmom]

That's the hard part for me......leaving him in a situation where he's very upset. If he's crying for something I know will harm him, like too much junk food or the like....I'm o.k. with explaining the situation and letting him work through it. Although that rarely happens....He's a very good eater. Anyway......when he's crying for me....I can't turn my back on him.