"We didn’t want the fact that she has a liver condition to hold her back in other aspects of her development."

When a toddler goes off to nursery for the first time, it can be an anxious moment for any parent. When the child concerned has a liver condition, it’s quite natural for that anxiety to multiply. So, we’re very grateful to Sophie and Cara for their honest accounts of their children’s experiences, which they hope will help others.

Sophie’s daughter, Luna, who has biliary atresia started nursery when she was just two.

“Luna started doing three hours a day Monday to Friday and the nursery were very good in terms of preparation.  We gave them a copy of the CLDF education pack in advance and also had a few meetings with them to discuss her condition and alert them of things they need to look out for. Our community nurse came to one of the meetings too, to discuss her ng tube, which was very helpful.

“Obviously, I had very mixed emotions about her going to nursery. On one hand, I really wanted her to mix with other children her age but on the other hand I’m worried that every illness she picks up could land her in hospital. However, we didn’t want the fact that she has a liver condition to hold her back in other aspects of her development.

“Two years on we can see that sending Luna to nursery when we did was honestly the best idea. She has absolutely thrived and although we still had a lot of challenges along the way and time off due to appointments and hospital admissions, everyone has been so understanding and supportive that we were more comfortable with her starting school.”

Cara, whose daughter, Nellie, has Alagilles and started nursery two days a week when she was three, agrees that preparation is key.

“Nellie’s community nurse came in with us before she started nursery to talk to Nellie’s teachers and answer their questions. She also went in twice to talk to the children in nursery and reception about Nellie’s ng tube and explained why they shouldn’t touch it. I also prepped Nellie as much as I could, explaining to her what was going to be happening over about a week.

“I’ll never forget her first day. Firstly, she got upset as she doesn’t like the school uniform (she’s a little fashionista). I managed to distract her and get her in a better mood but when we arrived at the school we got swamped by children all saying hello to Nellie which was sweet, but Nellie found it overwhelming and hid behind my legs. At this point my eyes started to fill up. When we got to the nursery door, she just walked in no problems, and I walked away in floods of tears.

“I was clock watching the whole time until it was 11.30 and I could collect her. I then discovered she’d had the best morning and even eaten an orange (she’s not the best eater and refuses a lot). She came home with paint all over her jumper which I took as the sign of a good day!”

Nellie’s teacher Mrs Taylor confirms that nurseries welcome as much advance information as possible: “We needed to have some background information about Nellie and her condition to ensure we understood it and could then disseminate this information to the rest of the team who would be working with her. We also wanted to know about any additional provision we needed to have in place for her. Having one of Nellie’s nurses come and speak to the children about how to be safe around her was very helpful. All the preparation has paid off and Nellie has settled in really well. She tries so hard with everything she does, and this week completed a detailed self-portrait which was amazing!”

Our Children and Families Officer, Kate, has assisted many parents with their pre-school preparation and believes that nursery has real benefits for children and their parents.

“Naturally, parents will be anxious and have many questions, but Sophie and Cara are just two of the mums I’ve spoken to who are delighted to see their little ones enjoying nursery alongside their peers. We find that preparation and two-way communication is key and we’re very happy to help in that regard.”

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