Really struggling to decide - full or half days?

[PontyMython]

sorry a bit of a rushed post as I need to tidy up for DD's home visit on tues

Anyway, she's a summer baby (late June) and therefore we can choose whether to send her in for the full day. I feel she is too young. I think she will get tired as even though she's a very strong athletic type (by 4yo standards anyway!) she found it tiring, being around everyone all morning at nursery.

Basically whatever we choose we have to stick with for the first half term. We could choose say full days mon and fri and just mornings tues-thurs, but would that be inconsistent for her? We've finally got the DCs into a decent routine with dinner, bath etc.

DH reckons 2 or 3 full days (we'd do school dinners on those days); I'm more in favour of only mornings but maybe I'm being overprotective? I know she will love being with her friends all day and would be sad to miss them but I already feel she's growing up too fast :(

To complicate things I've just started my first PT job, I miss her so much, and DH is a SAHD now, but he has severe back problems so can't push DS in the buggy etc. So from his POV it'd be easier if she was in school longer, but then she gets very stroppy when tired it may be more difficult in the evenings. The school (a lovely nurturing place) have said they will reduce the hours IF the child is exhausted, but will they actually be able to tell? She's angelic at preschool so it may only be at home that the tiredness shows IYSWIM!

Aaaaargh! What to do? Anyone else had the same choice, what did you decide and do you regret it? Thanks :)

[ragged]

ime, I'd choose half days, because they get a lot less tired. But I didn't have a partner with health issues to consider. It's only 6-7 weeks, though.

[coppertop]

I would go with half-days as children can get very tired when they first start, but I think that the SAHP should get the final say if they're the ones doing the drop-offs and pick-ups.

If it looks to be too much for her then you could ask for a reduction and tell them that your dd is exhausted etc.

Good luck. :)

[lesstalkmoreaction]

Go with full days and then if shes tired keep her home on the friday. To be honest you can really do as you please as she doesn't have to attend full time until she is 5.

[DaisySteiner]

Hi, we had exactly the same system as your school (I wonder if it's the same one, I've never come across another doing it????) We sent our 3 eldest kids a mixture of mornings and full days to start with. None of them seemed to find it confusing that they did different things on different days iyswim. They all started on 3 mornings and 2 full days and it worked fine. I did have a friend whose son did mornings only to start with and to be honest, he did struggle to settle until he started doing a couple of full days - could be coincidence though I suppose. I'm sure the school will respect your wishes if you find that she's overtired at home and need to drop down, but you might be surprised at how she copes. My youngest child went full time from day 1 and also did wrap-around care on 3 days (so he was at school from 8am til 6pm). He was a bit tired, but basically fine.

HTH