Part time hours - working mornings only

[chocolatefudgecake157]

Hi there

I'm on mat leave with first baby and not due back till early next year. I'm hoping to go back flexibly and luckily my employers are open to this as several members of my team work part-time.

I'm wondering what might be better - 3 full days or 4 mornings a week? Anyone have experience of working mornings only and what are the pros/cons? I realise there will be a big difference financially but just considering all options atm

[Purpleball]

The more days you work, the more your commuting costs are and the more hours of childcare you need to cover the commuting time etc. I'd go for the least number of long days you can

[januarysnowdrop]

I did this for a while (5 mornings) - it was great in a way, because you don't feel out of touch with what's going on at work, and you never leave your little one for too long. It was a total pain where sorting out childcare was concerned, though - unless you're lucky you may end up paying for full days when you only need half days.

[GreenFirefly]

I work mornings only. It was always what I wanted to do when returning to work after DC1. Fortunately my commute is a 15 minute bike ride usually dropping DC2 off at nursery on the way (DH cycles with DC1).
I like not feeling I'm missing anything at work as I'm in every day but it's also great to head off at lunchtime, though I do then have to rush home to pick up the pram and collect DCs from nursery and don't end up eating until 1.30-2pm.

[FortyFacedFuckers]

There are pros & cons to both before ds was at school I preferred to work 3 full days, less travel time, less days in childcare but now he's in school I do 4 days finishing at 2 allowing me to pick him up everyday meaning no child care needed in term time. Personally I would rather do less days I felt that 3 days felt less than the 4 short days even although it was the same in terms of hours.

[madmother1]

I'd go for whole days. The days you don't work, you don't have to rush around getting everyone to where they need to be. It's nice to have 2 days off a week. When school hours become involved, then change your hours.

[marmaladegranny]

Much depends on the job - I worked mornings only most of my life as a mum but there was often pressure 'just to stay to….'! Whether is was cover lunchtime, finish this, do that bit of training I never got away on time.

[Littlefish]

How far is your commute?
Who looks after your dc when you are at work?
What flexibility do you have around childcare?

[mumofthemonsters808]

I'd do the full days and get it over and done with at the start of the week. This worked really well for me, my philosophy was that if I'd gone every day I might as well stay there and receive a full time wage.

[bruffin]

I prefer whole days. I was working 5 days 9 to 3 and condensed it to 3 days.

[Fluffy24]

DS recently started nursery mornings and whilst he seems happy it nevertheless make him very tired, I'm glad at the moment he doesn't have to be there any full days as he'd be shattered!

[chocolatefudgecake157]

Hi all, thanks so much for your thoughts. Full days seems the way to go!

Commute is about 1.5 hours so not easy. Commuting costs def something to think about, could only do 4 mornings if I managed to swing one of them working from home but that may be pushing my luck too far

Re childcare I'm v lucky as lovely MIL has offered to take DS one day a week

I guess major pro of working mornings is not leaving DS for too long :(

[Littlefish]

Given the length of your commute, I would definitely go for whole days rather than half days.

[helterskelter99]

Our nursery doesn't discount for half days so that is something to consider

[CharlesRyder]

I worked 5 mornings when DS was little and it worked brilliantly.

He went to a wonderful childminder who charged only for the hours he was there. She took him to a different toddler activity every morning which I would have hated as those groups were never my bag. TBH I just wouldn't have taken him so he really got something out of it. I then had him every afternoon when he was ready for down time and we just got to be lazy together.

I got to go into work every day which I enjoyed.

Now I work longer hours but still mainly inside his school day so we don't need much childcare at all.

[chocolatefudgecake157]

Thanks *charlesryder - did you find that you ended up doing equivalent of 5 full days work though?

[NiceCardigan]

I did 5 mornings when DD1 was small. The way it went was be awake half the night with crying DD1, take DD1 to childminders where she slept for several hours, finish work, collect DD1 who is now revitalized and ready to be entertained till bedtime, repeat endlessly until I looked a complete wreck. It makes me tired just thinking about.

[Thisismyfirsttime]

When I was pregnant I wanted to do 5 mornings but once dd was here I decided on 2.5 days and I'm so glad I did! I do Mon, Tues, Weds am and we just get it out if the way at the start of the week so we can enjoy our days together just hanging out doing fun stuff and then have the weekend with DH then back to getting work out of the way! On my half day I find we don't do too much, whereas on our full days together we really make the most of it. It's different for every family I suppose but for me full days work best.

[chocolatefudgecake157]

Thanks all, this has been really helpful!

[CharlesRyder]

No, I didn't end up doing 5 full days at first because I had to do pickup at 1pm which gave me an un-missable deadline by which I had to leave.

Now, 3 days a week I technically finish at 2pm but because I don't pick DS up until 3.45pm I very often end up staying longer rather than getting all the mundane household things done or going to the gym which is what the DS free 'gap' was intended for.

I still like having the option of the early finish though and I sometimes cash in the fact that I regularly do extra hours to be able to go to events at DS's school at other times. I enjoy the flexibility I have and feel like the balance is just right. I suppose it makes a big difference that I really like work so it's not a hardship to go in every day.

I am a teacher so living proof that the can mess around with teaching hours!!