Are multiples and nurseries compatible?

[Cerubina]

Also posted in 'Multiple Births'.

Can I realistically expect to be able to send my twins to nursery and spend a decent amount of time at work? I just made the return last week, twins aged 1, and so far out of 6 working days, 5 of them have been disrupted by either leaving work early or not being able to come at all because of illness.

Obviously I was forewarned that they would catch a lot of bugs in the early days so I was expecting some disruption, but it is in danger of becoming an issue at work and I am alarmed that the twin thing might mean nurseries just don't work. If one comes down with something and the other gets it 24-48 hours later then potentially that's a lot of time one or both can't be at nursery and hence I have to stay off work.

Can anyone reassure me that they were able to make it work and didn't have to either hire a nanny or give up employment? Thanks.

[Mandy21]

I think the early days are hard at that age - my twins didn't start nursery until they were 2 so were slightly better at resisting all the germs, and it doesn't necessarily mean just because 1 comes down with it that the other one will too. Am sure that things will settle down in a week or so.

What I would say though is that you need to share the "early finishes" or "days off" with your husband if you can. I always start work very early, and my husband tends to work late anyway so on the days where there is simply no way round it, and one of us has to stay home with the children - I've gone to work at silly o'clock and been home for 1pm say, and then husband has gone in and worked a full day coming home at midnight or whatever. That way, although one of us was late / finished early, we still got through most of our work. Not sure thats feasible (or whether for instance you can work from home) but I think it is quite hard if you are having to cope with all the nursery emergencies on your own.

[namning]

I see lots of twins in nursery...the one we attend has 2 sets already and a third on the way!

[cookielove]

We've had several sets of twins at my nursery, and we currently have 5, as like all children they are prone to picking up illness, and with most siblings they did pass things between each other. However they are not off that much, not more than any other child, Most of the parents will bring in the well child and leave keep the unwell child at home, if we send a child home ill, we offer to bring that one out to the front of the nursery so the parent doesn't have to take both home straight away.

Did you have any settling with the children?

If you haven't realistically you need to be aware that you will be having to come get your children early as they may not be able to last a full day.