Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

Original poster

Help me choose working pattern!

20 replies

choiceschoicess · 12/02/2025 15:30

I have asked to return 3 days and need to choose my days.

We have family help on Mondays and Tuesdays. DH will be day off for 75% of Fridays, so for the one Friday a month he’s working I could always book annual leave or so could he, or swap a day off. I am also hoping Friday will be my WFH day so it’s possible MIL would come over and officially be childcare on the odd occasion we need it.

It seems sensible to take Wednesday and Thursday off in light of this, but I’m not sure if I’d prefer a long weekend and then an extra day off in the week. It would make sense to take Mondays off because of bank holidays (get more annual leave to use) but that would leave us needing paid childcare on one of the midweek days so maybe counterintuitive. If I take W/Th off we won’t need paid childcare at all which to me is preferable to keep her with family while she is little.

Which days would you take and why?

OP posts:

Original poster

choiceschoicess · 12/02/2025 15:44

I also don’t know if days off are better together or spaced out so experience welcome! I’ve only ever worked full time

OP posts:

Original poster

choiceschoicess · 12/02/2025 16:01

Bump

OP posts:

popandchoc · 12/02/2025 16:03

Personally i'd find it annoying working a Friday after two days off but makes more sense financially.

Thisismeme · 12/02/2025 16:03

I didn’t want to work consecutive days but due to childcare I had to. I can’t imagine doing a split week now. However, as you’ve got free childcare I would do it. Can you change days later?

Whatevershallidowithmylife · 12/02/2025 16:05

work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Put DC into nursery/childminder for the Thursday and see if family can help for the couple of hours needed on the Friday or persons you could work some sort of split shift?

FLOWER1982 · 12/02/2025 16:08

I think you’d be hard to find a nursery that will take a child for one day a week. My nursery was a minimum of 2 days a week. Financially it would be best to take Wednesday and Thursday. Would you be happy with family having her all the time? Do they listen to you generally with regard to how you want lo looked after etc? What about if they’re ill? If you are happy then great but sometimes I think nurseries can be more reliable in other ways and you know they will be kept busy with activities and interaction with other children.

geekygardener · 12/02/2025 16:13

I have worked all sorts of combinations of 3 days for years. I change them depending on my families needs at the time. I have a flexible job. I have had the long weekends etc...
I liked having Monday off once my youngest went to school so I could reset from the weekend and prepare for the week un disturbed. It didn't really make much difference when my children were not school age as days off were spent entering them.
I currently do Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I changed this from Wednesday to Friday a few weeks ago. I thought I'd hate it because it feels like the week is so long. Going back in for Friday after two days off can feel a bit like a new week starting then I'm off again. It can feel like the working week is longer. However, I do like that I can look forward to two days at home after just two days work and then one day of work and another two days off. If work is particularly stressful I only have to push through a day and I know I'm off so it is nice. Pros and cons whatever you do I think.

Despite all that above, in your shoes I'd choose the days so I didn't have to pay for childcare. You might struggle to find paid childcare that would take your little one for only a day a week anyway. They usually allow two days minimum otherwise it takes a place of another child who may have wanted more days so more money.
Getting little ones ready for childcare while you get ready for work is often a pain so if you can spare that and family can get your child ready for the day when they arrive I'd also suggest that.

geekygardener · 12/02/2025 16:16

Entertaining them obviously

PickledElectricity · 12/02/2025 16:17

What childcare provider have you managed to find which will take DC 1 day per week? All the nurseries around here are 2 days minimum.

And how reliable is the family help going to be?

I think it depends on what job you do. If it's shift work/things that can easily be picked up and put down then take Wednesday and Thursday off. I have an office job and I personally find it difficult to get into the swing of things then have to try and remember where I'd got to after a couple of days off.

Original poster

choiceschoicess · 12/02/2025 16:26

PickledElectricity · 12/02/2025 16:17

What childcare provider have you managed to find which will take DC 1 day per week? All the nurseries around here are 2 days minimum.

And how reliable is the family help going to be?

Nowhere, we wouldn’t be sending her to nursery. Sorry if my post unclear

OP posts:

IchiNiSanShiGo · 12/02/2025 16:30

What’s your workload like? If you’re not in, does it get passed to a colleague to deal with? Or does it pile up for you to get through when you’re in? You want to pick the days that are going to cause you the least stress, as you sound pretty sorted for childcare for any of those options you’ve listed.

LemonGelato · 12/02/2025 16:40

Check your contract/leave policy to see what it says about how public holidays are allocated. If it says you get "Bank holidays if they fall on a working day" then work Mondays (as there are always more of them than any other day). They shouldn't be doing this but some still do.

If it says you get pro rata bank holidays (usually expressed in hours) then DON'T work Mondays as all of it will be eaten up by Bank hols that fall on Monday and you may even have to take the rest from annual leave.

Usually if you don't work Mondays then you get more flexibility to use the allocation on another working day e.g. the Friday you might need when DH can't.

I work in HR and we always get queries about this!

EarlierDistraction · 12/02/2025 16:45

Even with the bank holiday thing I find Mon/Tue/Wed by far the best working pattern (and I have done a few). Three days together means you only get one morning of masses of emails to catch up on, having Friday off is good because lots of my friends do too and we meet up. Also if I have Monday off (I did for a while) I always feel like I'm behind everyone else when I do start my week, I used to find that one of the most difficult things.

pecanpie101 · 12/02/2025 23:07

I would work a tue/wed/thurs

Original poster

choiceschoicess · 12/02/2025 23:22

pecanpie101 · 12/02/2025 23:07

I would work a tue/wed/thurs

I wouldn’t need Friday off

OP posts:

Original poster

choiceschoicess · 13/02/2025 07:20

LemonGelato · 12/02/2025 16:40

Usually if you don't work Mondays then you get more flexibility to use the allocation on another working day e.g. the Friday you might need when DH can't.

I work in HR and we always get queries about this!

Thank you this is really helpful x

OP posts:

JimHalpertsWife · 13/02/2025 07:24

Take Mondays off - the bank holiday entitlement thing really messes up people's leave entitlement when you work Mondays and part time.

I'd work Tues/Weds/Fri in your shoes.

JimHalpertsWife · 13/02/2025 07:25

And tbh I'd do tues/weds nursery with Dh doing the Fridays.

It's handy on the face of it having family childcare but once you fact in their appointments / holidays / sickness / ineffectiveness it's just not always worth it.

Save the family support for you and dh to to use, or for when dc is poorly and can't go to nursery.

BendingSpoons · 13/02/2025 07:27

Given your family help situation, I would have Wed and Thur off and avoid needing paid childcare, assuming family are happy to do that much childcare.

I have Mon and Thur off. I really like never working 3 days in a row and also not working Mondays. The disadvantage to working both Mon and Fri is most of the Bank Hols fall then and a colleague used to have to use leave to 'top up' her Bank Hol allowance. (We get pro-ratad BHs so about 5.5 paid BHs for someone working 0.6).

Can you do Mon, Tue, Fri now (lots of Fridays off for lovely long breaks!) and potentially change when your child is at nursery/school?

biggreenapple24 · 13/02/2025 07:37

I would want to confirm before agreed my days that it would be possibly to swap to working every 4 Fridays. I know you mentioned annual leave, but that's a lot of days to take off over the year which won't be used on being off as a family.

If you can't swap, I'd try to agree a working pattern where it's written in that every 4th Friday you work instead of Thursday.

If you can swap I'd work Tues/Wed/Thursdays. I'd find a split week annoying, rather have the long weekend, then get all my work done quickly. 3 days will fly by!

On bank holidays, your bank holiday entitlement will be pro-rata if you work part time. So if the normal amount is 8 days a year, you'll get 4.8.

Flip