AIBU to think that I shouldn't be forced to send my child to nursery full time due to the rules about the 30 free hours

[Justanewname]

I had been looking forward to saving some money on childcare once my child is 3 but I've been reading about it and it seems that to qualify for the funding your child has to attend for all the funded hours.

I am a shift worker, and do my full time hours over 3 long days a week, different days each week including weekends. This means to make sure I'm covered no matter which days my shifts fall on I need to pay for a full time place. But at the moment if I'm not at work then I can keep my baby at home with me and nursery isn't bothered as long as I let them know what our plans are.

Once we're eligible for some funded hours though it looks like I will have to send my child into nursery every day whether I'm working or not in order to keep the funding.

I think this is unfair and penalises people who work different days each week. Which includes lots of NHS staff like me.

Is there any way around this? Is it actually enforced in practice?

We split it over 52 weeks so get 22 hours pw. We then pay the meals supplement of £6.30 a day, and pay cash for any extra hours we need - usually 8 a week

My ds starts in April. I get 30 hours but he’s only going for 3 days which is 18. He is also able to use his 30 hours towards the before and after school club on the 2 days I work .