Choosing which days at nursery - three year old

[daysdaze]

My son used to do one day a week before the pandemic. He settled soon enough and used to enjoy his time there.

Now he's three, he'll be doing two days a week.

I can't decide between Mondays and Tuesdays OR Fridays and Mondays.

Which would you choose and why?

(Posting for traffic, sorry)

Are you likely to take any long weekends as a family?

@MiddleClassProblem

Are you likely to take any long weekends as a family?

Yes probably but can pick him up early maybe on specific Fridays

@littlejalapeno

Tuesday - Fridays just mornings or just afternoons. If you’re a SAHP and don’t have to worry about juggling work hours. Shorter days can be less tiring.

I'm not too worried about it being tiring, some kids do full time from 12 months old

I'd go for Tuesdays and Fridays too.

DS goes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and that's mainly because DH and I both wanted a 3 day weekend off work (I have Fridays with DS, DH has Mondays) and also because there's usually an excellent group on a Monday that DH takes him to. Theoretically we could go away for a long weekend but we haven't done that for a year, for obvious reasons
It is quite full on for DS to do 3 days in a row and I have wondered if it would be better for him to do 2+1 (eg Tue Wed Fri) but in normal times there are more groups etc on a Friday than a Thursday.
Before he turned 3 and got the 30h funded childcare, he just went for 2 days - Tuesdays and Thursdays - which worked well.

Not sure it is quite 50/50 - lots of comments on continuity and the advice about separating them is about things that won't happen so often like sickness bugs and bank hols. One-on-one time is a good point but mine prefer being around lots of their friends so Fridays are a bit lonelier.

Would hate Monday and Friday, we used to go away for weekends visiting family a lot pre pandemic so would make travelling difficult having to rush off after nursery finishes

Are we talking g nursery or preschool? Asa same you might want to check what their preschool offering is. It might be that he can only do certain sessions for example mornings with funded hours.

Yes including mine. Trust me when I say they get overstimulated and can find it hard to sleep at bed time. Half days give you continuity too, it’s the best of both if you’re a SAHP. Up to you of course but you’re asking for peoples advice based on their experience so there it is.

Our nursery was open on Bank Holidays! Only closed Xmas day, Boxing Day and a couple of days at New Year.

@littlejalapeno

Yes including mine. Trust me when I say they get overstimulated and can find it hard to sleep at bed time. Half days give you continuity too, it’s the best of both if you’re a SAHP. Up to you of course but you’re asking for peoples advice based on their experience so there it is.

They don't offer half days and I don't want to switch nurseries.

I asked for opinions on the options I posted

We did Mon/Tues/Weds when our 2 were that age. When they turned 4 we added on Thursdays as well.
Partly thinking about "school readiness" and also we found they were getting bored and naughty with 4 days in a row at home! The extra day at nursery made all the difference, and they seem to love it.

@zingally

We did Mon/Tues/Weds when our 2 were that age. When they turned 4 we added on Thursdays as well. Partly thinking about "school readiness" and also we found they were getting bored and naughty with 4 days in a row at home! The extra day at nursery made all the difference, and they seem to love it.

This is very interesting - DS is nearly 4 and is the same, it's such hard work with him at home Fri-Mon, and I've been considering sending him to nursery for a 4th day, too. Especially as we haven't been able to do much with him during lockdown in winter. Although I'm hoping some things will reopen/restart soon.

Ours has a policy that if they get sent home with a temp etc that they can't return for 48 hours afterwards. Therefore I'd go for Mon and Fri as ds is constantly getting sent home

I'd prioritise this.

I would try to get two consecutive days and avoid Mondays / Fridays due to bank holidays and still having to pay for them. Tuesday to Thursday are the better days imo

It’s tricky because like said above mondays fall on bank holidays, but I think it’s better to have the days separated slightly so they aren’t doing massive stints at home and then re starting the nursery anxiety again. My son does Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I found this works well because he’s got the two back to back days to settle in, then a break and then almost a “reminder” day so he doesn’t almost forget about nursery, so if you’re doing the two days, I’d go for the friday and tuesday.

Neither of those - go for the middle ones.

@lioncitygirl

Neither of those - go for the middle ones.

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