nursery opening hours

[scottishgal09]

I need to go back to work so will soon be putting my 9 month old in nursery, only thing is that the earliest I can find any nursery open is 7 am to 7 pm. The 7 pm closing time is fine but I really find I need a opening time of 6 pm. I also work Saturday mornings so need something that is open 6 days. Start time should be at least 6:00 pm but I struggle to find this. Do these type of nursery’s exist? What are the opening and closing hours for your nursery’s? Why don’t nursery’s take into account that some parents need to work 6 days 🤨?

The nursery I work in opens 7.30-6.30pm and it’s a hospital/commuter nursery. Never seen one open any earlier and later than that. Nor have I seen a childminder operate that late or on weekends. You’d need a nanny, either live in or pick ups.

I'm sorry but if you need four jobs to cover nursery, you are not earning well.

And when your child starts school she will lose all these people she has become attached to. You are also assuming these people will never leave the nursery for other jobs. Many different and they will, your child is not their prime concern.

yes and these amazing benefits. Clearly flexible working isn’t one of them!

The OP would be lucky to find a childminder who starts at 6am, is willing to do one/two hours with her baby, and drop the baby off at nursery when it opens at 7.30/8am.

This is because the nursery drop off times would coincide with when the other mindees are dropped off with her.

Also if there is another baby who is staying all day then the CM would give that baby priority over the OP's due to ratios.

It would actually be better for the OP to leave the baby with the CM if she can find one for all the days she needs.

This thread has some quite horrible replies. The OP has never said the child would be in nursery 6am-7pm daily, just that she needed an early start but could be collected early too. It’s common for children to be in full time nursery and a lot of posters don’t have an issue with 8-5.30 daily during the week which is also a lengthy time and mums who do this are usually reassured that they are doing the right thing and that their DC will still have a healthy attachment to them etc. Yet this poster is told that she should have her child adopted because she’s looking for one extra half-day. Pretty nasty.

She'll still not see baby for 12+ hours a day.

And I'm not sure when dad is seeing baby, if baby is in mon-Fri, and saturday. And dad works on Sunday ...

The child would likely lose them long time before that due to the turnover in nursery staff.

With a CM they can provide holiday cover when the child is at school.

This is actually shocking. You should care more about seeing your child than your job. Need to look at your priorities.

I am Scottish but not native born.

You say loads of people do M-F 8-5 but you are talking M-F 6-5 which I'm not sure you get anyway as very very few nurseries offer those sort of hours as it is not in a child's best interests. Over a week that is 10 hours more than a full time child, without Saturday as well. Nurseries have plenty to do but there is a ratio of 1:4 in the baby room, so of course they are going to get less individual attention than if they were at home.

You talk about them being bored at home all day, well they wouldn't necessarily be bored if you were there with them and playing with them, taking them out? Your posts are worrying with how out of touch you seem to the reality of nurseries and what a child actually needs.

You are fixated on the fact it seems to be ok for Dr's to do this, but they don't have their children in on weekends.

You also talk about good nurseries having long waiting lists, so how do you plan to go back to work soon if you have a 9 month old and you haven't yet got her on one of these waiting lists?

Completely agree. It's fine to comment on the logistics of childcare being available for these hours, but not this gross moral superiority.

OP I think you'll find that the role you are trying to recruit does indeed exist, it's called a parent.

Going against the grain, but my son's nursery opens 6am-8pm. It's on a hospital site so therefore likely caters to NHS workers (of which I am one!). Are there any hospitals local to you with on site nurseries? Might be worth looking into as our nursery doesn't just take children of hospital staff

I am sorry to break this to you that if you and your partner need to work 2 jobs each to pay for the nursery which you mentioned earlier, then it totally isn't worth it. Clearly nursery is unaffordable for you and worse those sort of nursery hours are only going to impact your DC detrimentally so it's a lose-lose situation for you.

for all the true posts about attachment disorders etc, this here hits the nail on the head.
dont get a dog and not look after it yourself. Dont get a baby and farm it out to carers until it’s 18. Even if you become a multimillionaire- the children will not thank you. They won’t know you.

You are sacrificing seeing your baby grow up, spending time good quality time with her before she’s too grown up to want to, enjoying her company, watching her grow and learn.

Gosh this post is sad. I genuinely don't know any doctors who put their children in nursery for 60 hours a week. I sometimes work 55 hours a week and I get exhausted. Think how exhausting that would be for a little baby. Honestly what is the point in having a baby if you aren't going to see them. You keep stating that many families put their children in nursery full time. This may be true but this is more like 9-5. Not 6am - 5pm.

I am an early years educator and have a degree in this. I've done years of research. Research suggests that children develop better in smaller settings such as with a nanny or a childminder (preferably the parent but obviously this can't always be the case as parents have to work)
If you are going to send your child 6 days a week, please please do your research and don't be so dismissive about childminders. They have to follow the same EYFS as nurseries and are much better for smaller children. I can't believe you'd rather your child be in the same 4 walls for 6 days a week than exploring the world with a childminder.

No ... 6-5pm, which OP is looking for, is 11 hours a day – many professional working couples utilise 7:30-630, which is also 11 hours. Saturday is morning only, OP has said.

You are being given a hard time op

I have seen 7-7 nurseries. Usually chains but never sat

I understand you are trying to work and need to earn x amount of money to pay bills/rent /mortgage etx

Getting a child up 530am to drop off at 6am even if you find a place will be hard

A live in nanny would be the better option but obv a cost

How much will your childcare costs be for the hours you want ?

What jobs do you and partner do - can you swap shifts /start time so one starts earlier and other finishes late

Saturday 2nd job - again once paid for childcare will you have a lot left over - may be worth giving up weekend job

And if need be work an evening job cleaning /stacking shelves /pub work etx so no childcare costs

Well someone who does 8-6 doesn’t see their kid for 10 hours a day. Is there a huge difference?

OP you might want to rethink the childminder thing. I wouldn’t worry too much about the number of toys. Surely having a consistent caregiver is better? Maybe nursery when she’s a bit older.

Our circle is nearly all professional couples, and I know no one whose baby does 50 hours a week at nursery.
All (including us) has children early 30's where we were established enough to have leverage to get flexible working patterns, or to afford for 1 parent (not always mum) to go part time. I went to my boss and said 'I would like to work X hours', initial answer was no, my response was 'no problem, please accept my resignation'. And then the requested hours were agreed. If someone is that skilled and valuable then they will do what they need to do to keep them.

Agreed. But one person mentioned that and the op is using that to ignore all the serious comments and concern.
that’s manipulative gaslighting.

I wonder if your employer values you this much... I doubt it.

You're sacrificing time you will NEVER be able to get back, for a career in a restaurant which you can do in the future. Your career will be there in future years waiting for you.

You keep stating that many families put their children in nursery full time. This may be true but this is more like 9-5. Not 6am - 5pm.

Full time working parents cannot only utilise 9-5pm childcare. They work those hours and then most commonly have commute time on top.