Child in nursery today and tomorrow 8am til 6pm

[Motheroffive999]

Who's children are still in nursery today and tomorrow.

My daughter in law is working 8 til 6 pm today and tomorrow in the local nursery for babies from 6 weeks to 4 year old pre schoolers.

They have maybe 10 children in each room still, this close to Christmas.

Most have older siblings and they drop off saying they are not working but want a nice chilled day at home.

I know some parents have to work but most are at home.

These are years that they won't get back with their children , I know that they need to do last minute prep etc but leaving children at nursery until 6pm on Christmas Eve is such a shame for the children and the staff.
Am I being unreasonable?

Your comments are hilarious. Not every single second with a child is “quality time”, a lot of it is hard work and bloody relentless actually.

I agree, I find it a bit sad too really.

I don’t think I’m lucky tbh yes I have a husband who works full time but his wage is far less than what’s considered normal on here. I’m good at budgeting had my first child at 16 and no maternity leave than still didn’t need to put my baby in nursery at 6 weeks.

What’s wrong with having an opinion on a subject matter and contributing to threads in accordance with that opinion? This is what forums are for? There are several members on this thread who always come on with pro-nursery/anti SAHMs rants.

Everyone does this because they don’t want to lose the nursery place, which they would do if they took the child out for 9 months, then have to go through the disruption and rigmarole of trying to find TWO nursery places after that. It’s not practical.

Exactly.

I continued to send mine so he still had a nursery place after mat leave. Some nurseries have huge waiting lists, you take your child out and you aren't getting them back in.

Not a risk I was going to take.

Erm you do realise that if you did that you’d lose the place for when you are off mat leave? that’s why women send their toddlers to nursery.

It’s a self fulfilling prophecy though isn’t it. If I take my child out they won’t be a place for them so I’ll just hog it unnecessarily. If everyone took their child out for subsequent mat leaves, there wouldn’t be such an issue with shortage of places.

Plus if the child is 3+ by the time they’re going back , the places are much easier to get as the ratios are different for that age group (and there are also school nurseries in addition to private).

no it isn’t at all

You’ll still have a shortage of places. Some people are one and done, some have children close together so at nursery at the same time. If you took your child out (isn’t not hogging unnecessarily at all) you’ll still lose the place. Especially at ones with waiting lists which would still exist even if people did that

Some parents taking their child out for the mums mat leave isn't going to magically solve the long waiting lists some nurseries have.

It's a juggle as a parent. When eldest was 4 he still went every day he was booked in because I'd a baby who needed those few days a week one to one. Now youngest is 4 and she goes those days so eldest who is off school gest precious one to one time with me.

From ages 3-5 at nursery mine have really loves playing with their friends so I'd drop a bit late and pick up a bit early but ultimately they benefit from the socialising at that age. I'm not sending youngest on Xmas eve but I sent her on her usual day on Monday just collected early to take them trampolining so I got to clean then take eldest for a hot chocolate

That's not quite how it works though is it
People have children at all different ages.
In my area there certainly aren't a lot of pre school places - it's baby age where you can get them in. Also I wouldn't have sent my child just to any nursery - we chose ours for specific reasons.
I understand you don't like the idea of nursery but it's reasonable to accept your viewpoint isn't the only right one.

I've already paid for the sessions as normal, why would I not use them? Plenty of time to spend together over the next 10days while the nursery are closed. And I have an older child who is off as per your example, it's been lovely to spend some 1 on 1 time with them while younger sibling is at nursery

My first child went to nursery and was taken out for Mat leave with subsequent child. I was told there would definitely not be places for them when I return to work. It’s a nursery known for long waiting lists. Yet they were offering me places for them both a year later (which I declined) no problem. I think a lot of it is marketing and scaremongering which is clearly working.

I'll probably be deleted, but fuck off and stop judging other women's choices.

Not to mention what an absolute faff it would be when it is just easier to keep them in the nursery they are already happy and settled in.

I had to put mine down for the nursery I wanted when I was 12 weeks pregnant for a chance of them having a space for when I wanted.

That’s what people are told, the reality is often different. The nursery I mentioned supposedly has a 1-2 year waiting list yet I was magically offered 2 places after a year of mat leave.

Just because you got lucky, doesn’t mean the reality is different for others. I put my ds1’s name down on several nursery waiting lists, who never offered him a space. In fact, a year later, they contacted me to tell me that if I wanted his name kept on the waiting list, I’d have to pay a yearly fee 🤣

It's absolutely the reality in some areas when it comes to the best nurseries.

I had twins the second time around and it was incredibly stressful. Some people don't realise, especially if they move from a different area and end up disappointed.

So because yours had space, it’s scaremongering? Honestly many won’t have space and just because you can’t accept that doesn’t make it less true. I know of places that if you don’t have the name down before a certain time you won’t have a place and yes it’s true because I’ve tried myself

Today was our last opening day. We are shut tomorrow and back on Jan 2nd. Parents aren't charged for this closure, just in case anyone wondered.

It's been a lot of fun with the children the last couple weeks. Today a lot didn't come in or went earlier than their scheduled time. The worse part is not working til 6 but only have one child lingering until 6 when the rest have gone home! The children who stay late are the children with working parents though so it is what it is. Hopefully from tomorrow all the families will be able to enjoy being home with their children, or hopefully have family who can care for the child until the parents stop work.

The one my DS went to said they had a 1 year waiting list and my friend who has a son the same age as mine took him out for her second mat leave. She could have got him back in, but they had no space for his baby sister and she couldn't do drop off to two different nurseries. She had to quit her job.

There we go, one anecdata story to cancel out yours.

I kept my child in nursery on mat leave. So did everyone else I knew with other kids. Absolutely zero guilt here. It meant my eldest kept up his routine, had socialisation and a range of activities and experiences I couldn't have given him at home. Plus it gave me dedicated time to spend with the baby 1:1.

I didn't realise there was some law that you had to exhaust yourself further on maternity leave by taking a child out of nursery where they are happy and settled. I also don't subscribe to this view that a women must stay at home and bring up her kids in isolation because that's what society deems must happen. We always say it takes a village to raise a child and nursery is part of my village.

Quite a few of my colleagues have their children in their usual childcare today. It’s how this children’s ED and PICU is staffed.

You’re welcome,