Childcare for 1 day per week

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We are looking for a nursery for PFB DS for one day per week (DMIL will cover the other two days we need). Our favourite nursery so far has a minimum of two days but others have said they would trial a single day.

I had no idea there could be a problem with DS only being in nursery for a day. The nurseries say he wouldn't ever settle in.

Would I have the same issue with a childminder or nanny? Could I even find a childminder or nanny for one day per week?

DS will be 1 year old.

I work for two separate families each one day per week.
Yes the children are fine and settled immediately. No crying for mum.
Re discipline and routine I try to follow the families methods and routine as closely as possible.

It will take longer for them to settle but they usually do eventually. It will depend on the child really - a confident laid back child may have no issues at all and enjoy it from day 1. I nanny for a little boy 4 days a week and he goes to a nursery for a long morning on the other day. He is outgoing at home but can be shy when out and about. It took about 6 or 7 weeks before he settled at nursery.

A nanny may work slightly better as your ds will be in his home environment with familiar things around him but look into the childminder option too as they are smaller and quieter than a nursery and may be ok.

My DS attends nursery one day a week. He is an outgoing, cheeky little monster but took quite a while to settle in, something I didn't expect. I'm sure if he went more often he wouldn't have taken so long to settle but then again nursery said children get more difficult to settle in the older they get.

We didn't have any problems finding him a nursery place for only one day a week, but we were limited on the days we could chose as had to work around the days they could fit him in.

5 months on he still gets a bit upset going in but seems to have a brilliant time when he is there.

It might be nothing to do with settling in, although nursery use that as an excuse. More that, you, using a one day place, may mean they can't take a child who wants three days for example as one of the days is filled by your dc. It can be harder to settle a child who is only in for one session a week though.

They settle, make friends and become part of the group faster the more days they go, but it also depends a lot on the child.

Definately depends on the child. I childmind a 15 month old one day a week and she settled straight away. She is very laid back and confident.

I have been childminding a 13 month old for past 7 weeks 3 days a week and she still hasn't totally settled.

I couldn't see my 13th month old mindee settling for a long, long time with just one day a week at mine.

Does depend on the child. Some cope no problem at all, but others struggle to adjust to different ways of doing things - between you, your MiL, the Nursery (or CM).

It can be a long time for a little one, to go between one Wednesday and the next, which isn't an issue for some dc, but for others, it makes it hard for them to settle.

I would do it, providing all my other days were full, and having a one-day a week child wouldn't prevent me taking on a child needing more days. This is also likely to be reason why nurseries say no.

Depending on child, it can be a much longer settling in process, so whatever you decide, make sure you prepare yourself for this, and if possible set up lots of settling in sessions. (Some nurseries and CM charge for this, and a nanny pay also expect to be paid)

Thanks everyone.