Childcare - feel sad for my toddler....

[lisalisa]

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From what i rememeber of your posts, your DS has had a few changes recently, and I would not rush him into another one. From the sounds of it he is getting lots of stimulation with you and his siblings, I do not think it will 'harm' him to have a little less in the day for a short while. If nec keep him up for a bit in the evening until you get sorted out with a good, long term plan.
My DS (nearly 3) will happily snooze away in the day if not woken up (and I would then put him to bed later-ie if we have plans for the evening) and he is very happy with that. Your little one may not be lying in bed awake all day.
It is up to you how you deal with your mother in law and what you want to ask her to do with him-you may not want to rock the boat at the moment.
I would concentrate on sorting out a permanant solution. So long as he is loved by you all then your DS will not be suffering short term by the situation you describe.
And he does sound lovely
Good luck.

I think there may be some confusion over terminology being used by some posters.

In my mind, Mother & Toddler group is different to Playgroup. Playgroup and Pre-School are the same thing (known as Sessional Group in Ofsted speak). Nursery is different.

In a sessional group, it is not unusual for there to be children to be 2.5-4.5 years old. While ratio of the under 3's is different, the age groups can be mixed. Often a sessional group meets in a church hall / community centre, and thus there is only 1 main room, so mixing the children has to occur... and mixing the age group is actually encouraged as the older children can then mentor the younger children. A sessional group will be limited to a maximum of 26 children and run for a maximum of 4 hours per day. For further information, see National Standards: Sessional Daycare

lisalisa - I would suggest looking at local providers with a view to a gradual introduction from September. Meanwhile attending a Parent & Toddler group can help your son to mix with other similar aged children. Your MIL, or a nanny, could take your son to these groups.

TBH I agree with quint. I personally think the pre-school would probably be a positive thing for him. And I really do think you are probably being a little over-protective of the family baby. Surely worth checking out even if you decide to wait for a while.

thanks, nannynick. I often wondered myself about the difference between playgroup and nursery.

Lisalisa,

I'm so sorry. You are really having a time with the childcare arrangements. I think you should arrange some kind of sessional care for DS2 to help on a couple of fronts. Your MIL is obviously worn out and it would give her a bit of a break that she needs so she can have a bit more energy with DS2 when she is looking after him. And also it would give DS2 a bit of continuity of care. So when MIL leaves and new nanny comes in he will at least have a similar routine of the playgroup/activity/whatever to give him a bit of familiarity in his routine. I would look to start this as soon as possible.

Good luck on your hunt for nanny/childminder/playgroup/etc.

PS Have you heard from old weird nanny who I think now lives down the street?