Best number of days nursery / childcare to settlr

[Hann376]

Want to put my little one in childcare for as few days as possible when they are 1 but will need to be 2 or 3 days as we can’t afford for one of us to not work and have no family nearby to help.

If we can afford it would 2 days in a row be better than 3 so that they spend more time overall with me and my partner or would 3 days (or 3 half/shorter days) be better so they can get more settled in the setting ?

Only you can decide what will work better for you. I always think it's nicer to start on for half days and build up to full days when they're settled but it will depend if you can do that around your work commitments. If not then I'd opt for just 2 days initially.

Edit: misunderstood and thought you were asking about the gap between days and settling, not just the number. We did 2 days initially and he settled in just fine and it felt like a nice balance as he did find it tiring, but other kids go full time from day one and cope fine.

If you do two days together, you’ve then got a 5 day gap until he goes again, which could be quite unsettling. I think the best option is equally spaced during the week, so there’s no long gaps between any session. So a Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday. But it really doesn’t matter that much.