Nursery in Ramadan??

Hyperquiet · 2024-12-11T12:28:03+00:00

Hi Is it better for my 1 year old to start nursery in Ramadan. I suppose I'm asking what's harder? Being at home with a 1 year old all day while fasting or sending them to nursery a few long days a week and dealing with all the sickness for the first time while fasting? If the first option then my husband takes extra leave to look after little one as I've exhausted mine as tag on after mat leave. Thanks!

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 11/12/2024 12:29

Little one will be almost 1.5 yo at that time.

OP posts:

Stormwalker · 11/12/2024 15:55

Not sure. Never sent lo to nursery. Just tried to fast Mondays and Thursdays to help pre Ramadan and eating healthier. Days are so short now.

Scirocco · 11/12/2024 17:54

My DC has loved nursery in Ramadhan. The nursery has lots of activities themed around celebrating Ramadhan and Eid. Could your little one start a little before Ramadhan so they can get settled in (and get any initial bugs out the way)?

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 11/12/2024 20:06

Stormwalker · 11/12/2024 15:55

Not sure. Never sent lo to nursery. Just tried to fast Mondays and Thursdays to help pre Ramadan and eating healthier. Days are so short now.

Yes I've done a few at the mo but I think they'll be longer in Ramadan

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Original poster

Hyperquiet · 11/12/2024 20:08

Scirocco · 11/12/2024 17:54

My DC has loved nursery in Ramadhan. The nursery has lots of activities themed around celebrating Ramadhan and Eid. Could your little one start a little before Ramadhan so they can get settled in (and get any initial bugs out the way)?

That would be nice. Hopefully our nursery will do the same. So we've tried to extend the leave as much as possible as didn't want LO going too young as it is so I think I'd prefer not to send any earlier than I have to!

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Original poster

Hyperquiet · 11/12/2024 20:08

Plus I think the bugs last a few months at least or so I've heard!

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Scirocco · 11/12/2024 20:16

DC started at about 9 months, the initial bugs weren't bad, but it was more when DC hit about 2yo that we noticed the bugs as a regular thing!

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 11/12/2024 21:13

Scirocco · 11/12/2024 20:16

DC started at about 9 months, the initial bugs weren't bad, but it was more when DC hit about 2yo that we noticed the bugs as a regular thing!

Maybe it's a season thing. Mine will be starting after the winter months. So hoping that helps!

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Original poster

Hyperquiet · 12/12/2024 01:08

Scirocco · 11/12/2024 20:16

DC started at about 9 months, the initial bugs weren't bad, but it was more when DC hit about 2yo that we noticed the bugs as a regular thing!

Were you breastfeeding at the start then stopped by 2 years by any chance?

Also interested in whether it's beneficial to continue bf to help with the initial nursery bugs.

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Scirocco · 12/12/2024 09:06

Hyperquiet · 12/12/2024 01:08

Were you breastfeeding at the start then stopped by 2 years by any chance?

Also interested in whether it's beneficial to continue bf to help with the initial nursery bugs.

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I think breastfeeding is really helpful for immune systems if it's feasible. DC still has one small feed most days and is someone who tends to be mildly affected by things that take ages for their classmates to recover from.

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 12/12/2024 10:40

Scirocco · 12/12/2024 09:06

I think breastfeeding is really helpful for immune systems if it's feasible. DC still has one small feed most days and is someone who tends to be mildly affected by things that take ages for their classmates to recover from.

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That's good to know. My baby still breastfeeds but we've been up all night with an awful cough so I wasn't sure how much it helped!

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Stormwalker · 13/12/2024 15:42

Breastfeeding has been shown to be really helpful.

Personally wouldn't send my children to nursery unless there were no other options available. Especially not in my area! Too many lapses in safety and hygiene unfortunately. I think I'd probably want to open my own or do child minding while the children were still very young.

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 13/12/2024 17:26

Stormwalker · 13/12/2024 15:42

Breastfeeding has been shown to be really helpful.

Personally wouldn't send my children to nursery unless there were no other options available. Especially not in my area! Too many lapses in safety and hygiene unfortunately. I think I'd probably want to open my own or do child minding while the children were still very young.

If I quit work it'll be difficult to start my career over. It's a franchise nursery with a good reputation so I'm hoping it'll be ok but a difficult transition nonetheless. I've already managed to extend him till 16 months (almost 17 months old) with strategic leave. Sadly we have no family options for childcare.

OP posts:

Scirocco · 13/12/2024 17:44

Hyperquiet · 13/12/2024 17:26

If I quit work it'll be difficult to start my career over. It's a franchise nursery with a good reputation so I'm hoping it'll be ok but a difficult transition nonetheless. I've already managed to extend him till 16 months (almost 17 months old) with strategic leave. Sadly we have no family options for childcare.

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My DC had to go to nursery young because rhe alternative was to potentially unfixably harm my career and therefore our family's financial security. A carefully chosen nursery was the less bad option in our scenario. DC loves nursery - they've made friends, learned new skills and been so proud to show us, tried new food, built their confidence... Would they have done things like that at home with me, probably, but this way they've been able to do them and we've maintained our financial security.

Whatever you do, there'll be feelings of guilt, but we do our best with the options available to us.

Our nursery was happy to take expressed milk for DC, by the way, so if you did want to send some in with your little one, that could be an option for during the day.

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 14/12/2024 10:12

Scirocco · 13/12/2024 17:44

My DC had to go to nursery young because rhe alternative was to potentially unfixably harm my career and therefore our family's financial security. A carefully chosen nursery was the less bad option in our scenario. DC loves nursery - they've made friends, learned new skills and been so proud to show us, tried new food, built their confidence... Would they have done things like that at home with me, probably, but this way they've been able to do them and we've maintained our financial security.

Whatever you do, there'll be feelings of guilt, but we do our best with the options available to us.

Our nursery was happy to take expressed milk for DC, by the way, so if you did want to send some in with your little one, that could be an option for during the day.

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Thank you! I don't think I'll need to send milk because of his age. What age did yours start nursery? I only looked at 3 nurseries. I'm wondering if I looked at enough!

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Scirocco · 14/12/2024 12:26

Hyperquiet · 14/12/2024 10:12

Thank you! I don't think I'll need to send milk because of his age. What age did yours start nursery? I only looked at 3 nurseries. I'm wondering if I looked at enough!

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My DC started at 9 months, actually, but wasn't the youngest there. We started at 2 days then went to 3 days at 1 year old.

We looked at all the area's nursery's reports, reviews, etc. and visited a few of our top-ranked ones. The one we picked was an instant 'click' in terms of ethos and resources. It was really important to us that there was a good understanding of health needs, minimal exposure to screens, loads of outdoor time, multicultural experiences, halal meal options, etc.

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 15/12/2024 23:24

Scirocco · 14/12/2024 12:26

My DC started at 9 months, actually, but wasn't the youngest there. We started at 2 days then went to 3 days at 1 year old.

We looked at all the area's nursery's reports, reviews, etc. and visited a few of our top-ranked ones. The one we picked was an instant 'click' in terms of ethos and resources. It was really important to us that there was a good understanding of health needs, minimal exposure to screens, loads of outdoor time, multicultural experiences, halal meal options, etc.

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Interesting. I looked at two good rated nurseries and one outstanding. The outstanding one was too far. One of the good rated ones did have halal meal options but when i went to visit was frankly a dangerous place! The one we picked was a franchise and seemed well put together but of course you never know.

How many hours a day did yours do from 12 months old? I'm concerned about an at least 8 hr day 3x a week for mine.

Thanks

OP posts:

Scirocco · 16/12/2024 07:39

Hyperquiet · 15/12/2024 23:24

Interesting. I looked at two good rated nurseries and one outstanding. The outstanding one was too far. One of the good rated ones did have halal meal options but when i went to visit was frankly a dangerous place! The one we picked was a franchise and seemed well put together but of course you never know.

How many hours a day did yours do from 12 months old? I'm concerned about an at least 8 hr day 3x a week for mine.

Thanks

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DC did (and still does) 8am to 5/5:45pm in nursery (main hours are 8-6 with additional time before or after that available separately), 3 consecutive days. Sometimes they have an earlier drop off or later collection if needed (those need to be arranged individually though).

One thing I did was visit the vicinity of the nurseries we were considering at different times of day, in an 'unofficial' capacity. Eg walking past at a busy drop off time - do kids and parents look happy to go in? Eg if the nursery says they visit a local park a lot, is there anything to see on a mid-morning or mid-afternoon trip to that park? I wasn't standing outside it staring in, or anything like that, but just seeing if anything flagged up from being in the area. If the nursery doesn't have halal meal options, hopefully they have a veggie option - have you checked about snacks as well?

Original poster

Hyperquiet · 17/12/2024 16:41

Scirocco · 16/12/2024 07:39

DC did (and still does) 8am to 5/5:45pm in nursery (main hours are 8-6 with additional time before or after that available separately), 3 consecutive days. Sometimes they have an earlier drop off or later collection if needed (those need to be arranged individually though).

One thing I did was visit the vicinity of the nurseries we were considering at different times of day, in an 'unofficial' capacity. Eg walking past at a busy drop off time - do kids and parents look happy to go in? Eg if the nursery says they visit a local park a lot, is there anything to see on a mid-morning or mid-afternoon trip to that park? I wasn't standing outside it staring in, or anything like that, but just seeing if anything flagged up from being in the area. If the nursery doesn't have halal meal options, hopefully they have a veggie option - have you checked about snacks as well?

Show quote history

Yes they've got Veggie options. Thanks for the tips. How did you find the transition to nursery for your little one? Mine will be going for similar hours and days.

They do 3 settling in hours (1 per day) as standard but I might do a couple more.

OP posts:

Scirocco · 17/12/2024 16:49

Hyperquiet · 17/12/2024 16:41

Yes they've got Veggie options. Thanks for the tips. How did you find the transition to nursery for your little one? Mine will be going for similar hours and days.

They do 3 settling in hours (1 per day) as standard but I might do a couple more.

Show quote history

DC loved it straight away. The nursery did a really gentle introduction, with us initially playing with DC and the teacher until DC felt really comfortable (didn't take long), then the teacher asked if DC would like to play with other babies and DC was super keen to go with them.

There was a room change when DC was turning 2, which was a bit tougher though. DC didn't like the change and we had a few weeks where drop-off could be anything from grudgingly walking in, up to full-scale "Nooooooo!" screaming (that was horrible but we had to stick with the routine and trust the process). DC quickly settled again though. Now nursery is considered "brilliant" again. DC loves their friends and their teachers and is secure in going to play with people.