Is one day a week at nursery too

7 replies

sonnponn · 14/04/2011 15:49

Hey Mums, :)

My son is just under 14 months old and I am a stay-at-home mum. I have recently started a job working from home, I tend to work in the evenings after he has gone to bed, but as my workload is increasing I am finding myself working til very very late every night! I have decided to put my son in nursery to help me find some time to work and also to give him some social time with others babies/activites. Ideally I wanted to put him in for 2 mornings (say tuesday and thursday mornings) per week, however my local nursery only does full days, they don't do just am or pm. Because of this I think that 1 full day is enough for me to get quite a lot done, and I can't really afford to put him in for 2 full days, however I'm not sure if it will be regular enough for my little boy to settle in properly. He is a happy, playful baby but can be quite wary around strangers/new surroundings until they become familiar (like most babies his age), my worry is that if he goes one day a week, say Wednesdays, by the time next Wednesday comes around he will have forgotten and have to re-settle from scratch again. :S Do you experienced mums think that will be the case? Do any of you have babies/toddlers who have gone to nursery only one day per week? I would really appreciate your experiences and advise!

Thank you so much!
Sonia

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HubbaHubbaBubba · 15/04/2011 04:36

Probably not the response you want, but...

My DDs are both sociable and chatty, but when I put them in nursery for just two days a week (Mon and Tues), the nursery workers thought of them as quiet girls and it crushed me to think they might be not themselves. They seemed perfectly happy and content, it just niggled that their usual non-stop speaking and "vivaciousness" wasn't coming forth at nursery. I then went back to work full time and the nursery workers couldn't stop telling me how chatty and friendly they both were just a couple of weeks in.

Are there no half-day nurseries nearby?

blueshoes · 15/04/2011 04:55

I agree with Hubba. I think it is more difficult to settle into nursery for the odd day a week, than for ft-ers or more regular goers. That is the received wisdom amongst nursery workers as well. Perhaps if the child were older, say, over 3, it would not be such an issue.

Just try it out and see if your ds settles well. Different children are different so you can never generalise.

Perhaps other parents who use nursery for little ones very occasionally can shed light. I have only ever used nursery ft or 5 days a week 1/2 day.

Parietal · 15/04/2011 05:57

If you have your pick of days at nursery, send your child in on a Friday. For many nurseries, Friday is the quietest day (the 3-4 day a week kids aren't in) and Wednesday is the busiest (everyone is in). So your child will get more attention from th staff on a Friday.

HubbaHubbaBubba · 15/04/2011 06:19

parietal makes a very good point. Also, fewer other children to have to befriend/compete with for friendship.

DoodleAlley · 15/04/2011 07:13

DS goes to nursery two days a week and loves loves loves it. Most nurseries do practice sessions of slowing increasing length and I'd suggest doing these closer together. Don't think of these sessions as free time but training time and as your sons a bit older than when we started you can also say positive things about how exciting it us etc.

You might have some time at the start when he cries when you drop him off but this is normal for most children starting nursery and he will probably stop by the time you get out of the door!

DS is now 2.5 and has been going to nursery for two days a week for 1.5 years and for a period he was only one day a week because of DH's redundancy. He gets so much from it and I find it's a lovely balance at this age. Give it a go and you can always review it - you're not signing him up to a life sentence!!! And I hope that you end up as happy as I am with the arrangement.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 15/04/2011 07:32

DD has been going to nursery on a Tuesday only for the last 2 years, since she was 13 months old. She's a strange child and even now she'll usually cry when I drop her off but within 5 minutes she's fine. We've had no problems with her going only one day a week.

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sonnponn · 18/04/2011 11:00

Thank you so very much for all of your kind advice, I really appreciate it. Will see how things go and try very hard to persuade the nursery to give us 2 half days if possible. We are going to speak to them tomorrow about everything like the induction process etc so fingers crossed! xxx

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