What's best - 3 full day or 5 half day?

[sourpatchkid]

For my 1 year old DS - work are prepared to be flexible

Thanks

Personally I'd prefer to work 3 full days. Getting them to and from nursery is a faff so it would minimise that, and give you two full days to enjoy with your LO

I'd say 5 half days - let's the baby get into a routine and not too long to be away from you. Plus they can still have a nap at home.

However 3 days is probably better for you so you have some full days off.

I've done both by the way.

Inwould go for 3 full days, then he still has 4 days at home. But if you are unlikely to be able to change it when he goes to school I would go for half days, because then you will be able to picknup each day.

Work will let me change it when I need to and I'm honestly happy to do either in terms of work. I just want what's best for him (honestly I don't want to put him in nursery but I do have to go back to work)

3 full days definitely. On 5 half days by the time you've finished work, collected them, got home, got changed etc, you feel like you don't have an afternoon properly so it feels like 5 days of work to me.

I've done both. 5 days worked better for my children. 3 days worked better for me.

Both interesting points, thank you

It might be easier to find childcare for 3 full days than 5 half days. 3 full days would only mean commuting 6 times as opposed to 10. 3 full days gives your child the chance to really settle into childcare and not feel they are being taken away just as they were about to do painting / go outside / have a snack / or whatever.

5 half days can work well, but I'd say there are more pros for 3 full days.

Could you do 2 full and 2 half days then you get a full day off but don't spend as much time travelling to and from work/nursery?

Another small thought to add to the mix... 3 full days could end up being more expensive for you, because you'll inevitably end up spending money on the two days you have off with your DS. Whereas 5 half days means you pick up DS and then he naps in the afternoon while you do household jobs/time to yourself.
It's a tricky one.
Do you have flexibility to work from home? I used to do 4 days a week when my first child was little. I would be in the office for 2 days and at home for two days. On the days I was home DC used to only spend the morning in nursery. Then I would carry on working for a bit while she napped in the afternoon and a neighbour had her for an hour after nap time. I think we had just the right balance (until of course the napping stopped!)

Thank you, I don't mind the commute or the cost. Nursery are happy to do half day or whole days. If he was older I would do whole days without question but a whole day (which is longer when commute added each way) just seems too much for a 1 year old?

Sounds like I might have answered my own question hey? 😊

We do three full days and it's worked brilliantly for us- half days would be a pain with the extra commute time and cost and instead we get a snugly 'lie in' together on two weekdays! I also realised that I couldn't physically get back to nursery from work in time for the half day pickup (1pm).

It also means it's been easy to take long weekends to visit relatives. DD seems to be thriving on it - started nursery at one year and loves it. A couple of times I've picked her up early to take to an appointment and she's been most upset at being removed from the fun.

I did insist on the three days being back to back though rather than spread through the week - seems to be easier to deal with three days of intense nursery/work, then two more chilled out days together, then two family days at the weekend.

Planning to retain this structure once she starts at school as it means she'll be able to walk to school two days a week rather than a rushed bundling into the car.

Also, the full days thing may depend on what your nursery provides? Mine is open 7am - 6.30pm (DD does approx 7.40am - 6pm) and provides all the meals so she has her tea there, and then usually a snack before I collect. Means there's no mad scramble to get a meal when we get home, and we have a little play and some milk before bed - nice and chilled out!

I'd do 3 full whilst DC is at pre school. You'll have two full days at home to do days out, have lazy days, long weekend away, whatever you want. I think you'll feel like you are rushing all the time if you work every day.

Once at school, I'd definitely move to half days to minimise childcare.

As someone who used to work at a nursery, the children tend to get more out of the 3 full days. The half day children are sadly forgotten for a lot of the fun activities (afternoon party or walk).

I was going to say the same as canada- a lot of extra stuff like birthday teas etc happen in the afternoon. I would vote three full days too, but totally understand your dilemma! I have done three full days. It was lovely having those two full days off with DC. Also meant long weekends away we're easy etc. And we got into a rhythm of who we'd see on our days off. DC absolutely loved childcare and made firm friends there

I would definitely do 3 full days as well and actually that's what we did when I started back to work. I personally didn't have the option as at least one or two of those days were long days (12 hours) when I had to commute in to London. But it meant I got two days off to really enjoy her and we could actually go out for the day and enjoy things or meet friends. Otherwise, by the time you collect them and get home it's like 2pm and most toddlers are napping in the afternoon and you never really get to plan anything. I also really enjoyed having full days to myself to be me and work when I wasn't as much watching the clock and needing to run back out the door by 12:30 with my mum hat on. It felt a bit more balanced between work and home life.

As you've said your focus is what's best for the wee one I would definitely say five half days.

I'm intrigued why people think five half days are better for the baby? To me it means more travelling for them (ten journeys to and from nursery instead of six) and more mornings of having to rush out the house and less time just to 'be' with their parent(s) - as three full days gives four full days at home.
Nursery is tiring but they still get their naps at nursery and TBH five half days sounds more tiring?

My DS did 3 full days and it worked really well for us. On a very practical level he did mon, wed and fri - good space between the nursery days, so he had a relaxed start the next day. Also even if he had to come home poorly one day, he would automatically be off for the required 24 hrs that the nursery wanted, so could usually go back for his next session.

Ds is almost 1 and has been doing 3 full days (8-4.30) since 8 months.
I think the full days are better, he knows what's going on, less faffing.
The nursery days are full on for everyone, would personally hate 5 half days as it would mean having to be organised every day iyswim.
He is tired but not as much as I thought - he naps fine there.

3 full days far easier. When you are at work you can properly concentrate, go out for team lunches, attend meetings etc. DP / DH can do some pick ups as well.
On your 2 days off you can meet up with friends, go to toddler groups or just chill. If DC is ill, he or she can recover.

I have tried both full days and half days.

Half days are a nightmare. You get into work (harassed) barely get anything done, leave, (harassed as people are asking xyz as your clock watching) collect LO get home grab lunch as you'll have left before lunch break, LO wants attention, and it's mid afternoon and too late to do anything.
3 full days means 3 days your working and doing easy dinners, 1 day to do house stuff, 1 day for groups / soft play coffees, 2 family days.

Another advantage of 3 full days as they go into school you only need childcare for 3 full days. 5 half days give you no time to yourself and more issues with holiday cover - many holiday places are full days (so they can do trips).

3 full days, without a doubt.
It gives you 4 full days together.
It means you only have the rush and hassle and stress of getting out in the morning 3 times rather than 5 - don't under-estimate what a stressful start to the day it is.
Then - and this will depend on your job - it can be quite difficult to get away on time / switch off from work on the dot, esp when others are working.
Plus, you will waste additional time commuting if you go in 5 days instead of 3.