Going to two different nurseries at the same time

[MonchichiRyan]

I just want to see what I am planning to do is unusual, or bad to my DS (3 years old).

DS is currently going to a nursery organized by the hospital I work in, which is 45 minutes drive from home. I work 2 days a week (7:30 to 3:30pm) so DS goes to nursery the same two days, pretty much the same range. Now I am thinking to let DS going to nursery for 2 more days a week, so I have some spare time to do stuff on my own, without distractions or worrying about childcare. But I want to register him to a nursery close to home instead, so we don't need to spend 45 minutes each journey. I found one locally which is ranked outstanding by Ofsted and I want to give it a try.

Is it unusual in a bad way for kids going to two different nurseries at the same time? I asked a few friends and they never heard of this idea. Would it be bad for DS? The only bad thing I could come up with is that he needs to settle in whole new environment. Is there anything you think I should consider before going ahead? Any advice?

By the way, I thought about childminder too but nurseries seems slightly cheaper, not 100% sure though as I haven't researched deep enough on this.

I know a couple of people that do this...mainly for the same reason dc go to work nursery....and they only work part time......1 no issues, the other one took the dc a while to acclimitise ....depends on the child really... I think as your child is a bit older it may be less of an issue ...
where are they going to be going to school? what will happen there
coudl be nice for tehm to know some that wil lbe going to school with
-will you need a childminder to do pick ups etc if 1/2day or after school ...
I think I would work back from long term what doing for school - .. .you can use free hours with childminder as well most near me take it....

My DD went to a private nursery for two days per week from age 2 as I was doing a uni course. When she was old enough for pre school nursery she went there the remaining 3 days. It didn't confuse her at all and she liked the two different settings.

My DS has a term time only nursery where we live which is amazing, but we do need cover in holidays so he also goes to one near grandparents house. It's a bit harder because of the long gap for the holiday cover nursery but he gets into the swing of things quick enough. It should be easier if it's the same pattern every week. Variety has to be good at that age, surely?

Once she was 3 my DD2 split her time between the nursery she had been to from a baby and the preschool near us. She didn't bat an eyelid when she started the second. She did have a favourite as one was a bit stricter, but was genuinely happy at both.

It's hard work so hard mine go to two different ones and the journey times are so hard to get right, atm the road is being dug up so one is always late lately, the other on time. Then there's the pick ups. I'm also heavily pregnant so when I do go in to labour no idea how I will arrange for them both to be collected

If your going to be transitioning to school and need care then I'd go with someone who can do the school wrap around care. Childminders usually give preference to children they have pre school over new children so that's worth considering. The right childminder can see you through to age 11 plus.
Childminders take all the funding schemes including 15 and 30 hours. Which can be stretched through to 11 or 22 hours whole year.
Childminders are normally cheaper and more flexible over hours/sessions.

Yes it’s quite a common thing to do and if you get 30 hr funding you should be able to divide it between two settings.

Dc2 did that. His preschool was only open 4 mornings a week so lots of the children did 1 or 2 sessions a week somewhere else as well.

Both mine went to 2 different settings in the year before they started school. One private nursery that covered my working hours topped up with a couple of mornings at a local pre school that fed to the local schools. They were fine with the two but I would recommend having an eye on future schools so you can be prepping for that at the same time - it was great that mine ended up knowing 8-10 children in their year when they started and I got to know a couple of the parents too. It all helps with the first few days at school (not sure how much beyond that as they make friends so quickly at that age anyway lol) x

My 15 month old goes to nursery two days a week and a childminder for two days a week (and then to his grandparents the other day) - using two different childcare settings wasn't my first choice and I was quite worried about it but it's working fine in practice and he's settled very well into both.

I'm a childminder and I have looked after several children who have done this, either because of funding eg 15 hours with me, 15 with school nursery or just because being a childminder I'm a bit cheaper than a nursery and it's a way of keeping costs down. All the children have been very adaptable and well adjusted to doing both. Only downside from my pov was that there was no relationship with the other setting-they didn't share with me (or it was difficult to get out of them) what the child was doing when they weren't with me.

Read this thread with interest, my DD goes to nursery next to our work (we work together) which is about 45 minutes from home. We chose it as we fell in love with the place & it’s setting. It’s surrounded by fields & farms & woods! Our little one has been so happy there that we want to keep her there until she goes to school!

But I am so conscious she’ll go to school with none of her nursery mates .. so I’m considering a day in a pre-school attached to her likely school so she’ll at least recognise a few faces when she starts! 🤔

@Bol87 My DD did this but when she started school she made friends really easily as a lot of the neighbours children go the same school she does so they all just clicked.

I almost did this when we got our 30 hours but decided against it. Like you, I work in a hospital and my little boy goes to the hospital pre school. I wanted to put him in for an extra day (so 2 days a week) and looked at local pre schools but I didn’t like them as much as the one he was at. At the time he had just moved from toddler room to pre school and had just potty trained and I felt another change would be too much for him. So I kept him at the same one and it actually works out really well. It means I can do overtime if I want to and I’m on site, yes it’s a pain having to drive to drop off and pick up (30 min journey) but it’s worth it to see him so happy there.

My dc does 2 days nursery, 1.5 days childminder, 1.5 days grandparents and it works brilliantly.

Childminder is cheaper and flexible and does extra days if ever needed, plus she only charges half if we don't send dc but nursery charges full price all the time no matter what.

Dc loves all her care settings. At nursery she learns lots and is with others of similar age. At childminder she is with a range of ages including older ones for wraparound care and gets lots out of that too. Her childminder does lots of educational stuff as well.