Best hours in nursery for under 3

[Hann376]

My little one will be going to nursery when she is 1 and I am having massive guilt about putting her in what with all the things we are hearing about how damaging childcare is before aged 3 as they should be at home with caregiver ideally.

my partner and I both work FT mon-fri but arw going to hopefully each drop a day so she should only need 3 days week childcare. (We don’t have family to help at all and can’t really afford to do less hours ). Wondering if it would be better for us to do that so we each get a full day with her a week or to each spread it out over 2 half days so that our little one does 4 half days plus 1 full day in nursery a week or 3 full days?

Obviously if we only take 2 half days we probably won’t be able to take our little one to toddler classes but I’m just thinking about what would be best for her in terms of trying to maximise the time she has with her parents / reducing time in nursery ??

I'd choose 3 full days as a cm. Have a full day each with her.

3 full days in nursery.
Half days are really restrictive.

Thank you how so ? Because they don’t really have time to settle etc ?

3 full.
Half days are rubbish.

It's increasing the number of times you have to walk out of work "early" (or rock up "late")
Its bringing her home, to have her nap for a bit, and trap you at home. It's restricting the distance you can go on a day off - because you only ever get half a day
It's probably also a very expensive way of doing it - half days weren't half processed at our place - more like 2/3.

Our DD did 4 full days from a year old and moved to 5 days a week at 2 ahead of her brother being born. She’s absolutely thriving and loves her time at nursery, so much so on a recent holiday she was telling us she missed her nursery friends and couldn’t wait to see them again.

Not wholly what you’re asking, but please don’t let mum guilt get to you. Handing them over the first few times is horrible, but seeing them learn and grow and develop their own little friendship groups has 100% assuaged any initial guilt I felt.

My twins started preschool aged 2 and were half days (mix of afternoons and mornings) for a while, and to be honest I found them a pain! It was either a challenge to keep them going all morning (without burning their energies too much!) or then getting them back at lunchtime and finding they were totally shattered in the afternoon.

Once they went to full days it was much easier and coincided with them dropping the daytime naps. They still occasionally have a nap at preschool if they’ve not had a great night but this is very rare.

I’d go with the three full days. Don’t feel bad. It’s great that she will still have 4/7 days with her parents.

DS does 4 days at nursery as I work 4 days and DH is full time. It used to be 3 days as my parents did a day but that became untenable so we upped to 4 days. I don’t believe nursery is damaging for 1 minute. DS is thriving as he’s learnt behaviours, structure, discipline, had variety of activites and meals etc. as long as you pick a decent nursery I think it’s healthier for everyone to be honest. If I didn’t work DS would be bored rigid at home with me all the time.

Agree three full days at nursery. I would also try and have a break between some of the days if possible so if they are ill they are not off for all of their days that week and have a day with one of you midweek.

Half days are undoubtedly easier on a one year old than full days but full days are better for parents. They will get used to full days though as they get past 18 months and nap there properly too.

Half days are better for the baby, especially to begin with, but probably less convenient for adults. Depends on the length of the full day too a 9-3 day is very different to 7.30-6 day.

I'd do half days if possible, much nicer for the baby.

I would avoid Mondays if you can, so you won't feel hard done by on Bank Holidays 🙂

3 full days. She’ll have two full days at home white her parents and you’ll be able to take her out on day trips, to toddler groups, to see friends. Much nicer then half days at home.

DD has been in nursery since she was 11 months old and does 3.5 days a week, half day is a Wednesday and she’s spends afternoon with granny. Doesn’t seem to do her any ‘harm’ we do an activity together on a Friday and then as a family at the weekend with 1 day chilling at home too. A nice balance for us that works

I have an 18 month old that's been in nursery since 9 months old full time.

Loves nursery and is thriving.

I would recommend 3 full days. What we did was trade off the hours. So I would work 8-4, DH 10-6. So I would leave in morning, DH do drop off on way to work. I'd pick baby up after I finished, which shortened the days. While most babies are in 8:30-5:30 for parents working 9-5, ours was in 9:45-4:15.

As they drop to one nap a day, the half days is really disruptive. Usual routine is nursery lunch at 12 noon, then baby is down for a nap 12:30-2:30. But here's the thing - morning sessions run until 1:30pm, afternoon session starts 1:30pm. Which will be smack in the middle of nap time.

Half days work for kids that don't nap, full days are better for kids that do nap.

My DD started at 11 month and does 3 full days.
She absolutely loves it and I don't get a second look when she's going in.

agree the napping is a nightmare when it comes to half days. My oldest started with half days and I soon realised it was a mistake

My DS1 did 3 full days at nursery and 2 days at home with his nan (whilst I wfh) from 11 months. He’s 4 now, does 5 full days, and is very confident, happy and outgoing. I’m a SAHM since DS2 but DS1 chose to keep going to nursery and DS2 has been going 2 days a week from a similar age and he loves it. He cries if I drop DS1 off and he doesn’t get to go!

Thanks that’s a good idea !