Consecutive days or spaced out

[Hann376]

My baby will be starting nursery at ages 1 hopefully for just 3 days a week. I was thinking Tues - Thurs so I can have mon and Fri off but wondering if it would be better for her to have a 1 day break break in between her days (so go to nursery Tues, Thurs and Fri or mon, Tues, Thursday)?

I am Just wanting what is best for her in terms of getting settled and also not being overtired!

I don’t think it really matters. People seem to always have strong opinions (“they’ll never settle without consecutive days” or “too many days in a row is too stressful/exhausting for a little one”) but I’ve known every combination of nursery days and it doesn’t seem to make any difference.

The children who struggle tend to settle tend to be those who would have struggled with any combination of days, as they have things like separation anxiety, difficulty with certain aspects (communication, eating, sleeping etc).

Our son did Monday and Friday when he started, and having the days so far apart didn’t really phase him at all. Others went 4-5 days from the very start and again did fine.

Mine went on consecutive days but I was job sharing at the time so it was the only choice.

Agree that some people will have strong opinions but ultimately it doesn’t really matter which you choose

id say it’s much easier for you and you get a proper break from work and baby will settle either way. If you have any kit days or spare annual leave you could do a staggered start so the first couple weeks baby could go shorter hours or less days.

Depends on your work. My work tries to encourage people in on Mondays and Fridays because no one wants to be there! But commute is also easier on those days too for precisely that reason (most commuters are TWATs now -tues, weds and Thurs).

We also put my dd in Mon, weds and Thurs at first but regretted the Mondays as the bank holidays often meant we missed a day of work (I work 7 days a week around DC) every now and again and fell behind.

That is a good point about bank holidays @Snakeandladder as some childcare settings still charge you for bank holidays but they are not actually open. And some local authorities pay funding for bank holidays (which is lost if you normally attend Mondays) and some do not.

OP, I would do whatever works for you. If you would prefer a longer weekend/break from work go for consecutive days. Your baby will settle regardless of what days they do.

If dc are sent home with a temperature it's usually 48 hours before they can return. That was my reason for splitting days.

However the Monday Bank Holiday thing is also very annoying.