Minimum of three sessions at nursery for a less than 2 year old. Anyone else come across this?

[Twinklemegan]

Following on from my other thread about childminders, I contacted a local nursery today which I thought looked good. They have spaces but they apparently have guidance from the Care Commission that no youngster should spend less than 3 sessions a week there. This is because otherwise they don't settle so well.

OK, I can see the reasoning, but DH only has 2 half days (max 3) of work a week. To pay for 3 half day sessions of childcare would be economically ludicrous. We only want 1 or 2 sessions at most.

Who is the Government to dictate the minimum amount of childcare I am allowed for my own child? Has anyone else come across this? As a matter of policy, I mean, not just a business thing.

Unless things have changed my guess is that they want as many as possible to use 3 days, rather than 2 as it helps the child to settle, it helps continuity, and it is better for the staff as they get to know the children better. It is also easier for them to teach the children their routine if it is followed 3 days per week. That is what my sons old nursery said. However, they let me have two full days per week over a period, but it was a private nursery.

I think (hope!) we're talking about 3 half-day sessions here otherwise we'll really be scuppered! My son is less than 2 - he's just a baby. How can anyone say he should be in nursery for that long. And if that's the case, then DH might as well not bother working as we'll actually make a loss!

one near me said that too. i delicined the space.
have you looked at a childminder?

surely they can't make you send them for 3? i only want ds to go to one or two to begin with. the preschool haven't said it's an issue. the only reason i can see that they might say no is if another child applied to go at the same time as your ds and wanted to go say mon, wed, fri and your ds was only going mon and wed they would prefer to pick her cos they will get more money and also our preschool only has 3 sessions a week so they might not want you to only do 2 cos they probably wouldn't fill a space for just 1 day a week.

My DS's nursery have just introduced this policy (well - 2 half days min)and they have a 1 year waiting list so are by no means trying to fill up places.

I asked their advice when starting him and agreed to do 2 half days as they said that in their experience babies have a really hard time settling if they do any less per week - by the time they are next in - they have forgotten etc and it is heartbreaking for all concerned.

Instead of the 'how dare they tell me' attitude - have you actually thought that If you choose to put your baby into a good nursery than they might actually know what they are talking about? Plus have you concidered how your baby might settle if just attending one session a week? It makes sense to me

but what if you pretty much know your child will settle well? i've never had a problem with ds not settling at places and I can't see it being an issue at pre-school. for him just one or two days will be fine.

I think pre school is a bit different - I thought this was about a baby? Am I getting the wrong end of the stick??

sorry i was just referring to pre-school for us cos that's what ds is about to start and i know twinklemegans son is about the same age as my ds (a month or two younger i think)

Take your point DKMA - I was being a bit bolshy there . What I meant really was that this appears to have come from the Scottish Care Commission not the nursery and I feel it's a bit rich as it could prevent a parent from being able to take a small amount of part-time work.

I have looked into childminders. There is only one in my area with spaces, and she's still in the process of registering after a year off. Something is niggling me and I'm not that happy. Also she's more expensive than the nurseries and for that amount of money I'd rather my DS was getting more out of it. I get the impression that this childminder really just babysits the kids rather than there being any structured learning through play.

DH and I have since talked about it and we've decided that he will approach his employer about doing more hours, if needs be. Then we'll try to put DS into a good nursery for 1 full day and 1 half day. And I hope to God they're talking about 3 half-day sessions as there's no way I'm sending him for 3 full days a week.

I'm sure they mean half days when they say 'session'
I feel the same re nursey v's childminder so ikwym - though I bet there are some great ones out there - but usually have no spaces eh?

Twinkle - can you ask if they will compromise on 2 half days? Explain that there are other nurseries that offer that so why can't they?

Yes, what I'm going to do tomorrow is phone back the nursery and also phone the other one that they recommended. Assuming they actually have spaces (which I presume the first one does or else they'd have just said "no") I'll go and see them both and talk face to face.

The second nursery I looked up sounds dead posh. They do French, and yoga, and music lessons - for toddlers! And it's the same price as the childminder.It might be a bit big for DS though. The first one only takes 16 children and it looks nice too.

Twinklemegan... While I think you have a perfect right to ask to send your ds to nursery for whatever number of sessions suits you and your family's needs, I would support the view that it can be hard to settle them if they go very infrequently. This is what happened with my dd1 (who is the world's most gregarious child... to the point of excess !). She has been in childcare since she was 6 months old and was always happy as Larry, except when I was on mat leave with dd2, when I reduced dd1 down to one day a week, and every week without fail she cried her eyes out. This was in a lovely nursery where she was really fond of her key worker and where she had gone without any qualms at all when she was going there 4 days a week. (She was just under 2 at the time, btw.) So IME, I think it does help if they go more regularly.

However, this is not to say that you will necessarily have problems going less frequently. Just my experience. Good luck.