To increase playgroup sessions?

[SilentRefluxAdvicePlease]

My daughter is two and a half and started a small playgroup in September, initially just two mornings per week. Before the half term break we had the option to request extra sessions from January 2026. As she had settled brilliantly at first, we requested two more morning sessions, with the thinking that we might be offered one of those, taking her up to three mornings per week. However, we heard this week that we will be offered all four. Our dilemma is, after being unwell last month and having a week away, followed by a week back and then another week away for half term, my daughter has suddenly become upset at playgroup drop off and sometimes during the morning whilst she is there. I realise this is probably very common with young children, but we are now unsure whether to increase to four sessions, or just three, to help her adjust. We are lucky to receive funded childcare so the cost is not a factor here, and we are also fortunate to have alternative childcare in place if needed, from grandparents. All in all, I know this is a happy problem to have, but she is our first child and so I would be very interested to hear other’s perspectives and experience. Thank you so much!

It’s often easier for children to settle should they go more often to a childcare session, not less.
I say this as a childminder of many years experience…the kids that only come a couple of times a week, take longer to settle.
And as wonderful as grandparents are, you cannot underestimate the immense benefit of socialising with peers at this age.
Hope this helps!

Thank you so much. It is really helpful to hear from someone who has worked a lot with young children. I should add that the playgroup staff are brilliant and we are completely happy with their care in the setting.

It's unclear to me as to whether you need the nursery setting from a childcare perspective, or because you need her to go. I wouldn't increase days unless you actually need her to go.

Thank you for replying. We both work on the days that our daughter would attend. Until September, we relied entirely on grandparents, so our thinking was that this would reduce the pressure on them, whilst also being a nice experience for our daughter. She was very happy initially, but has been more unsettled in the last week or two, otherwise we would go for it I think.

Ah ok gotcha. Sounds like she was enjoying it before and then got unsettled and was ill and off for a while and hasn't quite found her feet again. Are grandparents struggling or suggesting they are ready for a break? If so I'd definitely go with nursery - you don't want them to burn out and become disillusioned. If not then I'd probably just do three days rather than four.

I think you’ve described it perfectly. We are hoping she might settle down again in another couple of weeks. We have a meeting with her key worker coming up, so will discuss our thoughts then. We don’t want to mess the playgroup around, as of course if we don’t take up the space on the fourth day, someone else can and I’m sure a lot of work goes in to the scheduling and staffing. Both sets of grandparents are very flexible and haven’t said they are struggling (I have asked), but we recognise that entertaining a toddler is quite different to caring for a baby who at least naps in the day! Plus, they (or we, depending on where childcare is happening that day) travel to/from the next town which can take 30 minutes at rush hour. They have been happy to do so, but there’s no denying that it’s a lot. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I really appreciate it.

This is incorrect. There isn’t much benefit to socialising with peers until at least 3.

I think I'd go to three days after Christmas and then look at four days after Easter. Increase it slowly.