Due to circumstances, DS is not going to have a 'holiday' from nursery this year - is this ok?

[ceebee74]

DS (2) goes to nursery full-time for 4 days a week whilst I am at work.

I am pg and due in November so we are not having a holiday this year - DH is saving his holidays for when the baby is born and I am saving most of mine to take before I officially start my mat leave to have a rest (last pg I had high blood pressure at the end and I don't want that to happen again), sort stuff out etc.

So basically, it means that DS will be in nursery 52 weeks this year (apart from the odd day) - although he is going to stay in nursery 3 days a week when baby is born, we may keep him at home straight away after the birth but I guess that depends on how things pan out.

He absolutely loves it there, has lots of friends and in fact enjoys it more than being at home with mummy and daddy where he rattles round the house bored!

I just have a little concern that it is not good for him not to have a break - after all, schoolchildren get breaks, adult workers get holidays from work etc.

ceebee you must do what is right for you.

Our dd loves nursery and we only had a 5 day break this year due to circumstances.

I have since tried to be "kind" and done things like bring her home early, have lunch at home and stay home all afternoon etc etc. For her, however, nursery is predominantly a social experience. She cried on the way home (early finish) last week as the other children (i.e. her friends) were going out to play on the grass and I was being mean and taking her home!

Oh, my DS never had a 'proper' holiday from his Nursery for over 3 years. He loves it there, he has fun, and he gets to have a little snooze if he wants one.
He finishes next week as he will be starting school this year, and he's really upset.

Don't worry about holidays from Nursery. You need to do what's best for your family.

Lollipop/Bowdee - glad to hear of your experiences. Like yours, it is definitely a social experience for DS.

I know what we are planning is right for us but it still makes me feel a little bit guilty that we haven't taken him away this year - especially when his whole little world is going to change in November

My dd1 thrived on being at nursery when dd2 was born (exactly a year ago!)

For her, and possibly your ds, nursery is an alternative to being at home. So to have a "break" or holiday from nursery would be a bit like having a break from home iykwim.

Nursery (for children who enjoy it) is imo like having a kind of extended family. Without question nursery care has been so beneficial to our dd1. She is going to school in September, but some of the little ones she has been attending nursery with have been with her for 3-4 years.

Don't feel guilty, feel thankful and blessed that nursery is a positive experience for your ds, and may well provide some stability for him when your new dc is born. That's how it worked for us.

Happy birthday to your DD2

We are definitely hoping that keeping DS in the routine of nursery after the baby is born will help him adjust to the major changes - but I am so fed up of people saying to me 'oh I assume DS will not be going to nursery when you are on mat leave then?' - fed up of justifying it.

I always think that when you tell people that DS enjoys nursery, absolutely loves it etc etc that they just think you are trying to justify the fact you are a working mum (iyswim) - or maybe I am paranoid

I believe that your ds enjoys nursery - I don't think that you are trying to justify the fact you are a working mum.

I have had very positive nursery experiences and feel strongly that for our family we made the right decisions.

We felt so happy when dd2 was born. dd1 continued to go to nursery 2.5 days. She continued to stay at home with me and her new sister 2.5 days. She had time with mummy and time with her nursery friends (by friends I mean the children and staff). I had time with the baby and time for myself if the baby had a nap. Imo we were all winners.

I kind of think that people who comment negatively have thier own issues, so try and ignore them.

The only small changes we made were that I took her in at 9ish rather than 8am (which I did when I was working) and I picked her up a bit earlier.

Hi just to say I agree with you Ceebee in that having some continuity when the new baby arrives should be helpful for your DS and you.

We're also expecting no 2 and whilst I'm having to cut back on DDs nursery because of the money I'm keen for her to continue as she enjoys it so much. I would be concerned that if we took her out she'd feel that the new baby had disrupted her whole life and she was having to miss out on things that matter to her.

Also for me I think that it will be lovely to have some 1 on 1 time with the new baby as I did with DD.

Hi ceebee,
our two have been in nursery 51 out of the 52 weeks each year since they started as we can only afford one week's holiday a year.

Ds1 still went to nursery his 3 days while I was on mat leave for 7m with ds2. It kept his routine and kept his attention quota up - I really struggled with them both at home after c section and 16m age gap.

I needed to keep the days up as that way his place was kept, plus we got priority over new families for the same days for ds2. If we had taken him out its very unlikely that we would have got 2 of them in on the same days 3 days a week when I went back to work.

Can't remember which is your day off - I am off Thurs and Fri usually with my two, email me and we can go to Brewsters when the school hols are finished.

Hope the party went ok!
Have to log off now as have just come home to do some paid work, drop me a line xxx

Kidsdon't really need to betaken anyway. They arelike old folk. They thrive on routine.