16mo going to nursery part-time - which combination of days is best?

[Rockdoctor]

I have just found out I'm being made redundant. Fortunately DH is still working and I get a reasonable payout so we would like to keep DD in nursery for as long as we can afford it - we are lucky to have found a really good nursery and she absolutely loves going there.

We have decided that the best option is to reduce her days from full-time to say 2 or 3 days a week. This will be affordable in the short term and allow me to look at other work options. My question is whether people have any views as to the best combination of days - both from her perspective and from a nursery perspective. Is she better going consecutive days to keep continuity? Am I better off working out which days will be harder to reinstate if I go back to work full time and then leaving her in for those days (nurseries can get oversubscribed around here).

Or does it just not matter?

the nursery my 16 mo goes to is quieter on Mondays and Fridays ( lots of mums doing 4 day weeks i guess). So, if it is the same with yours I would hang on to tues/weds/thurs as these are busier days and probably harder to get back later. Having said that, nursery have said that things get easier once they get to 2 as ratios go down.

I understood it was easier for them to do consecutive days, or every day is having to adjust all over again. Whem my DD was part time she went Tues and Wed.

I would also do consecutive days if you can. Although having said that, mine did (and still does) Mon, Tues, Thurs. If it's two days, can you do Wednesday and Thursday? Then if you needed them to take her for an extra day, they'd probably be able to do it as Friday is generally really quiet.

Thanks everyone - you're confirming what I thought. At this stage I'm leaning towards Wednesday, Thursday as a minimum and then either Monday or Friday if I end up with a third day. I know I have a good toddler group I can take her to on Tuesday so like to have her home for that.

Consecutive days is good IMO - or you could do 5 mornings or afternoons rather than 2-3 full days - so he has a daily routine. Depends on what you want to dp with your "free" time though.

From the perspective of busy "oversubscribed" days Tues/Weds/Thurs are always the busiest round here if you want to reserve your days IYSWIM. However I like Mondays & Fridays as they tend to be quieter and in theory get a bit more attention as there is fewer children in IYSWIM - but I know that my nursery still lhas vacancies - particularly for Friday. If your nursery really is fully subscribed then that doesn't really apply.

My DD goes on a Monday and Friday. She loves it and her routine is excellent. The combination of days isn't the issue ime, I think it's just getting and settling into a weekly routine.