Nursery - how many days for a 3 year old?

[Gangle]

Applying for nurseries/pre-schools for DS1 for next year when he will be 2 years 10 months. At the moment we have a nanny share and I am on maternity leave probably for the rest of the year. The nanny share has been great but we're getting to the point where we feel DS1 would really benefit from nursery although for various reasons Jan 2011 would be the earliest we would put him in although he'll continue to go to playgroup etc before then. I'm applying for 3 full days but wondering if that is too much for a 3 year old to spend in that type of environment. DS1 is very sociable but I am not mad on nurseries in general which is why we originally went for a nanny share. I will probably go back to work full time so we would need to find childcare for the other 2 days so also wondering if the split between nursery and nanny would prove too disruptive for DS1.

My DS has just turned three and started at nursery two days a week. I think he could probably move to three quite happily. He is really enjoying interacting with other children and is coming on in leaps and bounds. Rest of the time he is with a CM.

DS is 3.4 and he goes to nursery 3 days a week and he loves it - we are in flexible working so drop DS off at about 9.30am and pick him up at 4pm - he always asks us to leave him longer (they have snacks at 4.30) - DS really benefits from the interaction he has with other kids AND he gets to do all sorts of outrageous messy things that he wouldn't get to do at home (I can only take so much glitter! )

Most mums i know say 2 or at most 3 days is fine for this age. Its enough stimulation, interaction etc for them and gets them used to a routine of sorts, but anymore and they can get a bit grumpy and over tired.
Oh and be prepared for him to be completely knackered for the first few weeks until he gets used to it, but hey, a few early bedtimes helps a lot!

Gangle - My daughter (3 in May) does two full days a week (8-5)at nursery and she started when she was 2 1/2 and I think that was just about right (even though I must say I would have preferred her to do two half days but that wasn't an option in the nursery we wanted)

I, like you, wasn't mad on nurseries so opted for a nanny too but felt my daughter, as she is an only child, but also loves other children, needed a bit of group interaction with other children. And she absolutely loves it! We still have the same nanny for three days a week and I think the combination works really well. I wasn't sure if it would be too complicated combining both nanny and nursery but for us it works really well and my daughter is really happy with both. But I must add dropping her off in in the nursery to begin with, for about a month was a nightmare, tears, "don't leave me" etc, I can't believe that only a month later she started skipping in and is now very excited about being there.

I am thinking of increasing it to three days from September when she will be 3.4

I hope this is helpful.