Nursery dilemma - quick, need to decide by 3pm today!

[ellesabe]

Sorry I know I should post this on one of the ed boards but I don't think I'd get replies on there quick enough do I'm appealing to you lovely lot instead :)

Dd is nearly 3yo and we have put her name down for a place at nursery starting in Jan doing 5 mornings a week.

Just had a call from them saying they have since changed the options and no longer offer 5 mornings and we have to choose between Mon-Wed or Wed-Fri (Wed being a half day).

And we have to decide by 3pm as the places are being allocated tomorrow

It is a really lovely nursery class, part of a lovely school and CofE ( important to us) but I just don't know how she will cope doing two full days in a row. She still has a nap most afternoons and has never been in any sort of nursery/childcare before.

We have her name down at another place 5 mornings but we haven't even visited and it was very much a second-choice as we really wanted her to go to the first one.

Option 1 - Accept Mon-Wed at the nursery we love and hope she copes.

Option 2 - Send her to our back-up option 5 mornings a week.

Please share your wisdom oh wise mumsnetters, I'm in a tizz

Accept the mon-wed, and keep her name on the waiting list for the other nusery. Take your time to decide after you visit it.

I would base my decision on how she is when she is tired. If she just acts a little sleepy and has less energy, then fine send her to your preferred option. They may have a quiet area where she can relax.

If she gets grumpy / less well behaved I would choose the other nursery and work on cutting down her afternoon naps before she starts reception. You don't want this to cause problems, especially as this is a nursery attached to the school.

Have you made plans that depends on your child attending nursery in Jan?

If not, I'd be tempted to keep her home until the place that allows for half days becomes available.

I'm pretty certain that attending the nursery of an attached school doesn't offer you a short-cut in the schools admission procedures, if that has any bearing on the decision.

Option 1 - she has to start dropping the nap now anyway (BOO!)

I would say option 1 too. I wouldn't send my dc to a.nursery I hadn't visited, and she'll adjust to the longer day in time. She may well have dropped her nap by then anyway.

Presumably if she really can't cope she could just do 3 half days?

Fwiw my DS does 5 short mornings and I'd much rather it was 2 1/2 days!

Option 1 - and try dropping the nap fairly soon to see how she copes. Is there provision for her to nap at nursery if she needs to?

I think I'd rather do option 1 anyhow. It then gives you 2 full days to go on trips etc.

Thanks everyone!

We decided to say yes to the Mon-Wed option, figuring that it might be tiring for her at first but a better choice in the long-run :)

January is still some time away and you don't have to leave her there all day at least to start with. You could phase her in and just have three mornings for a while. I would also keep her name down at the other place too for now. Go and see it and see how you feel closer to the start date.

Talk to them about the nap, they should be able to let her have a little kip in a quiet corner. dd's nursery had a little girl who used to curl up on a bean bag at that age.

I wouldn't drop the nap! keep it when she needs it - and that would be mostly likely when she has been tired after 2 full days at nursery. napping in the day is a fine things to do at age 2/3 and 33

Many nurseries allow children a nap during the day at this age. I think you've made the right choice going with the nursery your DD likes. She will soon get used to the new routine and enjoy herself.
Have you thought of taking the Wed-Fr option? One of my DD part time days was Monday and I regretted choosing it with all the bank holidays.