If you kept your dc1 in nursery whilst on mat leave with dc2....

[BotBotticelli]

Did dc1 have any days off nursery when the new baby arrived??

Or did you just stick to the normal routine and keep taking dc1 to nursery in his/her paid-for days at the time you were giving birth and just afterwards? (Obviously DH or family members will do the nursery drop off and pick up if I am in labour and when the new baby is tiny).

For background I am pregnant with dc2. Will be taking 10 months mat leave (I currently work 4 days per week and DS goes to a lovely local nursery).

Whilst on mat leave we are going to keep ds1 in the nursery 3 days per week in order to maintain his routine, give me time to bond with the new baby and plus I don't think I would cope very well with them both at home 5 days per week (had quite bad PND after DS was born).

Interested to hear what worked for you in the days surrounding the birth of your second child.

No opinions on whether dc1 should be going to nursery or not please! That is a done deal!

I kept DD1 at nursery when DD2 was born. It was a sanity saver for all of us. DD1 would have been extremely bored at home and I would have been too tired with a new baby to go out or play all the time. I also felt it was important to have some time to focus on the new baby as I had lots of time with DD1 after she was born.

I paid for DS to continue his normal 3 full days a week until the end of the year and then in January he changed to the free 15 hours per week doing 5 afternoon sessions. DD was born on Tuesday, DH picked DS up in the morning and he stayed at home Wednesday, and went to nursery on Thursday.

I was worried DS would be upset at going to nursery, but they made a big fuss of him and he came home very happy Tbh DS gets bored at home all day so it was quite good to send him into nursery on the Thursday!

DS1 was 3.5 and just started preschool when I had DS2 - he went every afternoon 12-3.30. The nursery was attached to the school he was going to so I felt it would have been worse for him not to go - they do a phased transition into reception from pre-school so he adapted really well to school. It worked well for us.

I have a DS 3.5 years and now DS 4 months and we've kept him in nursery for his usual 3 days a week. It has been an absolute life saver!! He loves nursery and really needs the stimulation and activity it provides for him and I get to send some proper time with DS2 and catch up inon house work. On my days when I have both of them on my own I feel like DS2 hardly gets a look in as I have to always put him down and sort out DS1 in the toilet or whatever. Was interesting last week as DS1 had chickenpox so couldn't go to nursery. It was such a long and boring week for us all and he can't wait to get back to nursery tomorrow. Just shows how much we all need it!!

Amazingly I went into labour on a Monday morning and DH was able to get DS to nursery first thing then get me to hospital. He had a full day at nursery and my parents collected him. I was home that evening and he went to nursery all that week and following even when DH was on paternity leave. Think it was anchoring for him during a turbulent time.

I kept DS in as usual. I was planning to cut down, but decided against it in the end. I also had PND after DS was born and had it again with DD (boo), so nursery was almost literally a life saver. DS loves it and I'd never have kept him occupied at home. He still has a lovely relationship with DD and I love the time I have with him.

My DD1 was 2.10 when DD2 was born. She carried on at nursery for 2 days a week and 2 mornings with my parents. It was a total sanity saver. DD1 was very lively and had stopped napping many months previously. If i had both at home all the time I think I would have become ill (I had bad anxiety first time round, possibly PND).

We dropped from four to three days a week. It worked really, really well - was childminder not nursery, DD1 had her own little life and friends and routine there, whereas she'd have been bored silly at home with me!

DS1 kept to full time at pre-school when I had DS2 which I think really helped with him accepting his sibling. He still regressed back to bottles (was 2.5 when DS2 arrived) and had some really tough nights sleeping etc, but settled within a few weeks.

I would nurse as much as possible during the day so that when DH would collect DS1, I could spend time with him without having to say "I just need to feed the baby" or whatever.

And it meant I could spend all day staring at my newborn, and going for coffee with my friends. Winners all round!

I kept my dc1's normal routine (3 short days) but I really really missed him, I think it was the effect of my hormones (I tend to get baby blues quite intensely) it felt quite wrong to send him but logically I knew it was the right thing to do.

After a couple if weeks it felt right having him go to nursery.

Something which really helps is my dp drops dc1 at nursery on his way to work, those days are so lovely, I stay in bed and cuddle/feed the baby and catch up on sleep, I'd definitely recommend your husband doing the drop offs of possible.

The days we are all home are really nice as I have the energy to do fun things with both of them :)

DS stayed at nursery when DD was born, initially for four days but dropped to two after a couple of months. We wanted him to maintain some of his routine and keep up with his wee pals. He kept going til it was time to start school nursery 9 months later. DH had always done the drop off in the morning at 8, so we kept that up and then I would go and pick him up about half 4. It worked really well for us as I had 2 days each week just with DD, which was nice and I was in a better, more relaxed frame of mind for the 3 days that DS was at home. I feel very lucky that we were financially able to do this as it worked really well for us.