To increase days at nursery

[Famalam13]

DS (10mo) started nursery just over a month ago and loves it. He is an incredibly sociable baby who is easily bored so loves the busy nursery environment.

I have reduced my contracted hours to 3.5 days a week but am using my accumulated annual leave to go to 2.5 till April. However I am wondering whether to send him 3.5 days now.

Basically he is bored rigid at home with me and whines most of the day while I desperately try to find ways to amuse him. I do classes and meet ups most days but its increasingly hard to see other mums and babies as they are going back to work too.

I feel guilty as it's drummed in that the most important thing for babies is time with their parents but I don't think that's true for DS. He is much happier at weekends when DH is around, he doesn't like being 1-1.

Don't know what to do really. I guess my fear is that he doesn't love nursery as much as I think he does so making him go more at this age will upset him. However I also fear that he is miserable in his days at home with me!

Should also mention we are in a rented house with poor insulation and an ancient inefficient boiler. The heating has been on for 5 hours this morning and it is still an ice box. I think that is making the misery worse. We are moving to a new build in Feb/March so it won't be a problem after that.

I would keep him at home. He will be walking and climbing soon and they become far easier to entertain. Then they talk and become proper little buddies. In the meantime Try toddler groups. They are great for entertaining/tiring out little ones and you will meet more local mums.

You can definitely tell from their mood and behaviour at pick up whether they enjoy nursery or not so if you think he loves it and is thriving there then you're probably right. It sounds like he wouldn't bat an eyelid if you bumped him up by a day so do what's best for both of you.

I speak as someone whose ds wasn't that sociable or independent until he went to nursery but has really come out of his shell in the last few months. Not all kids enjoy the environment but for those who do then it can be great for bringing them on developmentally.

If you 'only' have 1.5 days together (still more than a lot of working mums so he's lucky to have that) it'll be easier to cram it full of fun stuff and keep him stimulated.
Trust your instincts!

Thanks both :) I am going to try to be more structured in activities and getting out and about over the next few weeks and see if that improves things. Ideally I would transfer the annual leave to the summer and go down to 2.5 days then when there would be so much more to do but unfortunately I lose the leave if I haven't used it by March.

Will see how I feel by Christmas and make a decision regarding the last three months.