1 year old going to nursery 4 days a week

[Carbis]

I’m going back to work 4 days a week and my 1 year old will be going to nursery from 8-5 on those 4 days. It’s likely to be a longer day when my office reopens and I have to commute again.

My plan had been to work Mon - Thu and have Friday off with him. Now he has actually started at nursery, it has really hit home what a long day that is for such a little one. Now I’m wondering if I should take a mid week day off instead, say Wednesday, to break up the week for him. Or would that just be confusing??

Those of you who worked 4 days, which day off worked best for your LO?

I work 4 days, DD goes Tues-Fri and it’s brilliant for us. She started at 13.5 months and has thrived. She’s doing 8.30-4.30 in lockdown as we have no commute but it will be 7.30-5.30/6 when I’m back in the office.
Having 4 days together doesn’t cause us issues, we are 4 months in.

She goes in 5 days, loves it and hates coming home. Started going in 7.30/4.30 but now collect around 5.30. It depends on the kid really I guess.

I started with Wednesday off to split the week for dc1 and I moved it to a Friday off because there were still chores to do every week and having 3 days off in a row allowed me to get more done, some quality time and fun stuff with dc and some housework/foodshop to allow more family time at the weekend.

For me having the Wednesday off became about getting a washing on and catching up on housework stuff which wasn't what it was for. I imagine other people are more organised than me though.

DS is 18 months. I have Thursdays off. I feel it works okay for us; I start to miss him a lot on Tuesday afternoon and I like knowing that I only have one more day before I get to spend the day with him. I've actually found that, as DS has got used to nursery, he's less wiped out by it. He's very happy there but it doesn't seem to be a very long day for him (or, at least, not long enough to exhaust him enough for bedtime!). I honestly think he'd be fine with whatever combination so it's really what works best!

I'd take Mondays off so nursery on a Monday isn't needed. There are a number of bank holiday Mondays and if your nursery is the same as ours you have to pay even when it's closed for a BH, in that case you save money not needing nursery in Mondays

I used to take the Wednesday off and we would do something together even if it was a lunch out, it allowed her, and me some time doing something when it was quieter than a weekend. This was from 12 months through to foundation.

Keep your Friday off and have a long weekend. Your child then gets 4 days of nursery and 3 days at home in a row.

Thousands of babies start in nursery much younger than yours and do long hours. My nephew started at 12 weeks as that was the youngest they take them, other nurseries are 8 weeks. Children are surrounded by other children, are engaged in play and for the most part have an absolute ball and do get to sleep whilst there. The nursery with a massive wait list near me when Ds was a baby was open the longest hours to cover police shift patterns.

I really value having Wednesday off. Breaks the week up as it's only 2 full days apart, it also means I'm only away from work one day with 2 days either side to deal with things (rather than Monday or Friday meaning a long weekend). On a bank holiday week I tend to also take the Tuesday or Thursday to extend it also.

I know some people value the long weekends but Wednesday works well for us.

My two have both done Tues-Fri since they were 12mo. Usually 8-5.30, currently 8.45-5 ish.

For me the main pluses for my week set-up were a) like a PP, not having to pay for the BH Mondays nursery is shut (and my employers also give me the bank holidays in lieu), and b) that when they first started, a run of four days on the trot meant my DC got used to the whole nursery routine fast and settled in very quickly. They sleep well there and aren't often over tired. Another more selfish positive is that a lot of other working parents take Fridays off in my company, so my working Friday is usually blissfully quiet

I've worked 4 days since DC was 9mo, but they were with a grandparent one day, then three consecutive days of nursery, then I have Fridays off. Always managed fine at nursery however until she was about 18m used to be explosive at home afterwards I guess due to exhaustion as she never slept as much there as at home.

I worked 4 days and had a Wednesday off; I found it better for both me and DD as it broke the week up and gave us both a bit of a rest day in the middle and not too long without seeing her for a day. I also found it easier to manage my workload as leaving something from Tuesday to Thursday never seemed as bad as leaving it from Thursday to Monday.

My DD started nursery when she was 6 months old, now 13 months. Mo - Thu, 7.45-5pm.
She's fine.

My DC1 started at 11 months and did 4 days Mon-Thurs 8.15-4.45. Now 4 and still having an absolute blast there.
DC2 has just started doing the same.
I didn’t have an option on which day to take but I like having a long weekend and that separation of work and days off, also the nursery annual training day is a Friday so I never have to take a day off for this.

My 20 month old goes to her CM Mon-Thurs 9-5 and I have Fridays with her, works for us. She loves it and doesn't want to come home. She's been going since 11 months. DD2 will be starting at 11 months in September too for the same days.

Quite a lot of different experiences here, thank you! I guess it works differently for every family but it’s reassuring that Fridays can work well 😊

Friday is definitely the best day for me to have off work as so many other people do it and it would be far easier for me to have a run of 4 days working rather than 2 on, 1 off. I’m sure he’ll settle in to whatever routine we decide. It’s just whether I can cope with missing him for that long!

I’ve always had Fridays off since my youngest started nursery (work compressed hours), and I think it works well. A midweek day off would be more disruptive for both of us.