Morning or afternoon nursery for a 3 year old?

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My soon to be 3 year old (DC1) will be starting nursery in November, initially at 3 sessions a week. The nursery has morning (8am - 1pm) and afternoon (1pm - 6pm) sessions available. I also have a 12 month old and am pregnant with our third who is due at the end of March. They are both with me full time with no family help/other help and DH works long hours.

I’m wondering if it’s best to start DC1 in the morning or afternoon sessions (eventually building up to a full day).

I initially thought afternoon is best, as then I could be at home when DC2 (and hopefully the new baby) naps, and have a chance to get some things done/rest a bit myself!

But a friend of mine (whose child goes to a different nursery) says morning is best as that’s when most older kids go, plus that’s when most activities are done eg trip out.

Any advice please? Thanks!

We did afternoon at first because mine were not morning types, they went 12.30-3pm daily, rarely got up before 9am

We did mornings as ds still napped in afternoon but in my experience of private nursery yes there tends to be outings in the morning and quieter activites in the afternoon as some children nap/need down time. School nursery tends to be more structured so both sessions s will be similar.

I did afternoons first and wished I did mornings. Mornings they usually do more activities and kids that do full days will get picked up from 4pm to 6pm. So it's not as fun and more disruptive. I found my DS was much more settled and actually made friends once he started morning sessions.

I would say afternoon in your situation too, then as you say you can have some time to get stuff done in the afternoons while the little ones nap. Also no massive rush in the mornings to get everyone out of the house.

Depends on your child though, neither of mine napped by the time they were 3 so this wouldn’t have been an issue.

I think it depends on the children dynamics - I’d personally do mornings so you have less time when you are trying to look after 3 young kids at the same time. When I had my second - I had my eldest (under 2) in nursery in the mornings and then they came home they napped and it meant I could have a quieter morning bonding with the newborn, use the naps for food/laundry/etc and then plan an activity after nap for them both before doing bath/bed.

Both have pros and cons. I found afternoons difficult with our 3 yo. She was just transitioning from dropping her afternoon nap so found it difficult staying awake and then on pick up was exhausted. It did get better but the first month or so was difficult. Additionally, she'd be waiting to go all day so constant asking when she was going, enjoying playing then using delaying tactics when we actually needed to get ready!

I always did mornings with my kids, it gets them used to the morning school run, i always did/do my shopping in the morning so could do that without kids lol i dunno if its the same everywhere but nursery near me used to do morning till lunch time and then those going in for the afternoon had lunch at nursery, so after the first term of mornings, when we were allowed to change a few days before the second intake joined, i would switch one of the days to an afternoon to get them used to having lunch at school xx

I did mornings with my 3 , you still have a decent chunk of the day left to do other things if you want to.

Morning advantages: gives you a big chunk of time to do something after nursery - afternoon and evening.
Morning disadvantages: you need to be organized to be up and out in the morning. How likely is that to happen with 2 smaller kids too?

We did mornings - but had early risers, and were intense at the park at 7 (opening time) before nursery.....

As an observation: 6pm finish is quite late. Will you have enough evening to get everything sorted?

What meals are offered with each session??

Thank you everyone for the replies. A lot to think about.
DC1 doesn’t nap anymore unfortunately and is usually up for the day around 7am so it would be a bit of a rush out the door but not impossible (it’s a 15 minute walk and the nursery provide breakfast there until 8:45am). They also provide a cooked lunch at 12:00 and a snack (not dinner) at 17:00. @GreenMeeple- I suspect you’re right and that some kids would get picked up anytime from 4pm if they’re doing the full day. Plus quieter if they’ve been out in the morning and then some napping.

@Cantseetreesforthewood- yes 6pm would be quite late to get home, give DC1 something to eat (presuming the nursery afternoon snack is light), bath etc, especially with 2 other little ones (and a DH who wouldn’t be home until at least 7/7:30pm if not travelling abroad for work). I’d probably collect at 5pm but then that cuts the afternoon too. So many factors to think about. Who knew it could be so tricky 😂🙈

Actually I’ve just seen for a slightly reduced amount you can start from 9am and skip the breakfast 8-8:45am. So that would be less of a rush in the morning (breakfast in hand on route?!)

I would do morning - it is harder to go out if you have to be 'back' for nursery. Could your husband do drop off on the way to work in the morning sometimes?