Is only 1 morning at nursery enough?

[Babyitscoldouts1de]

Ds is mostly looked after by grandparents while we are at work. He does a couple of nursery sessions per week to be social with other children. A few things have happened recently to make me look into moving him. I have found a good looking one, but they currently only have one morning available. Do you think this is enough for getting him used to it and being beneficial? I can consider adding an additional session later in the yeas as they become available. But it is more expensive than current nursery and by then I will be on maternity leave, so not sure if that is viable.

I don't think that's enough. It's such a long time in between sessions. You might be better (and cheaper) with a toddler group.

My 14 month old daughter does one full time day a week 8-5 because of mine and my husband's shifts. I was a bit worried about it but she seems to be fine now. It did take about 6-8 weeks to settle her in though so that is the negative aspect for us.

I'm sure there'd be room to increase his sessions in the future too.

My 4 year old does one morning a week at our village pre-school. She loves it and is very settled. So it is possible. Even managed to full participate in the nativity. But she attends nursery 2.5 days a week on top of that which she has done since 11 months and that's probs what has helped build her confidence.

How old is your ds? Generally, I would say that a single session or a single day isn't enough as each time a child goes it will be like settling in again. It's also extremely hard for them to make and keep relationships with other children and adults on such little time.

At our Nursery cricket Nursery you have to do a minimum number of sessions. They suggest it’s to long in between sessions.
It’s a shame they can’t accommodate more sessions.

It depends on the child. I'm a nursery practitioner and some children definitely need more than that, it makes it very hard for them to settle with such a hard gap and it can be hard for them to form bonds with their key worker and other children. That being said, some children are fine with it and very laid back about it all. My own two children were chalk and cheese in this situation. DS1 who is generally a very emotional, anxious child was absolutely fine with one morning a week, whereas my resilient, laid back DS2 struggled and absolutely needed more sessions to feel secure.

You could always try having him there for one session a week and keep him at his other nursery for a while, in case he doesn't settle, or if he does, until another session becomes available.