Morning or afternoon preschool session with new baby to take into account? Naps?

[MrsCreosote]

I am delighted that my daughter has today been offered a place at her preschool of choice for September (she only turns 3 next week and was on the waiting list).

We've got a choice of morning or afternoon as others have dropped out of both.

I'm expecting my 2nd baby in November.

Am thinking that morning sessions could mean a struggle to get my DD1 and baby fed dressed and out of the house by 9am, but that mornings would be better in the long run (prefer to do shopping etc in the mornings when its quiet and I'm less tired). Also my helpful neighbour could drop her off sometimes with the morning sessions but not in the afternoons.

And a big factor is that she still needs a nap in the afternoons, as she always wakes by 6am, although sometimes I keep her up all day but then from 4pm it's a struggle to stop her going off to bed.

Afternoon sessions would mean I could perhaps have an afternoon nap in the last 2 months of pg (great) and may help her to kick the nap habit - maybe she'd be tired and could go to bed by 7 which could be helpful with a new baby to put to bed as well?

Can anyone who has been in a similar situation advise me? I can't quite figure out how it's going to be with 2 kids to consider... They want to know by tomorrow... Any thoughts gratefully received!

Many thanks!

I chose afternoon sessions for DS2 as I had DD3 who has a nap in the afternoon and DD4 (3 weeks)

It works so I drop off DS2 and both DD's go down for a nap when we get home, means I get a break/nap for a couple of hours

Tbh, I've always preferred morning sessions for my 2.

I was 8 months pregnant when dd started playgroup (aged 2.7) so I used the mornings to go shopping, do housework etc. Also because dd was pretty tired in the afternoon she would happily watch Cbeebies or play quietly if I needed to have a snooze (but the main difference is that my dd had dropped her nap by 20 months old anyway!)

I found that dd stopped waking up so early in the mornings too. Btw it is possible to get out the door however daunting it seems right now!

morning
i have dd2 6 mths and she naps on way to pre school in the morning when we drop dd1 but means she can have good nap in cot after lunch

Afternoons here. We are never up and ready early enough to do mornings, so we can take it easy and then get DS there for after lunch.
Also we still go to a few groups etc and they are all on in the mornings so he doesnt miss out.

i like ds to do afternoons cos we go to toddler group most mornings.

defo pm

I have a Ds aged 3.7 and DD aged 24 weeks- we ahev always done mornings- ui too had the same worry would i amange to be there byu 9 am but we did- ( dont think i have ever been late)

It does work as long as you get a good routing going- i always sorted everything we need the night before- clothes, shoes, lunch, etc etc and there was then less rush

We are normally up at6-45, feed baby at 7am, get her dressed, get myself dressed, do ds breakfast, get him dressed and then out the door- for 8-30!!!!!

Good luck and whatever you decide it wil be finexxx your baby will just slot in xxx

if your DH could take her to nursery, I woul go for morning sessions.
If you have to take her I would go for afternoons.

I'd prefer mornings. Afternoons tie you in for whole day pretty much and are less flexible.

Take baby in PJs in pram.

Mornings. Baby doesn't need to be dressed, will possibly have a short nap on the way there/back but you can put them down when you arrive back then have a leisurely afternoon.

I'd say afternoons while your baby is tiny. My eldest went for a while to a preschool which only did mornings and, not being a morning person AT ALL, I found the whole lack-of-sleep new baby thing combined with having to set the alarm to get us all out the house on time a nightmare. Most mornings I'd have to wake a grouchy DS1 up from a deep sleep, and quite often DS2 would have gone back to sleep after the first morning feed but wasn't given the chance as we had to be out the house around the time he would have normally gone back in his cot and slept for an hour. The journey to pre-school was not long enough for him to fall asleep but adding on time for settling DS1 into nursery and talking to his teachers etc and return journey home meant that quite often he was hysterially tired by the time we got back in the house.

DS1 actually wasn't settling too well in that nursery and I was finding the whole morning thing a nightmare so took him out for a few weeks and found somewhere else that did afternoons.

It was fab! Both kids (and me!) could sleep in till whenever we wanted in the morning and mornings were totally relaxed. Afternoon sessions at the nursery were quieter and more laid-back than the morning ones which had more kids, which meant that DS2 settled there really really quickly. Yes, your days are kind of tied up but the more relaxed approach saved our sanity, and it was only for a short period.

Also, I could drop DS1 at nursery at 1pm, then bring DS2 back for his afternoon nap in his cot for a couple of hours, while I could also have a doze on the sofa if needed, or catch up with housework while he slept.

The following September I switched him to mornings, like a few of his afternoon classmates. Mainly because DS2 was sleeping much better at night so we were all capable of getting up at a reasonable hour without us feeling like zombies, or feeling all rushed. Plus, DS1 was ready for the hustle and bustle of a more buzzing morning class. Another plus is that while DS2 had his afternoon nap after lunch, DS1 and I could spend some time together without a whingey baby butting in! (a minus point being that I lost my "me" time!)

Finally, our morning routine for nursery has got us all ready for the school run in a few weeks when DS1 starts big school!

Am starting DS2 at nursery in Sept too, he will be 2 and a half and doing mornings seeing as we have to be out of the house for the school run anyway.

Anyway, after all this waffle, afternoons worked bettter for us while DS2 was tiny, then mornings suited better as he got a bit older. Is there an option to swap over after a year too?

Further to that, MrsC, regarding naps.....DS 1's afternoon sessions stimulated him enough so that he kept going through any tired periods he might have had (sometimes he had a little lie-down for 15 mins in their quiet area but most times not). He instantly fell to sleep at 7 or 7.30pm whereas before he would lie awake chatting to himself for ages if he wasn't that sleepy. Plus, like I say, if he was extra tired, he could lie in till whatever time he liked next morning. Worked very well for us!

Afternoon is good.