School nursery - morning or afternoon better?

[ilovewinterpansies]

I'm due with baby no 3 this summer. DS1 will be in year 1 in September and DS2 will be starting at the school nursery.

I meant to request an afternoon slot as I figured better to have small baby and toddler in the morning when we are all a bit fresher (!) and then drop toddler off at lunchtime when the day drags.

But I forgot (oops!) and I've been allocated a morning slot.

Can I have your thoughts on whether I should keep it or request a swap if possible?

I'd leave it as the morning slot, if you're lucky they might still nap in the afternoon!

Morning is much better! Mine has just started afternoons and it's a nightmare. As soon as he comes home he just wants to sleep and it's too late for naps/ early for bed. I'm getting it changed in September.

Depends what you want to do with dc2. This way they will be busy all morning and hopefully come back ready to nap or chill at home and you can have a peaceful afternoon doing gentle things. If you want to go out doing exciting things you'd be best in the morning then sending dc to the afternoon session but this would be really tiring for them. I learnt from bitter experience early on that one busy thing a day is enough.

If you're dropping off DC1 anyway then you may as well drop DC2 off at the same time. DC2 can then decompress (or sleep if you're lucky) in the afternoon before you go back for DC1.

It also leaves you free to take baby to toddler groups without constantly having to chase DC2 round the room. Your chances of an actual hot cup of tea would be far higher.

The morning slots tend to be more popular IME. If it really doesn't work out for your family you might be able to swap later on for someone who would have preferred mornings.

I have a 4 year old, a 3 year old and a 1 year old.

My 4 year old does afternoons at a school nursery and the 3 year old at a private nursery. I much prefer afternoons. We still do some classes in the morning and if they are tired, they can have a quiet morning at home.

Both my dc have done afternoons. The afternoons are often less popular so they get more attention and better access to the toys and activities. However, they are very tired by pick up time.

Are you collecting DC1 and DC2 from the same site? I have terrible trouble getting DC2 to do the short walk from his nursery to DC1's school each afternoon, to the extent that poor DC1 is always stood on his own with the teacher waiting for us.

How difficult are your mornings with three DC? How tricky would it be getting two DC ready for school/ nursery each morning? If DC2 is not at nursery until the afternoon you have the option of brushing teeth and giving him extra breakfast when you get back from the school run if he has been very uncooperative that morning.

There are pros and cons to both nursery sessions.

I'd do mornings in your case as you are dropping off children then anyhow.
I did mornings with my only as i could do things after as hubby does shifts so some days we could go out straight after nursery.
He stopped naps at 18mths too so that was never a consideration.

Thanks so much for all your replies. It's hard to know how it'll be with the baby but I'm being persuaded to stick with mornings now as I can see dc2 getting tired if there's too much in one day.

Appreciate all your thoughts ladies thank you xxx

I wanted mornings and was given afternoons - a long time ago now. I then discovered the afternoons were shorter then the mornings and she would have had 2 terms of afternoons and 1 term of mornings. It added up to 1 1/4 hours a week less for about 24 weeks so a considerable shortfall. I complained that it was not fair and they actually equalised the sessions! I assume this does not happen now!

I had mornings and it was great because once DS was finished for the day we could go off and do other stuff without being restricted timewise (ie. having to get back in time for nursery).

Also he was late to give up his after lunch naps so it meant he could still have these initially.

It also meant I got all the chores etc done earlier in the day and was able to relax and play with DS later.

Morning is much better in my experience. Too tired in the afternoon

Mornings are the most popular. It's a good routine for getting ready for school days. It must be hard to get their lunch and round to nursery for an afternoon start especially as most children are sleepy then.

Morning or all day. Never afternoon. I find it hard coming in and missing the first half of the morning and I'm an adult. I've had children who do afternoons and I have actually recommended to mum and dad to change sessions as they didn't seem to gain much from it and the child was a different person on the day she was there all day.

We found afternoons much better as we still managed to go to a play group or activity every single day before he went to school nursery - there is nothing on locally in the afternoon. We had no choice though - our nursery is set by ages. the older ones do mornings and the younger ones do afternoons.

I think afternoons are better. They seem gentler somehow, and it is often warmer so they can play outside more comfortably for more of the year. Love it!

Forgot the most important part - if you do afternoon nap for the baby you get a couple of hours of pure peace at home. Lush.