Early starts

[NewChoos]

DS 9mo is due to start nursery, I have been back to work PT for a few weeks but we had other arrangements in place. We have at the last minute changed the nursery place. Very happy with the new nursery but this means that I will have to leave the house at 0615 and get DS up at 0530 - an hour earlier than previously planned. We will get home around 1830. So he will be in nursery from 0730-1715, 3 days a week.
Feeling very guilty about this and wondering if I should change my hours but this would mean another day in nursery/work. If possible I would prefer to work 3 days, timewise it does work out better condensing my hours as the commute is 2 hours a day. Also saving approx £200 monthly on nursery/fares if work 3 days.
Thinking I can trial for 2 months ish and if not working out, either work 4 days instead of 3 or look further for a local nursery and DH will do drop off and I will do pick up. ? worth looking for childminder?? I prefer the idea of nursery though.
We're also thinking of baby no 2 - matters will be complicated further soon next year I fear.......
Any ideas please?

I think thats a very long day for a baby - don't get me wrong, I don't think necessarily that 07.30-17.15 is undoable, its just the hour commute each way that I think he'll find difficult. As time goes on, I presume he'll be having a lunch time nap at nursery - he'll no doubt drop off on the way home and you'll have your hands full trying to get him to bed at a reasonable time at night. We did a 40min commute for about 3 months (before I started mat leave for Number 3) and had 3yr old twins that I was desperate to keep awake during the drive. It was really hard.

If it was a question of 3 long days or 4 days in work with the extra nursery fees, I'd definitely try the 3 long days to start with, and see how he copes, but I think I'd be looking for a nursery closer to home where your H could drop and you could collect. I also commute for an hour now, but the nursery is close to home, so my H drops them (I leave at 6.15am too) and collect.

Good luck whatever you decide.

I'd suggest going for a local nursery if at all possible. I thought about both options when I was commuting for an hour, and decided on a local one for a few reasons.

He'll be knackered after a long day at nursery and almost guaranteed to fall asleep on the drive home which may mess up night time sleep.

Also, what happens if you are off sick? If you were feeling poorly, you probably wouldn't want to (a) look after a 9 month old for the day or (b) have to drive for two hours to drop him and nursery and come home to sleep. Much easier to have a nursery near your home, if that's possible.

Good luck!

Thank you for the replies - I will look again for one locally. The one near work is brilliant though, if only the commute wasn't so long. Either way, we are going to have to use this nursery for at least 2 months, so I guess I can then reassess.

I am not sure how feasible this is for you but have you considered local nursery with someone else doing the pick up? I found this was a life-saver for me when I went back to work. I advertised locally for someone to collect my son from nursery 4 days a week, so he could be collected at 5pm and then she works until 7.30pm. Now, more often than not my husband or I can get home before 7pm so we are able to read a story, have a play, before putting our little one down. My husband and I take turns at doing the 8.30am drop off on our respective journeys to work. The extra couple of hours flexibility at the end of the day have made such a difference to us - in fact, the difference between nursery and having to have a FT nanny. We really wanted our son to go to nursery, and as soon as he started there he loved it and still does. We found a lovely lady who has child-minding qualifications but does not want to work full time. The hours suit her perfectly. I also had applications from a number of newly qualified nursery nurses/teaching assistants who were interested in the extra hours work after their working days ended. The other bonus is that if my husband and I fancy an evening out, we arrange for her to stay late.

That's a great idea! I will definitely look into that- thanks so much for posting.

MtnBikeChick Can you please let me know where you advertised - how you went about it?