Which hours are better?

[Knackeredmum13]

I am about to return to work but do not want to return full time.

I have the option of either finishing early each night or having two afternoons off.

I just can't decide which would be best?

Financially leaving early would be best but I'd only get an hour or two with the baby before bed. Though there would be that time every day.

If I had two afternoons off I'd have longer with baby but for three days I'd only be around for half an hour before bedtime. Financially we'd be worse off but that's not my main consideration.

Is anybody able to share their own experiences to help me decide?

Bumping for afternoon traffic

I'd go for the full days off. That way you can do more with your time at home plus you potentially have the flexibility to swap days for when appointments come up. I work three days a week. Perfect.

I don't have the option of full days off just two afternoons.

I would go for the afternoons. I have 2 afternoons off and at first DD had huge sleeps, and it helped her cope with nursery (she doesn't nap enough and ends up exhausted). Now we do something for 2 hours then she has a late nap and I make tea etc.

Finishing early each night would probably be better once DC school age but whole afternoons may be better now.
2 Qs

1. what sort of childcare will you be using? Will it make a difference to the ££s?
2. might you get an opportunity to change again in a few years? Are you looking long term?

I will be using a nursery and will probably have to pay for the afternoons that I'm not using.

I'm hoping that I can renegotiate my hours later down the line but I'm not worrying too much about that now. School seems a long way off and I hope to have another baby before then anyway.

Any way you could do 4 early afternoons, and one afternoon off?
I think I'd go for 2 afternoons off.
An extra hour each evening will vanish, but a whole afternoon, you could actually DO something with.

Why the difference in £££? Are you not going to have to pay full time whatever hours you work?

Its a possibility to do just one afternoon off. I will end up paying full time either way but I will be working more hours without any afternoons off.

I'm veering towards afternoons off as I could do activities plus it would mean I wouldn't need a cleaner so could save there.

I wouldn't make a final decision on the cleaner yet!!
Do you have another half?
Is there any way he can finish early enough some afternoons to mean someone gets home earlier with baby most days of the week?

apart from today I tend to start early at work (8am), which means I'm usually home by 5 or 5.30 at the latest. That gives us a couple of hours with the kids.

Can you try one and change?

I'd do whatever means less running from work, home, childcare.

I used to do 3.5 days, starting silly o'clock and finishing at 4 (or 1 on the half day). However it was in the City and ended up 4 days of 7.30-4.30!

I think I would go for the early finish every day, to be honest, to give baby a regular routine. Plus, when my eldest was that stage, I used to hate just getting half an hour each day, or seem times he was in bed already when I got in. So that's just from my experience - I'd go for the couple of hours every day.

DH can't finish earlier but could help out with drop offs in the morning.

So much to consider! Thanks for all of the replies do far its so good to see different perspectives.

I finish at 4.30 and collect dd at 5pm. This works well as she has just eaten at nursery so only needs a small supper type snack with me. Even then it's a conveyor belt of food, bath, story, milk & bed. Bed is 6.30 on nursery nights.

I can't imagine fitting it all into half an hour, so perhaps consider travel times & nursery day structure as to when is a good time to collect them. 5-6pm at our nursery is just free play waiting for parents really, whereas 4-4.45pm is tea time so would be disruptive to collect then.

Could you change your hours again when your DC starts school or is this it? If it is, I'd make sure you can do at least one school pick-up. Would finishing early get you to school for 3.15, down the line? If not, I'd go for the afternoon off.

I would hope to change my hours again once school starts. I would probably want to increase my hours but it would be nice to be able to do the school pick up a couple of times each week.

Only having the afternoon off would mean being back in time for the end of school.

I'd do early finish too. Although you can't actually do things like days out, you can make a definite plan to spend quality time together. I'd also prefer to have the extra time every night - it's hard when you just get your child home and literally just have to put them to bed.

Worth thinking about naps - how much does your child sleep? DD used to sleep every afternoon until woken up so I could do the school run, so would have effectively slept through half my afternoon with her.

I know it's a while away, but I actually think early finishes work well with school too (although obviously costs more in terms of childcare every night!). Not so much in the early years, but as they get older and have more homework and you want to factor in after school clubs - this is harder if you're not back until almost bedtime!

Leaving early would still not see me home before 5.30. Sorry not meaning to drip feed. I should have put hours in my op.