3 whole days or 5 half days, what's best for baby?

[twinkleymum]

Any thoughts? DD 8mo and will be in nursery.

I do 3 days full. For me, I would find it 'bitty' to come in and start work, and not be able to get my teeth into a project. To leave it half baked would do my head in. I find it hard enough with only 3 days.... but all in all the balance is good.

I used to do 2 and a half days. The two whole days worked well, but the half day was just a pain. I never, ever, ever managed to be disciplined enough to leave at lunchtime, and ended up doing a couple of hours extra (unpaid) every week.

I then switched and did 2 days one week, 3 days the following week. This worked so much better.

i do monday, thursday friday which works well for us and dd is only "away" from us two days in a row at the most and she seems v happy at nursey and i kind of have three days in a row at work which helps continunity.

sorry meant to say i dont work mons and fris not mon and weds ... I like the consistency of 4 full days with child and 3 full days at work ... I have found that personally and professionally people find that easier to get their heads around ... before I used to always get 'which days do you work again?)

the pain with that is that bhols are usually on mons/fris so you tend to miss out on those ... I am freelance anyway so they dont count so much for me but i know friends who dont work on fris and mons do feel that missing out on bhols is a big deal

I had to do full days because nursery wouldnt do part days in the baby room
So I do 3 full days .. ds is 3 now and I thought about changing but he likes having a couple of days a week where he is not hastled to get up and dressed by 7.30.

We always have one day a week where we sit in bed in our pj's, eat toast and watch milkshake till it finishes. He loves this "lazy lie in" till 9am

the other advantage is dealing with delivery people who say.. anytime between 8am and 6pm

I do full days....think it works better

I do 2.5 days, which works great for me. If I had the choice of 3 half days or 3 full days, I would do 3 full days.

I haven't had time to read the whole thread so someone else might have said this, but my DD1 (now 2 yrs) always sleeps for about 2 hrs after being at the CM for the morning, so really, the day I work only in the morning, the whole day is out as far as doing things with friends or taking her out, as by the time she's got home, had lunch and had a sleep, it's about 4pm, she has tea at 4:30pm and goes to bed at 6pm (). So, if you worked half days, you might find yourself in a situation where your lo would then sleep a lot of the afternoon and you wouldn't have any time to see people, IYSWIM.

that would be 5 half days or 3 full days...

Full days every time. I always did 3 full days (Mon-Wed) then when DD1 started school, I switched to 4 shorter days. Meant I was basically in work mode for 4 days and only had 1 day with DD2. Nursery forced a change and I am so much happier back to my original 3 full days.

One poster said a full day (8-5/6) was too long for young children at nursery. All depends on the child. Both my DDs have loved it - DD2 eats well, sleeps well, has made friends (DD1 is still "best" friends with some of her nursery friends) and is always happy to go in. I am a big fan of nurseries (the 'right' nursery of course), and am comforted by the fact there are plenty of members of staff around and I'm not relying on 1 person.

I was certain I would go for 3 full days and then I changed my mind and went for the 5 mornings. I know that 3 full days would be easier for me but I feel that 5 mornings would be easier for my DD so that's what I chose. Also when DD goes to school (in the future) those hours will be perfect and we will be used to getting up and out the house every day on time LOL. I know it's going to be hard work but I'm hoping it will be for the best in the long run.

I'd vote for 3 full days, i like having 4 days off in a row then and i can forget work totally for that time. i think it helps my DD to have constant attention for 4 days on the trot.

But i think it works well for some and not others, it might be nice to always have tea with your DS for example?

Haven't read all posts.

I would do the three full days. Things will overrun, it's hard enough working part time not to have people contact you on your days off, i suspect with half days you will have people saying, can you not do just this one more thing?? etc etc.

I also suspect childcare will be much easier.

I am about to go back to work for 3 full days a week with thurs and fridays off. Our DS is 8 months so will be 11 months by the time i go back to work. I def think this will work better for us as i will do the morning run and my other half will do the evening so we still get our full days together and will plan things to do. I have found it encouraging reading other opinions and no that in the long run DS will benefit from being around other babies, children and adults.

I think that when you work part-time it can either be the best of both worlds or the worst of both worlds and working half days means you can't really make the most of your time at work or your time with your baby. If you can, work 3 days in a row- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday- and then have a long weekend every week. You'll miss your baby like mad on those 3 days at first, but when you walk out on Thursday and don't need to go back till Tuesday your weekend is transformed and you can make the most of 4 whole mummy days.

Just my experience and as others have said depends on job, likelihood of getting away on time and childcare. HTH!

I found the five half days worked really well for me, my babies and DH.

DD is 22m, has been at a Nursery since 12m I do 3 full days because:

Only 3 lots of petrol to and from work.

DD gets to nap well and do the whole days activities.

I work Mon, Wed, Fri as it means only one day in a row away from me and the people I work with are on a 7day rota so by doing those days I see each shift at least once.

The work I do demands concentration, if I was checking the clock to make sure I did not miss the cut off to the afternoon session I would not do anything. As it is I always finish on time as everyone else clocks off then. I annoy a few Managers occassionally by ducking out of a boring meeting but I know the staff (who I am there for) are finished anyway.

When DD starts school I will go to more days with less hours but I think it works well for now.

P.S the naps/meals is amazing - DD just adapted, I went to pick her up from her first settling in morning and she was asleep in a cot. Until then she had only EVER BF to sleep The girls at Nursery are magic

I work 5 mornings and whilst the kids are at school ( mine are 5 & 7 ) it fits in perfectly..but trying to arrange childcare 5 days a week during the summer hols has been a nightmare!!! At least working 2/3 full days a week you'd only have to cover those days, it's also impossible to plan anything for the afternoons after being at work as by the time you finish and get home there's not really enough time!

My vote goes to full days if you can

I do 3 full days. I work Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. This way you get every bank holiday and so have a nice 5 day break. You also get Easter Friday too!

I recently changed roles and could be more flexible with my roles but worked out it would cost me £1000 to switch from 3 full days to 2 full and 2 half days (full day £48 now she is 3, a half day is £33 and that bit extra really added up over the course of the year.) You also have to factor in the extra commuting costs - esp with petrol being so expensive now.

I love the days off during the week - not having to rush to get up - can just take our time and meet friends/do swimming classes, etc.

L

I currently work 2.5 days and my half day is def the most stressful! DS nursery require me to pick him up at 12:30 so I leave work at 12 and rush to get him (takes at least 30 mins to drive there!). Means a very short morning and I always feel I have just got into the swing of things then have to leave.

Am going on maternity for DC2 later this year and when I go back am going to change to 2 longer days. Will save nursery fees x2 for the half day and in long run for me should be a lot less stressful. I couldn't consider 5 half days but it is personal circumstances and personal choice as I know people who love that arrangement.

I prefer the full days on full days off arrangement, as others have already said, I can plan things better and am not frazzled in afternoons all the rushing about! Definately a personal thing and what you would prefer tho. Good luck!

I work 2.5 and half day is also most difficult. I love the two days we have togetner and we often go out for the whole day to meet friends or visit places. Now i have this set up i would not want to go to half days - as i know i would be rushed, end up just doing chores and not spending relaxed time with my DS.

I do 2 and a half days. Unlike others, I enjoy the half day as it is sandwiched between the 2 full days, so I feel like I am never away from DS for long.

depends on the job. you may find it a struggle to get away on time whether half or full day. i did 2 full days and 2 dc were in nursery for 10 hours each day which didnt really suit the eldest as too long. 5 half days may have suited him better. now work late evenings so no childcare needed. whatever you think suits you and dc really

I do three full days at the moment - half days wouldn't have suited us at all, it's nice not having to be out at a particular time on a Monday or Friday (and that's given than nursery is very flexible and DH and I both work flexitime, there is still a need to actually LEAVE the house on a work day!) I also like being able to do full days' out occasionally, or two activities in a day.

DD has been at nursery since she was six months old, the hours have never seemed to cause her a problem, and she's adapted to the routines in the different rooms.

When choosing your days, watch out for which ones - Caurniebred's employer obviously works differently to mine, Mondays are the days you DON'T work if you can help it at our place. We don't automatically get public holidays, we get a pro-rated allowance. If you work Mondays you have to use that (and possibly some annual leave) to cover bank holidays, if you don't work Mondays you effectively get extra leave. One to look out for, depending on your employer's policy on part-timers and public holidays!

Hi Twinkleymum 5 mornings works really well for me, and every weekday having the same routine is great. Have been doing it for 18 months now and three friends have since done the same with their children. Of course your choice depends on your precise circumstances, but the huge upside of half days is that you get a good few hours with your child every day rather than rushing them home to bed on the days you have them in nursery all day.

Just wanted to post in support as am pro-half days, that is what you have chosen and majority of posters were in favour of full days.

Also, it might be worth you asking nursery if you can pay for extra hours if you did want to e.g. pick up at 2. That is what I do- the session ends at 1, but I just pay for an extra hour rather than for the whole afternoon session to pick up at 2.

Hi mistythistle, glad for some support on my decision! Starting to worry that I made the wrong choice, but I do think it depends on your personal circumstances. My DD doesn't settle well at the moment with other people and also can be a nightmare to try to get to nap. If she doesn't sleep then becomes very grumpy. With this in mind I think she will settle better doing mornings and then will come home with me for her afternoon nap. I never go out for whole days anyway as she only sleeps well in her cot, so that is not an issue. The nursery is at my workplace and only 10 minutes from home so the petrol is not really that expensive. I'm hoping that getting out of work on time wont be a problem as it is a job share someone will be taking over from me when I leave, which also means I wont have to clock watch. I know it wont be as simple as this but I'm hoping it will be OK.