Maternity Leave and Grant sessions for toddler

[Becky]

Hello,
Not sure where to put this so sorry if its in the wrong place!


My daughter will start grant sessions in September so I have to decide which sessions I want her to attend. It doesn't matter at the moment because she's in morning and afternoon anyway but I'm trying to think ahead to when I'm on maternity leave.

At the moment Lucy is in nursery from 8:30-4:30.
I plan to start mat leave sometime in November and she'll continue the grant sessions but I'd also like to have her in for a bit longer say from 9:30 till 3:30 so that I have some time to myself to get ready for baby (and Christmas!) so I'm planning to do this for 3/4 weeks till baby is born.

When baby is born I plan to drop Lucy's time right down to just the grant sessions.

So now to my question..... will it be better to put her in the morning sessions or afternoon?

I'm thinking afternoon because with a newborn and a 3yr old to get ready as well as myself to get out to nursery for 9:15am might (will!!!) be a lot to expect for myself.

My friend has just suggested that Lucy might not like going out in the afternoon and it might be like sending her away from me and the baby and it might be harder to get her to to go? I'm not sure either way if it will be easier to get her out morning or afternoon in that respect?

 

[lisa282]

Hi hun, I am in a pretty similar situation myself. My son starts grant sessions in september, just as Im about to pop and I was also debating whether to cut his hours down to just half day sessions. However, after a bit of thought, I am going to leave him on the hours he currently does, 9.30 to 3.30. Mainly because I want him to feel as little interruption and put out as possible, so he can stay in a routine. I dont want him to think everything is changing and relate it straight to the baby.

But in your case, if you intend to cut your childs hours, I would personally say this...I would go for the morning sessions. The main reasoning behind this, is that sooner or later you will have to start doing a school run in the morning so the sooner you and the kids get used to having a morning timetable to stick to, the better. Rather get them used to it now, having to get up and get out by a certain time, it will also help you organise your time better. The other main point for me would be that having my child at home all morning and then trying to get him out in the afternoon would be a bit more awkward. I dont know about yours, but my son still flags a little after lunch, and although he rarely naps in the afternoon now, he does get a bit grumpy and tired for a little period until he picks up again so I think it could be quite difficult to get him receptive to the idea of starting nursery at a time like that.

Not sure if I've helped or just confused you even more! Good luck chick x

 

[hayley]

i'm not in the same situation yet but planning another baby so when jacob starts pre school i'll be off on maternity. I'm planning to put him in for 5 mornings. get OH to drop him on thr way to work which will give me the mornign to bath baby and get ready. The I can walk down and pick jacob up and spend the day doing nice things with the both of them.. I don't think jacob would like to do afternoons if it means leaving mum and new baby - he might think he's missing out on something and also get jealous towards new baby... These are just the thoughts i've had..

x