Day care: all day M/W/F, or part day M-F?

Question

If one of us goes part time at work and our kid is in day care the rest of the time, which would you suggest:
A) Working full days M/W/F, which would mean three 8+ hours at the day care?
- or -
B) Working part days M-F, which would mean five 5+ hour days at the day care?

They both add up to about the same number of hours... I'm just wondering which you'd suggest. I'm inclined to think the Plan B schedule might be better because it would be a more regular routine... Not sure! Advice very appreciated.

Thanks for all the great feedback, folks! I'll keep an eye on this till it expires.

Answer 1

I would also suggest plan B because it will be more of a routine. I was a single mom with my son and had to work 2 waitressing jobs simultaniously. Starting at 9am and finishing at 1am. So with this schedule my son was left with an at home day care provider from the time he was 2 months old. Not that I liked leaving him all the time but I had no other choice, and I really think it helped him develop socially. I've seen kids who were ALWAYS home with their mother and didn't know how to play or socialize with other children, or were afraid to speak up about things, making them more shy and distant. I have never sent him to a Day Care Facility so I am not sure how they run, my son always went to someone who provided Day Care from her home. I would suggest this option, because your child will have more attention and not be one in a whole "heard" of kids. You also build a unique relationship with the at home provider and your child becomes one of the "family". This will also help if you ever run into money problems and might have to skip a payment. An at home provider is more willing to work with you rather than a facility. When I would be short on cash and couldn't pay my sitter, she was more than willing to work with me and many times I would end up paying her with my food stamps, which helped her since she was providing food for all of the kids she watched. At home providers are also cheaper, from what I know facilitys charge any where from 25$ a day and up. My at home provider only charged me $15 a day. We became like "family". Alot of times I would even eat dinner at her house and watch some of her night time shows with her, all the while just chatting with her her. My son dosen't go to her house anymore because we moved, but I think about her all the time and really do miss her. Hoped this helped and sorry for being so long winded.

Answer 2

I have a home daycare and I believe that it really doesn't matter. Your child will still be at daycare interacting with other children. That is the most important part. When you look at it, it equals out to be the same thing. I have kids that come Part-time M/W/F all day and I have some that come M-F a couple hours a day and they are fine. As long as your child is in some kind of structured environment and getting used to other children either Plan could work just fine.

Answer 3

Honestly, I don't think it really matters.

I'm planning on working part time but I'm doing the M/W/F routine because I live so far out in the country I don't want to have to drive to town everyday for work.

But why not try both ways and see which works better for you?

I do agree that the M-F is probably a better schedule, but you really just need to see what works best for you.

Answer 4

I think 5 days a week, part time is better. That's what I do. That way their schedule is stable and it's better for the both of you to just be apart for a few hours. All day long would be very hard, even if it's only 3 days a week.

Answer 5

I've worked with children who have similar set ups. The kids that went just a few hours each day did far better than the ones who skipped days.


Kids who went just 3 days (in a row) a week for a few hours did better than the kids who went every other day.

Answer 6

I'd say plan B. You're right, a regular routine would be good. It would also be easier for you. No guessing on which day it is. That sounds funny, but when my daughter was little, I was so exhausted from waking up in the middle of the night, it was easy to forget what day of the week it was.

Answer 7

I would go with plan B... your daycare is going to charge you for the time that your child isnt there to hold their spot...(or that is how most of them work) I would do the 5 day a week daycare.. it is more structure, more routine, less change. And it does give your child time to play with children their age and interact with others..

Answer 8

I would go with plan B. I think it would work better for both you and your child.

Answer 9

What the?

What is this?