Nursery age

What age does everyone think is best for sending children to nursery? I am back at work full time and have support from her grandparents but would like her socialising with more children too. She’s coming upto 12 months 😊

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I'm going to be sending my daughter to nursery when she has her free funding. I have support from grandparents too who take her to play groups and things so she gets socialisation from that x

My son went at 10 months (pandemic and had to change settings due to closing - I worked nhs) daughter was 6 months (I moved to private care) my third will be 8/9 months
I had no support so I changed my shifts/work nights now and they have all loved it

Mine has been since 9 months, 3 days a week. He absolutely loves it, but he is a very social baby anyway! I dont think there is a right or wrong either way, just do what feels right for you and your baby!

Aww thanks everyone! She does socialise at baby groups etc but I find now I’m working more we’re not getting to many! I think I’ll send her after Xmas! It was my parents suggestion 🤣 think she’s been a bit too full on for them today! Xx

Mine is starting at 11.5 months 3 days a week and will be full time when he's 1.5 years

The younger they start, the better they settle in. Now that obviously isn’t the most important factor and doesn’t mean you should send them at 3 months if you don’t have to but worth considering. Even just doing 1 day a week can help them get used to the environment, staff and routine while providing good socialisation. Mine both started at 10 months 3 days a week. (Not saying that’s right/wrong just what we did)

Hi 👋
When is the free funding applicable and for how many hours?
I have 11month old who will be looked after by grandparents when I return to work next month. Xx

Hi lovely, I believe it depends on your circumstances! How many hours you work, your income etc❤️ If you're in the UK - https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs

If both you and your partner (if applicable) work full time, the gov will pay a % of the bill if you're not entitled to the funding. I think it's 80% but I'm not 100% sure, may also be worth looking to see if your company offer salary sacrifice x

thanks for the link 😃, will take a look. I am returning on 30hours so may not be entitled to it. X

in our community

Is this clever or cruel?

My husband and i were talking and with social media and the internet in general being a terrifying dumpster fire, we are trying to figure out the best way to keep our son safe while still teaching him how to safely be online and moderation.

We landed on the idea of giving him the 90's kid treatment. A computer in the living room for us to keep an eye on what hes doing online, and once we feel hes mature enough to hang with friends without adult supervision he gets a flip phone. When we feel he is responsible enough and he earns and saves up the money for the physical phone, case, and screen cover, then we will be happy to take him to get a smart phone.

I thought this was air tight, but now my brother says its cruel to give a kid a flip phone, and besides he can just use his friends phones at school.

My husband and i remember a time before the internet, and we remember having complete access to something no one understood yet. We saw unspeakable things and are always battling with the urge to put the phone and social media down. I dont want that for my son, especially with his brain so vulnerable still.

Partner no longer wants baby #2

Before our son was born we originally both wanted minimum 2 kids but we were hoping for 3-4. My partner found the birth traumatic to watch and also struggled a lot with the newborn/baby stage. He no longer wants to have any more children and it’s completely breaking my heart. I need another baby. We’ve spoken about it a lot and the options. He said he wasn’t COMPLETELY closed off to it so I asked him to try and work through his feelings and reconsider his decision. He eventually said he definitely doesn’t want another. I know that I will always want one and my feelings will never change. Do we have to break up or does anyone know anything else I can do to help change his mind? Has anyone else’s partner said this and then changed their mind? I don’t want to break up because I adore him and our life together and I’d hate to split up our family for “selfish” reasons and make my son miss out on having both of us together but I just don’t know what to do

Nursery funding

My child turned 9 months last week. I applied for government funded hours nearly 2 months ago and so well within the required timeframe for the April term, however upon receiving my first invoice without the funding applied and having questioned this, I have now been informed that the stretched funding doesn’t start until 4th May.

Has anyone else been told it won’t start until May?

The government site states it should start from April 1st, and so I intentionally set my nursery start and return to work as the start of April for that reason, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to afford the nursery on my sole income without the funding

Jealous of my husband

I’m so jealous of him and it’s making me resentful. We have a ten week old and I’m jealous that he is at work all day. I’m jealous he can leave for lunch and actually eat an uninterrupted lunch. Take a phone call uninterrupted. Chat with a friend he runs in to uninterrupted. Even go to the bathroom when he wants uninterrupted. He comes home from work when he wants. He’s not on a set schedule. Some days are late some are early. It depends on when he’s done. I’m jealous he can come home at 10pm and shower, eat and go right to bed uninterrupted because I already have the baby asleep. He doesn’t have to worry about anything house wise or baby wise because I’ve done it all. Meanwhile I’m covered in puke and crap and smell like rotten milk. When he is home he is VERY active and helpful. So it’s not that. I’m just jealous his world hasn’t changed and mine has I guess. This isn’t something he’s doing wrong so I’m not sure how to get past this. I wish I could keep him home all day because that’s how helpful he is, but I understand he obv needs to work.

NHS job

Anyone work for the NHS and does 12 hour shifts? How do you work around childcare and your partners job?

Toddlers

How often are your toddlers asking for food? My oldest who is 3 just finished a whole plate of food and not even 10 minutes later he’s requesting more food. I know he’s going through a growth spurt, but how do you respond to this.