Paying for your 'settling in' period at nursery

[Clare11]

How normal is it to have a to pay for a 'settling in' period at nursery or a childminder?

[????]

er, pretty standard, you're still using them, their time, liability insurance, etc

[Lochie]

We didn't at our nursery (Nelly's). The settling in period lasted one to two weeks and started at just a few hours of attendance on day 1 with mum or dad, then leaving baby for a few hours, then for half a day etc. I expected to be charged but wasn't. In hindsight why should they charge your regular rate when you are not using the full day? I was impressed that our nursery didn't charge us, it showed they were looking at the bigger picture I.e. A good relationship with parents that would hopefully buy good will and a desire to stay on.

If you are unhappy I don't think it is unreasonable to question the nursery and suggest a compromise e.g. 50% of usual cost

[Mathilda]

We had two free morning ones and then the option to pay for extra.

[jennyh]

We had two free morning sessions and paid for additional.

[njc97]

We had a similar period to lochies (maybe week and a half) but had to pay. You're using up a place. Plus this isnt excess profit the nursery are taking - if they didnt charge, they'd have to put up other fees to make up the difference and overall you wouldnt be impacted.

[Strawbs]

I am being offered two free two hour sessions and then I pay for any additional

[Clare11]

thanks for the feedback everyone,

I only ask as a nursery we have signed up to, offered two 2 hour sessions for free...and another provider required three 3 hour sessions, to be paid for.

Just wanted to gauge what was 'normal'.

[Spooner]

We're having to pay for 3 sessions per child per week even though the first 2 weeks are a settling in period and they only want us to go for 1 session a week. Ie we're paying for 2 sessions per child per week we don't get to go to so it sounds like you've got it good.

[Saffron]

We just accepted a place at an ME(UK) registered Montessori nursery. Their standard is 2 wks free for settling-in period. The first day is just a couple of hours with a parent in place, then it moves on in increments from there, similar to what others describe.

Before accepting this place, I looked a several nurseries, and their settling-in policies varied quite greatly. For me the settling-in period is very important, and the emphasis placed on good settling-in was one of the reasons I chose this nursery. However, the overall cost of this nursery is slightly higher than average, which may explain why they are able to offer this time for free.

[srisky]

We had 2x 2h free morning settling sessions, first with the parent(s) and second without with the option to pay for more, which we did. I don't think the free sessions offered are enough on their own but our nursery is a non-profit organisation and as such is also cheaper than others i had visited, so it seemed reasonable to pay for extra sessions.