Hours in care
How many hours a day and week your child spends in care, from full days to part-time or occasional.
How many hours of childcare are too many?
In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Full-time long days; School-length days; Part-time; Occasional. Evidence: evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. Best settled: 6–12 months.
- Evidence
- Evidence leans one way
- Best settled
- 6–12 months
- Part of
- Learning & the wider world
Hours in care: what are the options?
Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.
1. Full-time long days
The child is in care for a full working day, five days a week.
2. School-length days
The child is in care for about six hours a day.
3. Part-time
The child is in care for a few days or half days a week.
4. Occasional
The child is in care only now and then.
Hours in care: what does the evidence say?
Evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. (Leans (small effect))
More hours modestly predicted more behavior problems
Sources
What else is worth knowing?
How many hours a child spends in care depends on work, cost and what you are comfortable with. Research has looked at long hours in the early years and results are mixed and modest. Many families adjust this more than once.
Questions to ask each other
- How many hours do we need and how many do we want?
- How do we feel about long days for a small child?
- What would help our child have a good day?
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First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.