Said It Here

Is my 3.5 year old's preschool schedule too long?

Parents of young children often grapple with intense guilt over whether starting preschool early or choosing long hours means their child is missing out or spending too much time away. This conflict is amplified when illness or missed days lead to second-guessing whether they are pushing through enough or letting their child down.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Switching to shorter half-day preschool programs (such as 9-12 or 9-1)
  2. 2
    Pulling the child early before nap or lunch time
  3. 3
    Keeping the child at home instead of enrolling them in preschool
  4. 4
    pushing through pain or sickness to walk the child to school anyway
  5. 5
    trying to obtain a driver license or car

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Parenting2 people · September 2026

“My 3.5 year old goes to school 3 days a week and the hours are 8-230.. I feel bad like maybe it's too much especially bc I'm a stay at home mom”source ↗

“did I start him too early?”source ↗

AcrobaticCarry2131 · r/Parenting

“When my 6y miss school I feel guilty”source ↗

“today will be the 2 time he only miss school because I was not feeling well and slept through my alarm when I didn’t feel good for the 2 time i know it may not seem like a big deal and maybe it not but i feel like maybe he is missing out when dosent go to school everyday”source ↗

“not sure why I feel guilty about it most of time even when I am sick ill still take him and everything but today I couldn’t and not I feel like maybe I could of made it to take him him to the school and maybe push through the pain”source ↗

Optimal_Newt_614 · r/Parenting

Where this came up

r/Parentingchildcareguilthealthparentingpreschool

People with this problem also raised