To Think that £52 for one day in a nursery is ridiculous?

[TheLadyEvenstar]

I was thinking of putting ds2 into a nursery 1 day a week so I could have some me time...aside from feeling selfish about that it seemed a good idea. Anyway did an online search last night and found the cheapest one is £52 a day but i have to supply his food.

You know what I think I will pass having that one day for myself lol

[lynniep]

good lord where do you live?!

mines about £20 less than that per day

[alibubbles]

One day here is £66.25!

How a bout a childminder, and pay for the hours you use, most will provide a cooked lunch too.

[EyeballsintheSky]

DD's nursery is £52 per day as well. No choice as I am at work but thankfully the grandmothers have her the other two days.

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Ali, thats the think i will probably only use a couple of hours to shop etc lol....nothing exciting really!

[TheChilliMooseisforeveryoung]

Wow! They are expensive! Are you guys in London? Where we live it's £18 for a whole day.

[EyeballsintheSky]

Surrey here. They do provide food though.

[TheChilliMooseisforeveryoung]

We have a choice with regard to food. They can take a packed lunch or pay £1.63 for a cooked lunch.

[BunnyLebowski]

When I looked into nurseries up here (Yorkshire) the only one I thought was good enough was £42 a day.

So I packed in my job. There was no way I was going to pay that to have someone else look after my dd.

[AnybodyHomeMcFly]

£56 here (London) but that includes three meals! Cm sounds a better route for you. Good idea to give yourself a break

[MoonTheLoon]

Don't know how much they are now but a year ago I was paying approx £1000 a month for a one year old. It did include everything though (nappies, creams, food, drinks except milk). But most nurserys are open from 8 til 6 (some even longer) so that's only £5.20 an hour which isn't much really.

Why not do a half day?

Chilli where have you been, I have another buyer for the tie dye vests!

[AAE]

I'm paying £65 for a single day which includes food and nappies/wipes. It goes down a little when you do more days per week.

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Only discounts are for siblings and don't think ds1 (11) would appreciate that lol. Also have to provide nappies creams etc

[WidowWadman]

I'm paying 149 quid per week full time including food and nappies, just a day would be 37 quid.

It is very expensive and will take up half of my income, but if I have to have my child looked after by someone else I'd rather send her to a place which seems fantastic, instead of a shoddy one to save a few (and really not many) quid.

[christiana]

Message withdrawn

[PestoSurfMonster]

Gosh, you could buy a pair of Boden plimsolls for that

[Fufulina]

It's £80 a day here... We're in North London.

[curiositykilled]

Nurseries are expensive, good ones even more so. My DS went to the best (and most expensive nursery) for free on the government scheme for 3 and 4 year olds but that's because I am a SAHM and could manage having them choose the hours - every weekday 1pm - 3.30pm. I feel really sorry for the people who are relying on nurseries for full-time childcare as they are so much more expensive than the Government will help with. Do you choose a cheaper but still extortionate one that will not provide as high a standard of care or put yourself in the poor house trying to get the best for your child? I think if I needed childcare I'd prefer a childminder like others have said.

[alibubbles]

fufulina, WOW! Where in North London is that? I thought St Albans was expensive.

TheLadyEvenstar, where are you, is there a MN childminder who can help?

I do flexible hours for people like you who just need a few hours to themselves, you both benefit from it, your child will have a few fun activities, friends to play with and socialise and you get back your sanity!

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Ali, I am in South London. The nursery I found was the cheapest one locally. One was asking £80 a day the dearest was asking £85.

[midnightexpress]

GOsh, £80/day does sound like a lot. But £52 really isn't all that expensive if you look at it on an hourly basis - if your ds was there from 9-5, it only works out at about £6.50 an hour, which is probably less than you would pay an unqualified babysitter. And she wouldn't bring his meals and snacks with her, I don't suppose, or have half so many toys and fun things to do.

So, YABU, really, but I do agree that childcare is scarily expensive.

[madusa]

childcare may be expensive but childcarers have bills to pay too and so need a reasonable wage to do so

[SerenityX]

I agree it is pretty normal and when you look at the hourly cost pretty cheap as well.

When you have kids it is a full time committment and this is unfortunately price of buying back some hours of freedom ;-)

Just be thankful that the state will pick up the tab once they start school.

[Rollergirl1]

I'm in Surrey and DS's (15months) fees are £56 a day and DD's (3) are £54 a day. They are both in 3 days a week and it's crippling!

[1dilemma]

I think getting care for the hours before 9/9.30 and after 4 ish is the expensive bit don't know how old your dc is but have you looked for somewhere with shorter hours makes a massive difference in this part of London

[nappyaddict]

Most nurseries are open 7-6 though so that's only about £4.70 an hour.