Being labelled unreliable as a working mum

Are your employers aware that you don’t have childcare after 3pm?

This is an absolute no in many companies.

from September you will be eligible for 30 hours of funded childcare, so presumably the current issue will go away? Have you organised your 30 hours with your current provider?

if your colleagues know that you are looking after your child during your working hours, I’m sot surprised they see you as unreliable. It’s also absolutely not fair on your child.

You haven't answered about school holidays before. I'd say your CEO obviously has money to burn if he's happy to employ multiple people who are in charge of toddlers half their working hours.
That's a ridiculous set up. You can't work whilst in charge of a toddler for weeks on end. It just isn't possible.

Do you have wrap around care in place?

I’m wondering if maybe your colleague, line manager and CEO don’t have a scooby do what’s going on.
You’re not doing a very good job of explaining yourself here!

I'm not heartless, I'm just realistic. It is 100% impossible for anyone I work with to parent while working - it's in our contracts that we should be available in any working hours for meetings or to be on site or anything, at short notice or not. Of course as a manager and a parent I can't expect or deliver 100% success, but I work towards it. Illnesses, unexpected disasters, etc. happen but no one can plan around doing two things at the same time.

And yes I've paid for childcare and yes I'm in a privileged position to have a partner who co-parents with me and no it isn't easy and I've had to flex my hours and spend very little time not working or parenting... but that's just how it is.

My boss could not and would not allow me to parent and work simultaneously so you need to look at your plan. Being a parent isn't a protected characteristic, it's a choice. I'd ask to see their official policy, sit down with HR and your manager, and put together a proper plan. Maybe you could start work at 5am? Work a couple hours before your toddler gets up? We have been flexible with early starts or after bedtime work hours for very specific situations (I had a team member who was a single parent to 2 additional needs children after her husband passed away and worked 5-7am, school hours and then 9-11pm - I escalated this all the way through the HR team as it sounded like a terrible plan for her own mental health but she really couldn't work while the children were home and she needed to work full time)

I also can't work out your hours - if you are working 40 hour weeks 'and' have a nursery dropoff 'and' have a pickup at a mysterious time then how do the numbers work? it doesn't sound like your workplace is results oriented, it's time oriented so perhaps it's honestly better to find something that suits you better.

Plans to what?

It sounds like (apart from your LM having a bit of a go at you) you have a pretty good set up. Many people find it impossible to find a flexible working pattern that allows them to work full time as a lone parent with a 2 year old.

That isn't what I asked. Based upon your repeated avoidance of any childcare related questions, I can only assume you are trying to work whilst caring for a toddler and your line manager is justified. So I guess you keep going as you are and see who has more pull with the CEO when your line manager decides they've had enough of you...

Op is English your first language?

People aren't heartless, people are seeing the issue, from both your side and the employer.

Trying to work and care for young children just is not possible you fail in your employment, fail your child and burn yourself out.

Op what has the union got to do with it? Has someone already started an personal improvement plan against you?

Ok. So your colleague is also parenting solo 2 hours out of the working day 5 days a week? And neither of you use paid childcare during school holidays?
I'm just trying to work out if you're being singled out, or if you are behaving unreasonably and you are avoiding these questions.

'' I stand by the fact the team of colleagues are young and childless my line manager probably does not know how to manage me or maybe doesn’t like me as I also have a protected characteristic that is a big difference from colleagues''

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''No one in the company who has children is putting them in extra childcare after school hours as we know it’s bloody expensive and the work gets done''

OP, you keep contradicting yourself.

Are you concerned about birth rates, or your job? Because those are two very different threads. People are trying to help you, if you don't want to engage, what is the point?

If all this is true, and you work completely independently from your colleagues, how do they know you are ‘unreliable’?
There must have been occasions when they’ve needed you and you haven’t been available.
That’s what you need to address. Burying your head in the sand and saying the way you are working is not a problem is not going to help you.

Are their DC also toddlers? And what do you all do during school holidays if nobody uses "extra" childcare?