Single parent who need childcare before 8 in the morning - what do you do?

TSAP- I am so sorry to hear this
wishing you well, and thinking of you.

"I cant teach as a single parent and be a proper parent"

It's awful that people think this - they are so ignorant! My mum raised FOUR kids on her own with no help from our father or the state (we didn't grow up in the UK)... and she was a teacher... and she was (and is!) a SUPERB mother. We've all turned out rather well too if I may say so myself! A banker, a scientist, a teacher and a graphic designer (now CM ;)).

Please try not to take to heart what thoughtles and ignorant people say.

"I cant teach as a single parent and be a proper parent" - oh people will tell you that you can;t be anything as a single parent and be a "proper" parent.

You have to cultivate a thicker skin and let it slide off. Thousands of childrne in the war were succesfuly raised by working single mothers with not a father in sight!

rockin How long ago was this? I and a quite a few others on here are registered as nannies (on the voluntary register with Ofsted) and both those things above were needed. The first aid course had to be the 12 hour one and if the Common Core Skills were not covered by a qualification then a course had to be attended to do them. The CRB was then carried out with the registration. We also have to have insurance. nannynick is the one in the know on all this (think he also worked for Ofsted a while back)

Sorry to hear your position Tinset - just like to agree with the CM sugegstuons. My CM as happy to take DS fom 7.45am without extra charges. Certainly in London many CM'swilltakechildrne from 7.30 becasue of the need to commute.

WHy not line up a few local CM's and talk to them.

nbee84 - We didn't need those things. Our au pair was French. She registered on the voluntary register with Ofsted. She had to send proof of having attended a normal first aid course and a French equivalent of a CRB check - essentially a document stating that she had no criminal convictions. She already had both these documents when she came to be our au pair. We duly registered with Ofsted, paid the fee and she was given a registration number, which was accepted by Tax Credit people.

There's information on the Ofsted website.

Twinset - an au pair might not mind a box room so long as she can use the rest of the house....

rockinsockbunnies - you were very lucky to find an au pair that had already done a paediatric first aid course and had a qualification in the Common Core Skills to enable her to register with Ofsted. Most au pairs wouldn't have either so the employer would have the additional cost of those courses on top of the £100 Ofsted fee.

I'm not sure how big your house is but I would certainly recommend the au pair idea. I'm a single parent and had an au pair last year whilst I was working full time in the City. We're in London, have a 2-bed house so I had to share DD's room (I slept on a futon - thankfully the room is large) whilst au pair had my room with en-suite .

If there's a possibility that you can fit an au pair in your house then you can claim the cost of having one through tax credits, provided they register with Ofsted (which took around 6 weeks and cost a flat fee of £100 which I paid).

Having seen your other thread on tax credits, it appears you may be reluctant to make a claim! Nonetheless, if you do choose to do so, then an au pair could be a saving grace...

A couple of people have suggested an au pair - and have metioned the cost to be about £80 per week. I just wanted to point out that although you may pay them £80 the true cost is a lot more. You have to take into account energy and heating bills for someone else in the house when you are out at work - that extra tank of hot water every day for a bath/shower. And the biggest additional cost is the food bill - depending on how big your au pair eats that could be an extra £30 - £40 per week. There are other little bits and bobs too like phones and bus fares.

oh twinset :-(

I have heard that myself - from my own family no less!

Yes absolutely it will be a hard slog - I did it for a year as a singleton before changing career and I was physically and emotionally exhausted. BUT you will be fine as long as you use you down time wisely - ie make sure that you set aside time in the evening where you have quality time with DD - for us supper time was lovely each evening. Try not to stay late in school to finish marking or planning - take it home to do after DD is in bed. It will be more tiring for you but will do wonders for yours and DDs relationship as you will get quality time with her after school for an hour or so doing HW together and enjoying cooking together etc when shes not too tired and grouchy.

And you will have SOME time over the holls when you can leave the paperwork

You can do this AND be a great mum. Ignore the pessimist who said otherwise!

Sorry I wasn't suggesting you give up your job!!! I wish I hadn't now in alot of ways tbh so I am pleased for you that you are sticking it out!

As you are now going to be single please make sure you choose registered childcare (ie with Ofsted) so that you can get all the help you are entitled to

Good luck!

twinset - I'm across the border in Somerset so no help to you but only just moved here from dorset so know some areas of dorset very well......it will be difficult I have to be honest - its one of the main reasons I gave up teaching as I couldn't get CMs to start early enough for a school start.

HOWEVER things have changed a fair bit in the past 5 years and alot of the newer CMs coming into the profession are more willing to consider the needs of shift workers and early starters. Be prepared to offer a little more for the hour before 8am but other than that you should be ok. be up front from the start and any CMs who aren't willing to put themselves out for you aren't "career" CMs anyway - they'#re just doing it temporarily so they can stay home a little longer with their kids!!

Good luck

Crikes, twinset; sorry to hear this.

Am sure you could find an early childminder, especially if you start looking now for Sept. My (wonderful)CM took dd1 from 7.45 daily. Start with children's service for the county; they will have lists of CMs and may be able to tell you who has vacancies.

Sorry I meant not trained in childcare......

Sorry to hear that. Have you thought of an AP who can do school drop and collection. Mine collects from after school club as AP's are trained in chidcare but they are more than capable of making breakfast, dressing, taking to school, and collection. Then you also have built in babysitting and cleaning etc.

You should be eligible for tax credits - I get them and I earn a reasonable amount. They do really help and I think they've got much better about calculating them properly than they used to (as far as I know). You are entitled to the money so you should claim I reckon. I personally would opt for a CM rather than an au pair purely because of the hassle of having some random person in my house at a time you're feeling vulnerable. And because of the continuity thing from your DD's perspective. Ring the council and get their list too - don't rely on the one on the childcare link website which is rubbish and out of date.

I also know that my CM cuts me a lot of slack because I'm a single mum - she really helps me out a lot and it's really nice for me too, not just my DS.

Have you moved recently? Do you have support for you?

Sorry to hear this

Does Shoshe do a school run to your DD's school or know any that do?

Au pair about £80 per week afaik. Actually, thats purely anecdotal, based on what friends have told me.