Trying to go back to work - do I find the job or the nursery first?

[overtheirishsea]

I'm a bit confused as to how I manage to go back to work.

Do I have to find the nursery first so I know which days I'll be available to work or do I find the job first and hopefully find nursery days to suit?

It depends on so many things, are hoping to be part time? Are there part time jobs available in your field?
It never harms to look at nurseries early, good ones have waiting lists usually.

Yep just part-time and I should be able to find a part time job in my field

In an ideal world, job then nursery.

In reality, you'll probably need to secure a nursery place first unless you have backup childcare

Difficult
I went nursery first on a couple of days because I could not accept a job and say oh! It might take X months to find childcare.
This is because my area is oversubscribed though

Are child minders easier to find with shorter notice until I find a decent nursery place?

Establish if there's any spaces at a nursery you like. Have a back up option, in case. Find that job. Get back to the nursery to confirm and pay deposit.

It's more nerve wracking than expected, but that's the simplest way to do it unless you are eligible for free hours funding.

Not in my area no, a wonderful child minder I wanted had a waiting list of a year, as they normally take siblings as priority so have a rolling register of children starting and leaving.

All the nurseries around here are very very busy! I'll have to start looking now and then maybe look for the job in three months time or so... it's all so hard at the moment!

Decent childminders actually have longer waiting lists! But they are more flexible - I love mine!

Check both: it can't hurt.

I would say start looking at the same time! That's what I did last year when I went back full time. I was meeting with potential childminders before I'd even interviewed for the post. There is nothing wrong with expressing an interest in a nursery or childminder. By the time you do the ringing around, sorting out visits it gives you time to sort the job out. And then you can commit to contracts etc.

Nursery. I got a job when DD was 14mths, agreed a start date of 4 weeks later, rang the six local nurseries and three wouldn't even see me, one would show me around but only had availability on a Monday morning & a Friday and the two others could also only offer limited days. I had no choice but to go with one of those, they couldn't offer the days I needed so I had to go to my new boss and re-negotiate the days I was working! I was very fortunate that I was able to!
With that age group, the 1:3 ratio is so tight that there is little flexibility in numbers. They can't just make space but nor can they afford to keep spare staff.
One thing I learned is that it is much easier if your child is starting at nursery between June - October time. The pre-schoolers will begin to leave for school from June meaning that children from the other rooms can move up and by the end of August all
of the pre-schoolers have left. At the same time, not enough babies of average nursery starting age have been born to fill all of the baby places.
By finding a nursery you like, you'll then know the exact costs which is helpful.

It really depends on the area. I would ask around to find out what their availability is at the moment, in conjunction with your job search. I was able to get DS into nursery within a couple of weeks (family childcare option lost when my partner's dad unexpectedly died), but it seems I'm one of the really lucky ones.

@mustdrinkwaternotwine Really helpful info re the best months to join

Nursery