To think childcare should accommodate varying shifts?

[Somanyproblems]

I'm really struggling. Expecting first baby next year and am starting to look at childcare options.

(A nanny is not even a remote possibility, neither is an au pair.)

I have to start work quite early - at 8. The good thing is that I finish fairly early as well. However, this massively limits my childcare options. There is only one nursery that I've found we could use that opens before 8, and it really doesn't look very nice at all

Is this what people have to do - leave their baby somewhere they aren't happy with?

This is very unusual. I've worked in nurseries and they all opened at around 7.30, some even earlier than that.

I want to back up hibbledibble. I'm quite a senior "junior" working full time with only one child in London and I was looking at paying a nanny my entire take home salary. As it is nursery fees for one child under 2 takes most of it. If my husband was also a doctor we would likely need a live in nanny as we have no family nearby. So costs would be even higher in that situation.

Did you look round the one you didn't like? Have you looked at it's Ofsted report? What's the baby room like?

By the time they're in preschool they will be doing phonics etc as it's all about getting ready for school, but with play too.

I would also advise going back to the one you didn't like. At first look my DDs nursery was bright and busy, but the staff were so kind and the babies were settled and happy. My DD was cuddled to sleep for months- if I collected her early she could often be found sleeping in her key workers arms. At 18 months she runs happily into her room in the mornings. I also saw a lovely, smaller nursery with unsuitable opening hours but in hindsight I don't think it was better in any way but aesthetics.

I will also back up doctors with childcare costs. My friend and her Dh have twins. It's been hell for the past three years as they wanted to stay FT to qualify on schedule. They don't want to leave the UK but are very tempted by Canada and Australia. They have a nanny which sounds so glam but the poor nanny is just as overworked as the parents but gets paid £35k which after taxes are paid is more than they are left with after paying her. Nurses have a tough time but at least they have shifts. Doctors need to be on call and that means having childcare in place so you can leave if necessary. That is very expensive.

Iliked, I think that many low paid workers will be eligible for tax credits and similar help - doctors are not.

I am not a doctor but am in that 'squeezed middle' category.

I only really have two childminders I can use and one doesn't open until 8; the other is not reliable.

I will certainly go and have a proper look around the nursery I didn't like. I think these things are very personal and as such I'd never say to somebody they were wrong. But the nursery was bright, garish and had very much a conveyor belt to it - the opposite of the ones where I actually live which are based in cottages with quiet gardens and seem more like a home than an institution.

Somany, after being disappointed several times I only looked at nurseries/childminders if the location/opening hours were suitable. I would phone and ask, but if definitely not practical I didn't look.

hibble I know what doctors earn, I know quite a few doctors and the 22k is often trotted out, but that is only for the one year straight out of medical school - 5 years out of medical school its 39k, quite a steep increasing curve which almost no other profession will see - by their mid 30s doctors will be on around 47k, and the only way is still up with consultants on 100k ish and GPs on significantly over 50k. Its not a low salary at all.

I'm on just below £47,000 and the cost of childcare is an issue.

I'm glad I'm not having twins, put it that way!

I wouldn't worry about looking for your childcare (assuming you are off for a year), until your LO is 6 months old perhaps?

She'll never get a place if she leaves it that late.

Somany - my sons nursery was a big bright garish one and was actually fab. The key workers were brilliant and there was loads to do and because it was so big they could split it up into different areas with different toys and activities, as well as having some quieter areas hidden away for when quiet time was needed. He was there full time from 7mths to 4yrs and really thrived. I think somewhere smaller he might have got bored. I think I would try to find out more about the people, what they do (we had loads of outings) and how they structure the day.
The first year of childcare at nursery cost us £26K - we're in a cheap part of the UK but nursery fees are not cheap. Spending more than my salary after tax on childcare for that first year was really difficult, thankfully it got cheaper and now he's at school it's more of a logistics problem.

The cost of childcare is depressing, isn't it!

the other is not reliable.

Surely having to call in sick once does not make her unreliable?

The earliest near me is 7 without it I couldn't get there. But it is like gold dust. It takes 2 hours to get to work round here due to traffic. For shift workers it is impossible. If there are no childminders I don't know what the answer is.

Round near me there is no holiday care for school age children that starts before 8. Also no good for commuters/NHS staff etc.

I'm not convinced that the suitable nursery (hours wise) sounds bad...Bright colours might seem garish but they're very child friendly, heck our playroom has a bright green wall, a bright blue, magenta and orange. The children love it! Picking up in a minibus - why is it they do that? Most nurseries don't do pick ups so where/why are they picking up, or is if for trips and outings in which case I'd see that as a positive that they get the kids out and about more.

ABout the only thing which sounds bad is the uniforms which I'm not a fan of.

I liked just to busy a myth, a doctor's salary isn't very high. The starting pay is just over 22k.

I often see this quoted-it's the same as a teacher and maybe a nurse or police officer? What is the salary in the second year? The third? The fifth? The 8th?

Could someone tell me that if they know?

Doctors train for a lot longer and need higher grades on entry to university.

I think the minibus might be because the nursery is in an area with high rates of poverty - think a few may be on CP plans.

I'm not saying that they don't, Somanyproblems, I just wondered how quickly the salary increased.

My friends are each making just shy of GBP60k which seems like a lot until you consider they live in London. Living further out isn't really an option for them as they need to be able to get to the hospital at odd hours. Living up north is very tough because they both need to find contracts in the same area which is hard. On top of that, while the nanny makes GBP35k they are paying more like GBP40k as NI and employers taxes must be paid out of their post tax salary.

Also, my friends have significant debts from spending 5 years at university compared to 3 years. They also didn't have the opportunities that I had to earn money over the holidays. During the holidays they were completing rotations while I was working. Both of my friends paid off their student debt before having their twins and financially they would be fine if they had a singleton.

Somany serious don't discount a bright conveyor belt like nursery. My DC thrive on routine which means a conveyor belt type environment.

What's a conveyer belt type nursery anyway?

Seems very institutionalised?

I liked you seem to know better than me what I earn Your figures are not accurate either. I earn around 29k pro rata (including London weighting) which is not much considering the cost of living and childcare in London.

This isn't about competitive poverty. I just said that I can sympathise with the OP's position.

In what way though?

The minibus and the uniforms and the layout. Don't get me wrong - it's not a criticism. I'm sure some people will love it but I am not sure it's quite for me.

not read the whole thread, but have you called and asked the other nurseries if they offer any flexiblity on the start time advertised? When I went back to work after DC1, the nursery he went to was officially open 8am - 6pm, but you could drop from 7:30am by arrangement and a slight additional fee - I paid an extra £5 a day to drop at 7:45am so I could be on the 08:05 train (15 minute walk to the station from the door of the nursery).

It's often worth asking and being prepared to pay a little more.