AIBU regarding Nursery Fees

[SilentEm564]

DH and I recently went to view a nursery.
We were told it would be £250 per week for DS to attend 3 days a week.
We thought it sounded like a lot of money! I was more hoping for £200 for 4 days.
We picked it because it was the nearest one to our house, so nothing spectacular about it.
We live just outside of London.
Would some other posters mind sharing how much nursery costs for them please? I'm now left wondering if my original cost expectations were unreasonable? It's hard to judge because a lot of nurseries don't put fees on their websites.

£73 per day in West London and that's one of the cheaper nurseries in our borough. It includes meals, nappies and wipes 8-6. Many local friends are paying £80-90 per day. There is a small discount for full time.

Save yourself some leg work and ring around all of them in the area you’re happy with. Look at childminders too.

Often both of you working & paying for childcare means you’re much the same off as not working, except you’re staying on the corporate ladder, maintaining your skills and paying towards your pension - and for some, doing what makes them happy. Sadly, with the rate of divorce/separation and how much a career can fall behind if you’re off work too long, working at least part time seems like the sensible option for most people. Being a SAHP is quite risky, sadly.

€45 a week for 9-2 5 days a week. Including lunch.

66.80 a day for our local nursery - not in London, but on the commuter line.

Thanks everyone! Some huge variations!

Interesting point re. childminders. I always thought they'd be more expensive. Can anyone give me an idea of how much a childminder would charge per hour just outside of London please?
Sorry for sounding a bit 'slow', how would I go about finding a reputable childminder (aka not just a neighbour's teen babysitting)?

Seems a lot until you've looked into care for the elderly!

I pay 210 pounds a month for a full time (7.45-4pm) place, including an organic lunch and mid morning snack. But I'm in Italy and wages are low.

£75 a day and have to provide own nappies. They have their own 5 acre farm though so lots of outdoors activity and food is all freshly made. M4 corridor/Middleton country so a bit posh.

DD is in her final few months now. The 30 hours is a godsend. She is 4 full days a week.

£58 per day in south east england. It's one of the cheaper nurseries!

Childminders have their own drawbacks you need to consider - they work alone and so if they are ill or absent then you need a backup childcare provider. Nurseries rarely shut and cover most holidays so are more reliable in that sense.

Mine’s £46 a day. Includes all food, drinks and snacks and unusually includes all nappies, wipes and milk. Leicestershire.

£75 per day, 08:00 - 18.00. Inclusive of nappies and food. We’re in a leafy-ish part of Surrey.

£42 per day but I'm in the North

I’m in Hertfordshire and pay £5.75 per day plus £5 per day for meals. DD goes 10 hours a day for 3 days. DD is 4 so gets the 30 hours funded childcare but I still pay an additional £230 per month which covers school holidays (the 30 hours is only funded during term time) and meals.

At one point I was paying £1400 per month when both DDs attended and before either were entitled to any funded hours.

Our local nursery is £40 for a full day regardless of age- we're in Northern Ireland though where the cost of living is generally much lower.

Paying similar sort of amount to you, which doesn't include nappies, for DS2. We are in London.

My part of Herts are £77 a day for nursery, childminder £65 - £75 a day but more flexible.

£750 for 4 days a week (that was after 15 hours 3 year funding). 8am-5.30pm with an extra £90 a month for organic hot lunch, snacks and breakfast included, had to pay for trips and uniform.

In S/East

Was the best money I have ever spent as she learnt so much, made friends, and her confidence came on leaps and bounds. Would do it over in a heart beat, and will with DC2

Ofsted rated ‘good’ Nursery in zone 2 London, £55 per day incl all Nappies, wipes, meals

To find a childminder look on your local council website and there should be a list of all ofsted registered childminders in your area

£55 a day.
10 hour days availble
5.50 per hour to look after my kid.
your price seems fair when you think of prop prices + staff costs in the area

£48 a day, Hampshire. Doesn't include nappies etc, but includes meals, snacks and milk (if not formula)

This thread is a real eye-opener! We pay about £200 per MONTH for 8 hours a day, five days a week. Including all meals and snacks but not nappies. And you get a 50% discount for a second child and 100% discount for a third child.
We're in a Nordic country and I knew things were more difficult in the UK but some of the prices on this thread are incredible. How on earth does anyone in the UK afford to have children, let alone more than one?

Childminders are often a little cheaper than nurseries, but usually charge per hour rather than per day. I charge £5 per hour and nurseries around me are £60 a day. Can often be more flexible too, I've done early starts, late finishes, a huge range of dietary requirements, etc. Days off for sickness (childminders) is something you have to be able to manage, but I've had 2 days off in the last 5 years, both with vomiting illnesses brought in by one of the children, so it isn't necessarily a problem for most people. Ratio is maximum of 3 under 5's and my mindees are like family, they love coming here and have a great time. Your council should have a list of registered childminders, or childcare.co.uk will have a list too. They should be Ofsted registered and insured, and can take childcare vouchers, and many provide the funded hours too.

£55 for dd2, slightly less for dd1 in preschool and she gets a 7% discount due to being the older sibling. They aboth do two full days and this month cost me £940 odd. Next month will be about £300 less thanks to the 30 hrs free she qualifies for now which my nursery pro raa and split over 12 months. Includes food but not extra curricular like Rhythm Time or tennis.

Whem you work it out per hour and see what the average nursery worker gets paid it is not so much. But is a shock every month when invoiced!