Any parents from Jersey Channel Islands?

[MummyToBe89]

Posting here for more traffic.I hope that's ok.

Our first baby is due this year and we haven't told anybody yet, so can't ask friends for advice.

We have been told by our midwife to start looking at childcare options now, even though I'll be on maternity until roughly July next year. When we looked in to the nursery near our house, it's fully booked until August next year so I can see why they advised us to start now.

The thing is we're totally baffled by all the childcare options, nursery, childminder, nanny, shared Nanny etc.

I'm just wondering if anybody knows if we get anything like the childcare vouchers they get in the UK? If so are they only for nurseries? Totally baffled by it all!

Mine are all too old now, but friends have used Organic Kids (branches at the Waterfront in town, also St. Lawrence. They spoke highly of them.

Other friends I know have used Acrewood (that's up the the Merton Hotel.

Lots of childminders - have you spoken to the Jersey Childcare Trust people? Not sure if that's part of their remit (as I say, I'm years past this bit!).

There are lots of local facebook groups for new parents too.

Where in the island are you?

It’s been a long time, but mine went to one in St John. If you head up the Grande Route de St Jean, there is a Spar shop just past the big Nurseries. There is a big church just by it, and it was in there. There isn’t a social care system like the UK, but I’m sure it was funded. Childminders are cripplingly expensive, to the point that it’s cheaper not to work. We certainly didn’t pay the bankruptcy inducing fees for nursery as we did for the childminder. If you contact the Education department at the States Offices, they will explain it all.

Sorry for the late reply to your replies.

We're in st Helier but will have to move before the baby gets here as we're in a 1 bedroom place at the moment. THis is another reason we're struggling, as we don't even know where we'll live. Maybe a St Helier nursery would be best as we both work in St Helier.

I'll definitely speak to the Education Department and Jersey Childcare Trust. We're both just so lost in all of this and have no parents here to help with Childcare so need to sort it ASAP.