nursery opening hours

[scottishgal09]

I need to go back to work so will soon be putting my 9 month old in nursery, only thing is that the earliest I can find any nursery open is 7 am to 7 pm. The 7 pm closing time is fine but I really find I need a opening time of 6 pm. I also work Saturday mornings so need something that is open 6 days. Start time should be at least 6:00 pm but I struggle to find this. Do these type of nursery’s exist? What are the opening and closing hours for your nursery’s? Why don’t nursery’s take into account that some parents need to work 6 days 🤨?

I've never known a nursery to open before 7, I'm sure they exist but they are probably few and far between. I also think you'll struggle to find anywhere that will take your child for 6 days. Do you absolutely have to work 6 days? That's got to be more than full time?

I've never known a nursery open from 06:00 - more 07:00 or 07:30, nor be open on Saturdays. Could a childminder or nanny be an option instead?

Sorry OP, all of the nurseries around here open at 7:30 and none open on weekends. I think you'll struggle.

Have you looked at childminders?

worked in nurseries on and off for years, as well as nannying and no, that doesn’t exist. You would need a nanny to support those kind of hours. Probably a live in one.

I've not come across one that operates outside 7.30am to 6pm either. Ultimately they operate hours that cover the vast majority of needs as they have a minimum number of kids per session just to break even, therefore unusual hours and days aren't financially viable for them. I think I've seen childminders that are a bit more diverse in their timings (catering for NHS staff for example) so that might be an option.

I have to say OP that it might be more prudent to think about looking at your working pattern as school hours and wraparound will be even more restrictive, and will be upon you very quickly.

No I’ve never seen those hours at nursery’s, most are 7.30am to 6pm. To be honest it wouldn’t be very nice for a child to have to get up and be ready before 6am and then be taken to a nursery for 6am, it’s way too early and would be horrible especially in winter. If you want to do those hours you probably need a nanny, or find a different job with different hours.

Same as everyone else - usual hours are 7.30am-6pm and only Monday-Friday.

The only exception you may find is nurseries that are open adjacent to hospitals and geared towards shift workers.

Ours did 7:30-6 and then changed to 7-7 but they were outliers. Childminders might be worth looking into but you are going to struggle with Saturdays.

Here it's 7:30pm til 6pm, one nursery in the area opens til 6:30pm.
None of Saturdays, I don't think anywhere would do that.
I think you need to rethink your hours, a childminder may be better.

No I highly doubt you'll find a nursery like that.

I'm a nursery worker and I would not work 6 days a week - with a start time of 6am lol - not even on shifts!

Because nurseries cater for the "most" not for one - most parents work Monday - Friday 7am - 7pm fully covers standard working hours of 9-5/6 enabling parents to drop and get to work.

Think you need to either look at a live in nanny or a nanny for the hours - days you want. Or change your job.

7-6.30 here, pretty much all of them are in my area. No Saturdays, not even childminders do weekends that I've seen.
Honestly, you can't be dragging kids out at 5.30am or whatever for a 6am start every day - that's pretty shit for them!! And I say that as a parent who had to drop the kids off at 7am some days.

There is a chain near us that we're certainly offering Saturdays 15 yrs ago. As PP said catering to hospital and airport staff mostly.

Consider splitting. You don't need to get everything in one place.
Are you a single parent? And family that can help with wrap around care? Alternatively a nanny or CM or au pair may take on some extra morning/weekend hours when they don't have other children.

Why do you need such long hours? Are you finishing early or do you have a long commute?
Look for alternatives like changing your working hours, or taking baby on the commute to a nursery near work.
The downside of this is that you won't want to take her on any days off you have, but when they are little you get called a lot so it can be easier being close by.

I've not heard of a nursery opening prior to 07:30 so you're lucky to find one that opens at 7. Our old nursery charged a fee for drop off between 7:30 and 8 also.

I've also never heard of a nursery opening on a Saturday.

You're best looking for a childminder or nanny.

Have a look at nurseries associated with hospitals. You may find that some of them open at 6am.

I don’t mean to make anyone feel bad who has no other choice, but I would be literally exploring EVERY other avenue other than this including changing jobs. If your baby is in nursery 6 days a week you will see nothing of them. It’s not fair for them to do such long days. I’d hate having to do more than an 8/9 hour day somewhere and would never expect my child to do 5 long 12 hour days and some of Saturday as well.

You need a regular nanny for the weekdays and a pool of people (Nannies/friends/family)to cover the weekends.

Very unusual for a Nursery to be open 7am - 7pm.

A Nursery did open in my LA a few years ago, near a hospital, offering 24 hour care, 7 days a week - obviously hoping to cover people on night shifts / early shifts / late shifts, not to have any child there throughout the week - but it closed after quite a short time as no-one wanted to use it, so the business couldn't survive.

Also, most nurseries around here have a waitlist of a year. How soon do you go back to work?

I agree that a nanny sounds like your best bet. I don’t think you’ll even find a childminder for those hours tbh.

You are working 12 hours a day 6 days a week??
Is your babies father involved?
I wouldn’t have thought this work pattern and childcare requirements are going to be very sustainable in the long term. I don’t know of any local nurseries that are open before 7:30 or that open at weekends.

Yes father is involved, he works Saturday and Sunday and I work Saturday. We both have two jobs or would not be able to afford nursery fees lol. I have a nursery lined up and have some family help but they can’t help long term, for that I need a nursery with longer hours but it doesn’t look like they exist.

I don't think they exist op sorry. I've only known nurseries do 7.30am-6pm and no weekends. I expect you'll need to look into changing your job if you can't find an alternative, this problem won't go away either because school wraparound care operates similar hours

Can you explore nanny/au pair/childminder in their home? If both of you are working two jobs, I don’t think you’ll get a nursery to cover hours but also the baby will be in care setting nearly all the time - one consistent caregiver might be great bonding wise if possible? I know it’s so hard trying to manage childcare and it’s super expensive but it sounds like a lot for them. Plus kids get sick at nursery so you’ll have lots of days you won’t be able to send them in.

So it sounds like one of you needs to give up one of your jobs in order to look after your child then. If nursery costs more than you earn how can you justify working?

you need a nanny

There's no nursery worker that will start at 6am!! They aren't paid enough for a start. You need a nanny. Why do you need to go to work so early?