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 🤨?

If you are both low earners check what benefit support you are entitled to. Its probably more than you think.

You say that you need to work those crazy hours to afford a nursery place. Exactly what hours are you both working in each job? What do you actually do? If there is any travel involved stretching those days further?

FWIW our nursery opened at 8am and would stay open in the evenings on an ad hoc basis for NHS medics to be able to finish in surgery. That obviously required 2 employees to be paid for the additional hours.

All nurseries around here open at 7 or 7.30. Those expectations seem a lot for a baby. What time would baby need to be up to get to nursery for 6am? As PPs have said, I'd look for a nanny.

If a CM isn’t an alternative then a nanny DEFINITELY isn’t an alternative. Nannies are a luxury and charge accordingly. Even live-ins earn well above NMW.

13 hours in nursery means 14 hours out of the house or getting ready for bed / getting up. Your child would struggle to get enough sleep with that schedule, you really need at least 11-12 hours clear for their long sleep. I'm also unclear when either of you plan to spend any time with your child, nor how toto Cubert illness, which is a different concern. Children are not just a logistics exercise that can be easily parcelled up. Both of you having 2 jobs also gives the risk of overpaying yax as presumably you both fall under the personal allowance threshhold or you wouldn't do the extra jobs.

I think you and your DP need to sit down and come up with a different plan. You can vary hours so one does 6-6 and the other 12-12; that means you only need afternoons in nursery and the baby gets mornings with a parent, plus potentially higher paid evening shifts. Use the money saved to adjust weekends so you have one day as a family. These years will go quickly, it is really much better to tighten your belt and have time together than to look back on a blur from a nicer house.

Why do people keep suggesting nanny? Pretty sure if op is working 6 days to cover nursery, she's not making nanny money even if that world be the ideal solution

I always chuckle at such posts - so utterly detached from (most people's) reality. A FT nanny is equivalent to paying for private school for most people...totally out of considerations.

It's similar to when I've seen people post and mention struggling with the cost of petrol or diesel and some bright sparks answer is that they should get an electric car because they're cheaper to run.

When will you actually see your child? One of you need to change your hours

The entitlement. What about the people who work there? What do you want them to do with their children if they have to be up at 5am heading to work? You can’t expect every service to revolve around your exceptionally long hours.

I only suggested nanny as it’s the only viable option for OPs needs. She said she needs to stay in her job and she wouldn’t be able to easily get back into the role. If she can’t afford a nanny then realistically she will have to change something else.

Also agree the suggestion of a nanny is ridiculous for someone who is working 2 jobs to afford nursery. Clearly isn’t going to be an option.

I did meet one childminder who would do Saturdays in request, but I’ve never come across any childcare available before 7am. Most not before 8, I needed 7.30 and it severely limited my choices.

i have heard of hospital nurseries which operate much longer hours including over the weekend, but obviously these only operate where there are big hospitals!

completely agree with all previous points that this is completely unsustainable and unfair on the child. Mine used to do 7.30-5.30 or 6 with a childminder and really struggled to get enough sleep.

Because it is the only viable option. It is that or find more child friendly working hours. You can't expect a child to be at nursery 6am to 7pm 6 days a,week, they would not get enough sleep. It is verging on abusive.

So what do you suggest if no nursery or CM will take them and the parents won't change jobs?

So what do you suggest if no nursery or CM will take them and the parents won't change jobs?

I don't suggest anything. Clearly the op will need to make adjustments somewhere.

Suggesting a nanny when this is clearly not possible for an individual doesn't help.

It’s not a viable option if their household income doesn’t cover it.

Sorry if this is harsh, but it’s my very strong opinion. No baby/toddler should be in a nursery 6am-7pm Mon-Fri (65 hours) plus more hours on a Saturday too.

You should look for a nanny or an o pair. Never heard of anyopening these times.

DD had a job where she covered the early morning hours for a family. She was hired through an agency when she was just post university.It was about 10 years ago now so I'm not sure whether this sort of thing is still possible with DBS checks etc but I know that her friend did something similar. We live in a commuter town where these sort of logistics are common. When my DC were small lots of people shared nannies and thus shared the costs.

My CM used to do 7am to 6pm but only Monday to Friday.

Then she stopped and started doing 7.30am as no one needed her from 7am. This included the school kids she dropped off.

My DD initially did 3 days a week 7am until 4.45-5pm.

Towards the end of that pattern my DD has one day a week for a few months where she was the only child who spent the full day with the CM. (There were other children whose parents had given notice to their previous childcare.)

No nurseries open before. 7 here but we do have one that’s 7 days a week!! Reduced hours on a Sunday must have the demand we are in the NW

I’d suggest winning the lottery, bc they have just as much chance of doing that as affording a nanny.

Or I’d suggest they get a reality check.

lol, another one. FYI, au pairs aren’t supposed to look after under 2s, they’re young women here for a cultural exchange, not to be exploited for someone else’s life choices.

I just want to echo the poster above who flagged wrap around is limited hours so this is a long term issue. One of us had to give up work to make having a baby work for us as nursery was more than a salary. Wrap around at our primary is also 8 to 4pm and isn't every day so think not just about nursery but how you are going to manage work for the next 10 years.

The OP is doing two jobs.

It would be cheaper to drop one of those jobs and not pay for childcare on those hours.

Also your working hours will be unsustainable as your child grows. Right now you can pop baby in thr car seat. You will not be able to wake, get dressed, get in a car, then pick up and put to bed a child as they become independant and grow within these time frame and at these times of a day. It will be an impossible challenge my husband reduced his hours and changed career to look after our children and share childcare as I am the higher earner. Weve both changed jobs to enable a more realistic lifestyle and weve cut back on many of our own luxuries to work less to look after them more. Unless you can afford a live in nanny then youre not going to be able to sustain this and I would suggest looking at who can cut hours and where asap with your employers.

I don't think you're going to find a nursery to accommodate these hours and days.

Apart from the obvious advice of changing hours/ new job etc, have you considered maybe giving up your jobs and doing childcare yourself?

I don't want to assume but if you are working two jobs I assume they are low paid. I know people who give up work and took in a couple of other kids to child mind which basically cut all her childcare fees and brought in an income.

I also know someone city based who did wraparound care. Took a few kids from 7:30ish dropped them at school, had the day for herself and little one then picked up at 3:30-5:30/6ish. She actually said it was great cause they all entertained and played with the baby, he was so exhausted he suddenly slept like a dream.