Help! No childcare...

[Nochildcare]

First time posting!

I really need some suggestions with what people do for childcare over the school holidays.

Half my childcare plans for the school holidays has fell through. There's no after school service and I work 8-6 three days a week.

I'm at a loss I don't know what to do for childcare. My dm will take my dc half the school holidays. My holidays only cover 3 weeks and I've already used them for school holidays.

I can't go term time in work or work from home. Holiday clubs are £££ a week! And pay childcare for younger dc so I can't afford it.

Anyone have suggestions?

Tia x

Yes because I have a crystal ball to make me aware of original childcare falling through and needing my annual leave to cover it and not to spend our money on a holiday so our children can see their grandparents they've not seen in 8 months

You have time to save. Will be couple hundred pounds? Around here holiday clubs only take from age 5. So not sure what you'll do with 4 year old if it's the same where you are. Also, your DH is self employed, surely there's flexibility there? Lesson learned to have more concrete plans, you really can't rely on older relatives.

There's only me and dp, dd has social anxiety, tourettes and most likely autism so out of school clubs are mostly a no go area. We do half of the holidays each, I don't have enough days to cover on my end so depending on dps work (self employed tradie) if work is slow he takes extra days or I take a week or two unpaid from my job. It's rough but we get through. You just do what you need to do.

So your DM he is going to take them one day a week?
Who was going to take them the other day of two days of the week? Your DDAD?

I have offered to work a Monday as extra to cover the time being off over summer, boss wasn't keen on it.

Why can’t the dad change his work hours to help?

If your DH is self employed can he work around your days?
I sympathise OP and I think you're getting a really hard time on here. You had plans and they've fallen through, no way would I be cancelling my holiday. Things I have done & would recommend:
Talk to other parents, offer to have their kids on a Mon/Fri and they take yours one day.
Use parental leave - unpaid but needs must.
What childcare does younger DC go to? Can they go extra over summer? Budget for this now ideally. Its much easier to find childcare with friends for an older child.
How far away are other grandparents? Would they keep kids and extra week or 2? You're actually not short for too many weeks if your husband is taking one off & your mum is taking them half. It's only 2-3 weeks which is 9 days at most. Can you work extra days now while husband isn't busy at work & take extra off in summer?

4 year old will still be in nursery and will probably be deffering school till next year. He's 4 in 2 weeks.

I have always used a mix of family, holiday clubs and swopping with a friend who also worked to help each other out. We also paid a teenager we knew to look after them some days but I was WFH and she took them to the park, played tennis etc so they were engaged whilst we worked.

Holiday clubs, taking leave separately to DH ( we have one week together for a holiday), and parental leave. These may not work for you but I can sometimes stretch my leave by working on my non-working day and then taking time off in lieu for school events etc instead of leave. Occasionally I can do this either end of the holidays. Also do you work Mondays? I don't as a disproportionate number of bank holidays fall then so the pro rate red leave won't quite cover them.

Childcare swaps. They have your children while you are at work and you reciprocate, even if it means having their’s at the weekend.

I know this depends on what job your DH actually does, but could he work the 4 days a week you're not working? If he's self employed he should have flexibility, so could even do 4 long days to still earn the same amount. Or maybe do some work on the evenings of your work days.
Or you pay for holiday club, and to help cover the cost of that you get another flexible part time job during hours when your DH can be home.

Do you have friends you could do a swap with? So a friend at your 4 year old's nursery will look after them 1 day a week and you look after their child on a day you're not working? Then do the same with your older child? Then pay for a club or a babysitter just for 1 or 2 days a week?

Why would you defer a February child?

always have a plan B for unpaid childcare, especially family. Things happen and if you’re not paying it will fall through as other things take priority for them.

you’ve done is backward, you should have planned to use paid for childcare, and had a bonus if family can do it.

would it not have been a better idea to take your family holiday in the summer rather than Easter?

as it is you’re going to have to swallow the cost. You have 3 choices;

1. pay for holiday clubs
2. take unpaid parental leave
3. dh rearranges his work and takes time off.

all will cost you money, but it is what it is.

you could see if another parent will help you out. But again have a plan b just in case of illness or family emergency etc.

if dh is self employed can he shift his hours so he starts late and works late, so you only need to take half days?

lessons learned.

Can you swap childcare with your children's school mums? Failing that where are you based? If local to me, I'm fully db's checked, and would be happy to help

Any local teenagers/students looking for some extra cash? Not ideal but needs must and you're desperate

Maybe she’s not in England?

Because he would be just hitting 4 and a half by the time of starting school, it's also more common than you think, children get deffered all the time.

I'm not I'm in scotland

Does the new school year not start in September in Scotland?

If your DH is self employed, he will need to bite the bullet this year and help cover some days, too. It's so frustrating reading threads like this, where the answer is staring you in the face but oh no can't possibly expect a man to sacrifice his career.

No middle of August.

You can't use TGC at the same time as UC

It’s only 2-3 weeks difference then. But anyway, what are you wanting people to say with regards to holiday childcare? Do you like any of the ideas?