Childcare options and costs

[Annie456]

Hi all,
I'm 15 weeks pg with DC1 and have been advised to get my name on waiting lists for nurseries...I plan to work 2 days per week when DC is 1yo.

I got the details for the nursery and was shocked to see that they charge £74 a day...is this the cost of a good nursery?!

I'm willing to look at nannies and childminders but I wanted to get a good idea of the pro's / con's and also the likely costs for 2 full days per week (8.30 - 7pm)

Any advice much appreciated so I can budget appropriately and work out what I can afford!

Thanks

I was told this when pregnant with my now 6mth old and we have only just been looking at childcare since jan and i go back end of may 3 days aweek then 4 days in sept i didnt know whether i wanted a childminder or nursery and have looked at both and decided a childminder 3 days a week (have now found a lovely one) then when we need that 4th day to use a nursery (not found one I like yet) we knew childcare would cost use upto £45 a day so didnt ask costs until we had seen them as didnt want this to cloud our judgement and we found childminder were from £3-£4 an hr and nurseries £40-£48 a day (for a 10/10.5hr day), as I work for the NHS i get a 10% discount with many nurseries so both childminder and nursery work out about the same except I only need 9hrs care a day.

Look at both only you will know what you want

It also depends where you are in the country?

I am just outside the M25 and as a childminder charge £65 per day (but that includes everything)

If you start looking earlier you will get more of a choice.

As a childminder I could tell you I would have space as I know when the children in my care start full time school etc

Thanks for your replies - I am in South East London.
I've also heard a lot of talk on Nanny Shares...how does this work and does it work out more affordable? I assume this doesn't need to be planned in advance and can be arranged with other mums that you may meet at toddler groups etc?
I would be interested to know people's experience of this too. (I am the first of my friends to have a baby so no idea!)

Location plays an important part when it comes to the cost of childcare, as in cities it can be quite a bit higher than in towns or rural.

In my area (Surrey/Berkshire border) childcare costs are typically around the £4.50-£5 per hour mark. A nursery would be around £50 a day - Example.

The hours that you require care could be a problem, as you may struggle to find a childcare provider who will provide care until 7pm. Nurseries in particular seem (at least in my area) to close at 6pm.

You may find that a childminder will be prepared to work until 7pm, however it depends on each individual childminder... some I know like to finish by 5pm if they can, whilst others are happy working later.

Your local Families Information Service (link will take you to a system which will list some childcare providers plus give you contact details for your local FIS) can provide details on all forms of childcare.

Sounds a bit early to me to be looking at childcare if you are not going to go back to work until your Little One is 1 year old... that's quite some time off yet.

Personally I advise against a nannyshare. It can get complex and involves you having to be on very good terms with another local family. Cost can be fairly high, in London for example a nanny may want £14 gross per hour... so even split between two families that is £7 gross plus there is Employers NI on top, plus many other costs - Example costs of employing a nanny.

We pay £70 a day for our 9 month old and £60 for our 2 year old. There are lots less expensive and probably better nurseries (we are in the process of changing)and I've learnt that more expensive necessarily doesn't mean better. We are in South East London as well and prices around here seem to be between £55 & £70 a day. I would look on local boards and speak to nurseries and get yourlsef down on any waitlists of the popular nurseries as they can be so long. We have only just been offered a place at nursery we put our DD down to attend 2 years ago. It's pretty ridiculous!

South East London - yes you would need to put your DC down now. When I lived there I put my son down and he didn't get a place in the first year - after that we moved so we didn't bother staying on the list.

wow, so £74 a day isn't unusual for a good London nursery...I would be working for nothing! Well not nothing, hopefully my DC will get a lot out of 2 days of nursery each week and it means I get to cling on to a career so I don't end up having a huge gap and struggling to get back into it years down the line. but I would probably only be taking home about £20 a day after travel...eeesh.

Is anyone else still working part time despite not actually earning anything after childcare or have I got baby brain?

IF you have a working partner (and I know that's not a given for everyone), you should look at childcare costs as a joint cost. It is, as you say, one of the costs of continuing with your career so you don't have a huge break later that you find difficult to bridge, and should be borne between you and your earning partner. I don't think it's fair to compare childcare costs with just your own income, because if you don't work outside, your own income is potentially not the only loss. (for me, childcare costs was partly for keeping my sanity, but that's my own problem )

baby care in my son's nursery is £85/day in NW london. They open 7.30am til 6.30.
I know lots of people who have a nanny share and it works quite nicely if you want longer hours, the cost if you include tax will be about the same as the nursery, but they'll be bathed and ready for bed when you get in. A nanny for yourself will be a more, unless you get one who will bring their own child with them.
Childminders here are between £5.50-£7.00/hour.
I think i am fairly well paid but with 2 children at nursery, I probably only made about £30/day after tax.
Working a couple of days a week is quite a nice balance between doing child-related stuff and having your own working identity. Its also useful to keep your CV up to date (no big employment gaps) and if you decide to have another child, obs you get maternity pay again.