How far in advance to start looking for CM?

[mashpot]

Hello,
I am investigating nursery/CM options for when I return to work in September, DS will be 9 months. I'm in South East London. Nurseries are busy and I've put us on the waiting list for a couple of places (not all of them have waiting lists) but I wonder if I would prefer a CM while DS is so young.

Should I be contacting CMs now to find someone for DS? Will they know if they have availability in September? Or have I left it late??

I'm not sure where to start with CMs other than the Ofsted website which has lots local to us- as a secondary question how do I decide who to contact?

Thanks very much.

Look now. Good ones book up early, and Sept is a good time to start, as older mindees may be moving on to school.

Good luck!

I would agree, start looking now, CMs will have an idea as to which children won't be coming from September onwards. The only downside is that you may end up paying a retainer fee to keep the place.

Yes, I would start looking now. I'm a CM and don't have a vacancy till July but people are contacting me now about it.

Oh, and childcare.co.uk is a good place to look as well - most CMs in your area will put up a brief spiel about how they work, and many will have websites you can visit.