Both parents commute - childcare for before and after school?

[testbunny]

Hi there

We are considering a move from London to Surrey. Both of us will commute into London (me 4 days a week). We would have to leave quite early in the morning, so what do other commuters to in terms of childcare? Is it possible to find a nanny, or will we have to find two seperate nannies? Or is a childminder, where we have to do drop-off and pick-up, the only option?

Thanks very much!

Are hours flexible at all?

We make this work by having Dh start/finish relatively early and me start/finish slightly later. Dc are at the cms from 8-5.30

I've just been incredibly lucky and have found a lovely after school nanny so they do exist out there. They're just hard to find!

Depends where you are moving to in Surrey... some parts of Surrey I consider to be London!

Consider if you would need childcare during school holidays - I expect you might.

A childminder is certainly a possibility, though it will depend on the school attended and where you live. Some childminders can start quite early... 6.30am/7am and finish 7pm sometimes latter. It really depends on each individual childminder.

Try using SurreyCC ChildcareFinder to get an idea of what childcare is in the area of Surrey to which you may be moving. You will need to know the postcode... you can use StreetMap to convert a place on a map to a postcode. It will produce you a list of childcare providers and many will have e-mail addresses, so you can contact them and ask about what hours they care for children, schools they collect from.

thanks nannynick. will check it out.

yes, au pair is a good thought, though not sure we can afford a big enough house!

it would be guildford or woking

p.s. hours are not flexible - we would need to leave early, I would be back by 6.30 (earliest)

I'm near Woking... there are certainly some before/after school nannies in this area. So that may well be an option, especially if you would consider a nanny with their own child.

House prices are horrible... though cheaper than London I would have thought, though suppose it depends on area you currently live.

Train travel time from Woking itself can be quite fast... though SWT does have issues from time to time, so it can be unpredictable.

Keep your options open at the moment... you haven't even decided where to live yet, or brought a home.

When you say Early... what time would you anticipate that to be? Say allowing for 15-20 mins to get to train station, an hour on the train (to Waterloo) then whatever time the journey from there to your work.

What age dc?

Why Guildford/Woking?

Unless you have relatives there or some other non-negotiable, I'd recommend anywhere except this area. House prices are hideous, and there is high demand for the best nannies, so I expect costs will be higher in this area too. We had a place in Eton and moved away once kids came into the equation because the costs compared to other commuter belts were so high.

That aside, it's perfectly possible to hire nannies to do wrap around care. Childminders can be difficult if your commute is very early (ie if you want a drop-off before, say, 7.30), and also if you are both doing full-on 'careers' you may find that childminders might not have flexibility for late pick-ups.

Where I live (90 minute commute to London) almost everyone uses au pairs.

Thanks everyone!

Tbh i think it will more likely be woking as a faster commute.

I would need to leave the house by 7.30am latest (husband earlier), and probably, thinking about it, i would be home by 7pm (latest)

DC's would be 4 and 6, or 5 and 7

Thanks!

Hi stillquiffy. We are looking at that area as my mum is in farnham (another expensive place!), but also to keep the commute as short as possible. Have been looking at nanny salaries, and they are the same as London (but with the c£6k extra we will have to pay to commute!). We are moving because of secondary schools (and family). Either that or potentially pay £30k+ a year for private schools down the line (which we havent got!)

School holiday care as well?

Housework, laundry, food shopping, tradepeople visiting, all that sort of thing - if you and DH both have demanding jobs which mean you are out of the home say 12 hours a day Mon-Fri, is it worth having full-time help at home? Cost of that may well be around 30k so not cheap but may give you more family time.

School holiday care as well?

Housework, laundry, food shopping, tradepeople visiting, all that sort of thing - if you and DH both have demanding jobs which mean you are out of the home say 12 hours a day is it worth having 4-day of full day help at home? Cost of that may well be around 30k so not cheap but may give you more family time.

In this area, there are infant and junior schools - so as children get older it can mean collecting from two different schools - or are you looking at private school education?

How about Fleet, Hampshire. Another expensive place but state secondary schools are ok (or were when I was there). Maybe find the right secondary school, then find the right house in catchment.

I can do you a nanny cost example if you like though there may well be one already on here that I have done for similar hours. A great nanny in this area will expect a gross salary of around £10-11 per hour in my view. Before/after school nannies may be higher.

So you are seeking childcare for children age 4 and 6 for 12 hours four days a week? . Makes sure you leave some photos about so they have at least some inkling who you are.

Hi nannynick.

No, we are looking at state education, and yes will be school holiday care too to throw in. looking at having only (!) 2 years of different school pick-ups as would like to get them into a primary that goes to 11.

Great. thanks. How much do you think a before (from 7am) and afterschool (to 7pm) nanny, plus holidays, will cost?

I know hampshire is cheaper. just it's further out (hence why probably!). Haven't thought of fleet. will have a look at the traintimes. thanks!

Uncalled for yousankmybattleship.
The OP is thinking ahead and trying to do what is best for her DC.
Lots of us work similar hours and our kids do just fine. It's just very hard work. And traumatic and stressful to find the right wraparound care.

It is my opinion. This is a public forum so I have every right to express how I feel. It makes me very sad that people have children and then don't give their time to them. Parenting is about more than eanring money and finding the right wraparound care. It is about being there for your children, talking to them and showing them they are important. I will hide this thread now though as it is just depressing.

I know what you mean yousankmyship, but I love my job (it's important to me) and work in media so am tied to Lodnon. It is also important for me to maintain my salary (albeit not huge!) level so we can start paying off the mortgage and save for tuition fee's etc when the kids are at school, although that is looking unlikely with the potential before and after school childcare costs!

i will definitely be trying to go for working 1 of the 4 days working from home, but this may not be possible and I can't count on it

It is not ideal (at the moment i leave the house at 8.30am and get back by 6pm) but we don't have an option for secondary schools where we are.

yousankmyship. You are right to have an opinion, but I am my own person aswell as a mother. It is important to me, to have something else in my life. It doesn't make me a bad mother, in fact it makes me ,personally, a better mother. I just wish I had a bit more flexibility in my job. Anyway, i don't want to get in to this. I am looking for advice, and really appreciate all advice from mumsnetters! thank you so, so much

So I have a similar issue to you and here's how we manage. To some degree both me and DH have to have some flexibility. We take it in turns to do early weeks or late weeks. Early weeks means that one of us is out of the house by 6:30 latest (for me this is often actually 6) and then we're home back 6:15pm (this means leaving work at 4:45 for me). On late weeks, one of us is at home until 7:45 (for me, this means getting into work between 9:15 and 9:30) and then home time is whenever but typically I try to get home for 7:45pm so that I can say goodnight to the DCs.

In reality, e both seem to spend an age on the phone to one another swap things around to accomodate meetings / off-sites, etc. In addition, I have a lot of work with west coast US, so I also do conference calls in the evenings or for Asia, in the early mornings before work. Basically, I operate on a 'I will do whatever it takes to get my job dne' approach and so if that means that I have to catch up on email in the evenings so that can leave early to get home to see the children and relieve my lovely nanny, then so be it.

Dh does also work at home on occasion which helps if i need to do a long day, i.e. leave early and come home late.

It's not easy at all and i find that you do need to be quite disciplined. now that both DCs are at full time school, my nanny only does 3 full days (she does my housekeeping for me too now) and 2 days of before and after school. Because she gets the time off in the mimddle of the day for 2 days, she is fairly flexible if we are caught up by trains, etc. being late. But i certainly don;t take advantage as she has family too and I also want to spend time with my children.

Hope that helps.

I'll ask around to see if I can find any local nannies doing similar hours to get a good idea of the salary involved.

Hi Testbunny,

The wrap around care is something I Would do as a nanny but would not be able to accommodate the full time hours in the holidays. I live in Woking.

Woking is an expensive place to live, but the commute is easier. Also it had its nice areas and not so nice areas like most places. My rent is through the roof, pretty standard for the area, but worth every penny.

Good luck with your search and feel free to ask me any questions

I am a childminder and work 7am - 7pm for parents but have started as early s 5:30 and worked as late as 8pm you will find someone but maybe finding area first would be good idea then you would have idea of hours taking into account your commute and what days you would need. After that you can see what is on offer in your area. You may find a childminder/nanny/aupair or a combination which would work for you.

Good luck

How much do you think a before (from 7am) and afterschool (to 7pm) nanny, plus holidays, will cost?

I have some pay figures from nannies actually doing that kind of role in Surrey... they are getting just £10.50 to £12.50 gross per hour. One said that her pay is split across the year so her monthly pay is the same each month. You will find message threads on here about term-time working which mention more about spreading payments over full year.

So on a term-time day... lets say it's 6 hours work. On a holiday week, it's 12 hours work. How many weeks is term-time - that could well vary depending on the school.

A local authority school in Surrey may well be doing: (Source: SurreyCC)
Autumn Term 2012
4 September to 21 December 2012
Half Term from 29 October to 2 November 2012
Spring Term 2013
7 January to 28 March 2013
Half Term from 18 February to 22 February 2013
Summer Term 2013
15 April to 24 July 2013
Half Term from 27 May to 31 May 2013

14 weeks + 11 weeks + 14 weeks = 39 weeks. However some weeks are not complete weeks and there may be additional inset days. So it may actually be 37ish weeks. Lets call it 38 weeks.

38 weeks x 4 days = 152 days x 6 hours = 912 hours
52 weeks - 38 weeks = 14 weeks x 4 days = 56 days x 12 hours = 672 hours
Total working hours per year: 912 + 672 = 1584
Of which nannies statutory holiday: 191.2 hours (12.07% of the working hours)

1584 hours x £11.50 (lets take the middle of the salary range) = £18,216 Employers NI on that would add £1482. So £19698. Then you will have some other expenses on top, such as travel whilst on duty, payroll admin, activities budget for after school & school holidays. So £20-£21k