Childcare advice - dont know what to do!

[aw1004]

Good evening all,

Apologies for asking for help straight off the bat, but hubbie and I are in a real pickle wrt childcare and really could do with some sensible advice! We have 2 boys - eldest nearly 4 and 6 month old baby.

Until about 2 weeks ago i was at home on maternity leave so childcare was not an issue. Knowing i was due to return to work and still had no place for number 2 at workplace creche, we enlisted MIL to stay with us and primarily take care of baby, and hired a live out nanny (no formal contract) to deal with number 1 (MIL is a bit old and cant deal with my energetic preschooler, or walk him to and from school!) This was working fine so i felt confident to return to work, but now my nanny has some personal issues and has let us down completely. Hubbie and I have scraped together temporary arrangements for this week but there is still 9 weeks of term left! From Sept will be much easier as number 1 starts reception so will be full time and we can take to breakfast and after school clubs, and number 2 should hopefully definitely have a place at creche, but what do we do in the meantime? Another nanny? Childminder? Au pair?

Number 1 was in full time daycare until last July, in the 2 months before i was on maternity and before he started half day nursery, we hired a temporary nanny who was a friend of a friend (as we are terrified of the horror stories in the papers) as i thought sending him somewhere new for a short amount of time would psychologically affect him, so best to keep him at home. But I am very worried about the impact of another temporary nanny on him, as this must be very unsettling, especially with mum not at home anymore either and a new sibling to compete for attention. Also, MIL is leaving at the end of July so if we still have no place at creche we will have no childcare for either of them. We have steered away from au pairs in the past as we didnt feel comfortable with a stranger in the house, but our success with nannies hasnt proved more stable so i wonder if we need to just get over it and find one (to take care of number 1, and we will have to send number 2 to private daycare). Can anyone advise on what the best solution would be for our situation? If we were to go for an au pair, how do you even start to look?

Sorry for the long winded plea for help. But i am so upset for my boys to put them through this. If i could afford to stay at home i would - its not like i can concentrate at work at the mo anyway!

Thanks in advance,

What country are you in? May help to know that, should you need any info regarding legislation that may apply.

Nurseries (think you may be calling those Full Daycare) can often have facility to take children at short notice and for short periods of time. Do you have any local nurseries who run at times suitable for you - thus enabling you to put both boys in the same nursery. Visit them, check what notice period they need for ending agreement - as your childcare need changes in September.

In September will DS1 really want to go to Breakfast Club and Afterschool Club having done a day at school. Will he even be in school full-time at first?

Maybe for September look for a childminder who could take DS2 all day, plus DS1 before/after school and school holidays. MIL could then help cover ad-hoc days that crop up, such as if the childminder is on holiday, or a child is ill.

Sorry how American of me! I am in the UK, so yes, by daycare i mean nurseries.

Thank you Nick for the advice. I hadnt even thought about childminders as a potential option. Lots to consider - you are right, DS1 will probably hate me for sending him to both breakfast and after school club as well as all day at school.

Lots to consider. May hassle you a little later when i have sought some clarity if thats ok?

If your near to staines, middx. I currently have vacancies as a cm. I hope you can sort it out.

IME a good CM is the best solution for that tricky period when you have one at school and one that is not. It means that you only have one drop off and one pick up to do and makes life immeasurably simpler. So if you can find one now it will be the best long term solution.

But the problem is that finding a good CM with two spaces at short notice can be tricky. IME most spaces at good CMs get filled via word of mouth. Do you know any parents at DS1's new school that you can ask about CMs that do the school run for that school? Just start asking everyone you know if they know any good CMs that have spaces now or are likely to have spaces in September.

Phone your local Early Years and Childcare service and ask to speak to one of their Early Years advisors. They will be able to put you in touch with the coordinators of any local childminding networks who should be able to phone round their members and see if anyone can take them on a temporary basis.

Network childminders work to a higher standard than required by Ofsted and are visited often so you needn't worry so much about the horror stories.