Childcare advice wanted

[samehaircutfortwentyyears]

Just wondering if anyone can advise me on what my best childcare options will be when I go back to work. I work part time and will need someone to look after my one year old daughter all day from e.g 8-5 and to drop my son off at a school nursery and pick him up and then look after both kids till I get back from work. My son has got a full time place at a school nursery and will be there from 9.15-3.30.

If I go for a childminder would I be expected to pay for the hours when my son is at nursery?
Do childminders ever offer discounts for siblings?
Would I be better off with a nanny (not really sure of the difference to be honest).

We don't have a spare room for an au pair and there is no breakfast / after school club option as my son is going to school nursery not reception etc.

Another option would be to do wraparound care at my son's current private nursery and put my daughter in the same nursery but that would be ££££££££.

Any advice would be appreciated.

hi op, i would think your best bet would be a childminder who can have dd all day and do drop off/pick up for ds. A childminder will not charge you a full day place if ds is at school f/t. They will charge you an after school fee.

I would say, in your situation, you don't really need the expense on a nanny, now that you have one at full time school.

Most cms don't offer sibling dscount but i suppose it depends on area and how much work there is for cms in that area. Where abouts are you?

you would be looking at a full day rate of, for example in London, £60 a day for dd and then to pay by the hour for ds - so 8-9.15 for ds and then 3.30-5....

Hi reetpetit

That's really helpful, thank you. We are in london so yes would be looking at that amount per hour. That seems a lot more reasonable than the £120 per day I thought I might have to pay.

Ok, in London, you are probably looking at around £8 per hour for the morning and after school sessions, so I would say £60 + £8 per hour for ds....

(depends on where in London also - some areas you may find someone who would charge £40-£50 for the hours you need for dd)

I am going to disagree and say that most childminders do charge while children are at nursery. As I understand it your ds is not at full time school yet, he is at a nursery connected to a school. So he would still be taking up one of the childminder's under 5 places. I certainly could not give up one of my full time places for only a few hours pay each day but other childminders may be happy to do this. I assume the schol nursery will not be open during school holidays so the childminder would need to keep the space available. It is best to just call around as we all do things differently.

Thanks mamamaisie

I am a teacher so I wouldn't need childcare in school holidays but happy to negotiate paying full costs for dd / 50 % for DS etc.

and yes it's a nursery attached to a school. DS will be turning 4 in September.

I know that a 4 year old in reception is counted as a 'rising 5' and therefore doesn't count in the under 5 ratios, but I'm not sure about a 4 year old at nursery, even if the nursery is a full-day he may still count as an under 5. I wonder if that's why the afterschool club can't take him?

If he is counted in the ratio as an under 5 you will probably need to pay the full day. If he is a 'rising 5' then you'll probably only need to pay the before/after school rate.

yes, i'm sorry op, i think i misread your original post - if he is not yet 4, i think you will have to pay for the whole day as he will be taking up an under 5's space. so you are looking at around £120 a day unfortunately.

Wow. That's more than I earn.

can you get any tax credits/childcare vouchers?