After nursery care

[mrsvarrier1]

Hi Ladies. I'm due to go back to work full time in february. I'll be working at the hospital in Guildford and commenting from south london. I have enrolled my LO in the nursery adjacent to work. However, due to the nature of my work I will be expected to do frequent late shifts and occasionally overnight shifts. The nursery closes at 7 and late shifts go on until 9:30pm. I had considered alternative childcare options i.e. nannies, childminders etc but this is by far the most cost effective/what we can afford. I just wondered if anyone had any advice as to where to look/who to ask about hiring someone to do after nursery pick up and care on those days when I am unable to pick him up on time? BTW hubby works in London Bridge so he can't come and pick up LO unfortunately. Many thanks in advance ladies.

Hi, sorry I'm not too familiar with the areas but how far away is the nursery to your home? I used to be an after nursery nanny but this was a nursery which was in the same city as the child's home. So a 10 min drive. What do you expect the nanny to do? Pick the child up and take him home? Or bring him to you? I'm sure you will find someone, but may be difficult if the nursery is far from home (and expensive as it will have to be worthwhile someone only working a few hours)
Try childcare.co.uk for nannies :)

Depending on how far from nursery you live, one of the staff may be willing to take your DC home and babysit until you get back. I've done this with our nursery staff (10 min walk home) and I know others have done the same with other nurseries. Nursery staff are notoriously badly paid, so a bit of extra cash can be quite attractive for them.

It is nowhere near where we live. 30 miles away in fact so they would need to take him and I'd pick up after.

Why don't you put your dc in nursery where your husband works/ close to home so that he can drop off and pick up?

Unfortunately you may struggle to find someone to do this. Unless you cover their petrol to and from work. Because the amount they'd spend on petrol/ travelling, wouldn't leave them with much after pay. I'm not really sure what other options you have really. I'm sure someone else will pop along with better advice.

Why not have a childminder/nursery close to home? Your husband could collect your LO on his way home.
I think you will struggle to find somebody to collect from nursery close to work ... it would cost you a bomb in petrol and wages for nanny to come and do it (if you'd find one happy to drive that far) and I never heard of a childminder who'd be happy to take a young (I presume) LO that late in the evening (when she's be sorting her own children's bed time).

Unfortunately my hubby also works shifts and often for 24hrs so wouldn't necessarily even be in the area to pick him up. Also concerned I may not finish and get back into tooting in time to pick him up by nursery closing time as often there can be horrendous traffic on the A3/I may get delayed unexpectedly at work. I'm tearing my hair out at the mo- its so depressing I literally don't know what to do. I can't afford a full time nanny, it would be more than my salary. I'm at a total loss :(

If I'd faced this, I would have strongly considered pooling resources with my mother so that we all lived together, going for a local nursery. I think if there'd been no other option, she might have gone for it, though she would probably have asked me to move jobs so that my work was near her.

Have you looked seriously at a nannyshare? I know employing a nanny is unbelievably expensive but a nannyshare sometimes brings it within some vague reach of affordable.

Alternatively, could you move to Guildford??

I would look into nanny sharing but wouldn't know where to start- any suggestions?

No afraid moving to Guildford isn't an option- my job there is from feb-march to october then they move me elsewhere (haven't said where yet).

Is there any childcare near the hospital that's more flexible? Ours has a nursery on site that accommodates shift patterns

I found a nannyshare advertised in a local newsletter. You could advertise? We also got a nanny via Gumtree who was happy to be in a nannyshare. Be very very careful you have got the salary right (i.e. affordable for you given a quarterly tax bill equivalent of one months' salary) before advertising. Watch out for the nonsense that nanny salaries are often advertised net per hour, as opposed to gross per year like any other job.

TBH I would still consider moving to Guildford. Tricky though if you rent somewhere nice. If you own where you live, obviously easier as you can rent it out. Wonder if your landlord woudl consider a temporary sublet. I know this all sounds a bit crazy but I think every option shoudl be considered.

How is that going to work for overnight shifts, if DH can't collect?

It sounds to me like you need a live in nanny, otherwise your DS will have really disrupted sleep patterns.....

i'd love a live in nanny but I can neither afford it nor do we have space. When I am on nights we will have to hire a local sitter for the morning- afternoon until I've rested/woken up.

The nursery is the hospital one and don't accommodate shifts much. No other nurseries nearby.

I'll have a look on gumtree.

Thank you everyone, really appreciate all your help.

Sounds horrific. Hope you make it through.

I would look for a forum of people doing the same job with a view to more ideas and perhaps shard arrangements.

OP, the other thing I would add, is that if you are only going to be working in Guildford for 6-7 months, it means you would have to transfer your DS with all the wraparound arrangements to a different nursery in October.

IMO you would be better off having the child care local to your home, then you can pay someone to collect DS, take him home and put him to bed.

Otherwise, if you are on an overnight shift, your DS will finish nursery at 7pm in Guildford, you can't collect him until the next day, DH is in London.....I just can't see how the logistics will work out.

Also, if you start setting up arrangements locally, you might be able to use some of them for after school care etc. in due course.

Do you both have to work weekend shifts/on call etc.?

I agree with grumpy squash. Nursery close to home with wrap around care! It's tough I know, but it's better than him being moved every few months and you are more likely to find someone if it's more long term.

Is it financially worth both of you working? If either/both of you earn less than you would pay in childcare, then maybe you either both need to go part time or one of you take a career break. I worked out a while ago that you need to be earning around £100,000 gross to take anything home after paying a nanny.