Older child and younger child options

[fairlyaverage]

I have 2 children, aged 11 months and 4. Both at nursery 4 full days while I work. Question is, son of 4 starts school next September. Would it be good to take daughter of 11 months out of full day nursery (8-6 all year except xmas etc) and put her in attached school nursery ? So they keep the same hours and I collect them both from the same place? What are the pros and cons?

What would be the plan for school holidays? Presuming school nursery keeps to term time only.

Appreciate on hols I would have 2 kids to care for. So that is a drawback. No family around. Would be a mixture of annual leave and childminder.

You'd have to make sure you found a CM with hol only spaces - almost worth starting your search immediately.

Would a childminder do sporadic weeks throughout the year holiday time only? (I wouldn’t)

What are you doing for before/ after school care?

Personally would keep younger child where they are, and then arrange holiday care for the older child.

Thanks, I appreciate I'm a little ignorant as to what childminders offer. So holiday care may mean some sort of play scheme?

Of you cost it up you might find a nanny the same price.
If you use money from nursery fees.. Then you'd get all year bar annual leave child care. Plus factor in days when kids off school /nursery sick that you have to take off work etc etc.
Or if your house big enough an au pair?

Re before and after school care. That's the other thing I'm not sure of. I wfh some days. I was thinking breakfast and after school club or childminder drop off and pick up or mix of both. I was thinking son maybe happier getting out of school into more relaxing home environment so maybe childminder pick up etc better. No idea how children like or settle into clubs.

IS the school nursery set up to take such a young child? IME they tend to be more for DC that are coming up to school age.
If the nursery has a range of ages, I'd move her just to make things logistically easy for you. Otherwise, I'd keep her where she is until she is in the year before school, and then move her.

Holiday care can be anything from a summer scheme to add on care at your little one’s nursery (some places offer this on holidays only) or a childminder. It’s nearly always cheaper to do it for one child than two.

Yes my nursery offers pick up, drop off and holiday care for 5-8 year olds so that is an option. I am inclined to leave youngest at nursery. She is getting on well there and makes arranging holiday care for older one a bit easier.