Childcare options in London

[EllaWt]

Hello Everyone
We are expecting a baby in a few months and we were very naive to think we'd have time to think about childcare options but apparently we need to start looking now !

This is our first and we're not from the UK so this all looks like a complicated minefield for us.
I plan to return to work after approximately 6 months and was shocked to learn that a nursery would set us back upwards of £2k/month...

Nannies don't look much better either price wise.

I am starting to look into childminders but we live in central London and they don't seem to be around us much...

To all the London mamas out there... what are you doing for childcare ? How did you decide on which options are best ? Is there a way to have a good childcare a price tag that just seems outrageous (stressing here that we are french so maybe that's why we are so shocked at the prices)

No one should be using an au pair as sole childcare for a baby! It's not what the job is, and tbh I find it quite hard to imagine how you could think it was ok to leave your baby with a random unqualified student who you're paying in room and board.

Anyway..

Have you factored in tax free childcare? It helps quite a lot, though there is an upper limit on the proportion that you can claim the 20% on.

Is compressing hours for one or both of you an option? If you can work 5 days over 4 that's a big saving on nursery with no drop in salary - if you can both do it that's all the better.

But ultimately, yes, it costs a lot more than French childcare and I don't think you'll find a way to change that. If it costs more than you earn (not an unusual situation) then it may make financial sense to go part-time.

We share a nanny. Nanny care at half the cost. But otherwise, yes, people use one of the options you already know about. They use a nursery, a nanny, or a childminder, and/or they compress hours or reduce days, or if they're very lucky they get help from family.

And yes you can't just use an au pair as a cheap nanny substitute. Au pairs are intended to be wraparound care for school age children and are usually attending college/language classes during the school day. If you want a nanny be prepared to pay for one.

Have you gone on your local Facebook group and posted to say you are looking for a childminder? Or the local council is supposed to have a register of childminders with vacancies.

I think an au pair is more suitable for a young ( maybe 3 - 10 year old child ) personally I would not have done that for a baby because they - au pairs - are not trained as a nanny would be & that is just how it is. An au pair is cheaper but as well as bed and board I think you have to give them a weekly allowance so as I recall a long time ago about £80 - £100 a week and also time off to pursue studies.

I think ( well long time ago but my experience ) either nursery or nanny ( either live in or live out ) & yes it is expensive but it is what many I knew did

Nurseries are properly scrutinised and also a good Nanny - you can interview and references etc. ( May be a Nanny share if you can find another family you trust would lower the cost ? )

It isn't cheap but I do not think ( unless you have relatives who are happy to do childcare ) there is a safe and cheap option if you want to be both at work.

If there is a magic answer - then I stand corrected.

I use a childminder £65 a day for 50 wks of the yr. She's fantastic however I don't work f/t & have parents around the corner who also can help. Found her through word of mouth & contacted her about 1 yr before I was due back at work.

Friends use nanny shares or nursery.

Ha ha crossposted with @Lisasimpsonsbff & @Hauntedgoatfart - re suitability of au pair for very small & young babies - sorry - my typing is abysmal.

Depending on your income you may be entitled to help, some funding kicks in at 2.

You can get the tax free childcare if earning under 100k and the term after they turn 3 15 or 30 hours "free".

[quote sleepismysuperpower1]@LisaSimpsonsbff I should have mentioned that you can use the website to find a nanny, and that you can filter by those who have qualifications etc, sorry I didn't make it more clear![/quote]
Whatever their qualifications, it is inappropriate to use an au pair for FT care. As you yourself observed, they are generally students who are studying during the day.

You can use an AP to do wraparound care and evening babysitting on top of nursery with a child of 2 or so, but an AP is not appropriate all-day care for a baby, and to propose to pay only room and board for FT care is incredibly unethical.

Can I just add, it wasn't me that used the nanny/au pair service, it was a close friend (I don't live in London). However, the nanny she had was lovely, had lots of qualifications and met the parents beforehand several times.
I understand it isn't everyone's cup of tea though! Sorry for any confusion x

[quote sleepismysuperpower1]@HauntedGoatFart I wasn't proposing you use an AP for fulltime childcare. the website also offers nannies.[/quote]
Fair enough, but in that case your post was rather confusing, as you seemed to be suggesting the OP use an au pair instead of a nanny, childminder or nursery, rather than as a supplement to them, and tbh for a baby an AP is not really appropriate even for wraparound. They should also receive pocket money weekly on top of room and board - they aren't slaves.

A lot of people appear to think that they can get an unqualified teenager from abroad to do a nanny job and this idea needs to be challenged whenever it appears. If you want sole charge care of an infant, you need to pay nanny rates which are from £10ph net.

Our nursery is £70 a day 7.30am-6pm and there’s a discount for a 5 day wk. Remember free hours kick in the term after they turn 3 too.

@HauntedGoatFart I apologize again for the confusion, I should have been clearer. You are right about the pocket money also, if you see my original post I said some of them don't require payment, so there are students who will be working for a fee in addition to lodging and meals.

@sleepismysuperpower1 - not providing pocket money to someone who was providing childcare for you would be illegal in the U.K. it’s (rightly) covered in the anti-slavery act..,,,

Thank you everyone , childcare is so overwhelming.... @HauntedGoatFart how did you find a nanny share?

@EllaWt we've nanny-shared for 5+ years and have found families through posting on local Facebook groups or community forums, flyering the local area, and through childcare.co.uk (very annoyingly, you have to pay for Premium to message other parents) and korukids.co.uk. The tricky part is finding another family, then you can hire a nanny together, or sometimes a family will already have a nanny and just want a new partner to the share.

@HauntedGoatFart thank you... it does sound tricky... i will look at facebook but I haven't found anything close to where we are ... i guess living in central central london isn't very baby friendly!

There are plenty of babies in central London and nannies are common enough that Nannyshare is very doable. I think it would be much harder in a less urban area tbh. Many people don't know Nannyshare is a thing which is a shame, as it can work wonderfully. If you are interested it's worth a try - nannies themselves are easy to find in London.

@underneaththeash I never suggested you wouldn't provide pocket money. I just said that you would pay them in lodging and meals rather than a full salary, but of course you are free to provide pocket money etc. Some students also ask for payment, as I said before.

@sleepismysuperpower1 that is exactly what has been made illegal you cannot provide board and lodgings in lieu of payment.

@underneaththeash I wasn't aware of this, again, it wasn't me who used the service and my friend's nanny was paid weekly, with the addition of pocket money on top.

I'm going to ask for my posts to be removed since obviously the suggestion wasn't a popular one, which is fair enough. :)

I have asked for my posts to be removed. I am sorry for the confusion, I obviously phrased my original post in a way that was misleading/confusing. Sorry for derailing the thread slightly, OP!

all the best :)