Childcare local to Swiss Cottage tube station?

[Redsharks]

Hi,

Any help gratefully received here... I am returning to study in London and so will be commuting approx 1.5/2 hours to do so with my 1 year old joining for the commute (logistics/ timings make this the best idea). I will be studying nearby Swiss Cottage tube station and so am looking for childcare nearby for my 1 year old. Anyone local that could offer any suggestions? Google maps looked limiting and I wanted to contact some nurseries/ childminders before heading up with my DD to look at them in the coming weeks.

Thanks Mumsnet!

This seems to be the closest which takes babies
www.hampsteadbabycare.com/.

What time does your course start - trying to negotiate the tube with a pram in rush hour is going to be a nightmare. I suspect you're either not going to get on, or have a screaming child!

Camden council childcare search www.camden.gov.uk/find-childcare
You can search by location.

That’s not sustainable- how will a 2 year old cope with a 2hr commute regularly? I’d really rethink this plan!

You need childcare near home- how will you get a vomiting or feverish child home quickly? You can’t expect them to commute ill. Believe me they are ill a huge amount once in childcare! Don’t do it.

The course is 10-5. It's not ideal, I am however almost finished with studying after 9 long years so I am really trying to make this work.

Thank you for the link- I'll have a look. The tube with DD isn't something I am feeling excited about🫣 our train journey is an hour & then hopefully we'll just get used to the Waterloo to Swiss Cottage together (she says through rose tinted glasses!).

Gosh that feels like a slog with a little one! Would it be worth looking at a stop on the train to see if there is anything near? Somewhere like Clapham Junction or Vauxhall where you could jump off and back on?

You need to do the journey OP at the time you want to arrive.
working backwards - to arrive at 10am, you need to arrive at the nursery I mentioned at 9.40am (latest), so you’ll need to arrive at Swiss Cottage at 9.25am. It’s a 15 minutes tube journey (but you’ll not get on the first tube at that time and it’s a weird tube station with a buggy; the platform/train gap is really large so you’ll get to get someone nice to help you. So latest you can get to Waterloo is 8.55. If it’s an hour train journey, that’s 7.55 to get on the train ;if there’s one at that time) - and you’ve got to get to the station….

you’re better finding a childminder/nursery near your train station.

Thanks everyone.. have been thinking about this again today. I can't get back to DD if I leave her at my station an hour away quick enough if she needs me, hence why I wanted her in London with me. I'll keep thinking on it. Thanks again!

Look for a childminder on www.childcare.co.uK maybe and you can search by postcode

Op I have been in a strikingly similar situation. People will tell you it isn't workable. It is if it is for a defined period.

This place: www.brighthorizons.co.uk/our-nurseries/st-johns-wood-nursery-and-preschool

Is just round the corner from Swiss Cottage tube and would suit your needs well I commuted with a pushchair every day on the jubilee line and honestly it was fine.

Good luck

Im sorry to repeat everyone above, but as someone who does a 2hr train journey each way fairly regularly with a toddler (once a month - ive been doing it since she was 8weeks to visit grandparents), i would really reconsider this. Would you have to do it every day? I couldn't imagine anything worse, and when you have a tired, crabby 1yr old after a long day in childcare, you will just want to get home.

A 7am-7pm nursery or childminder near your home instead. If you make your circumstances clear to the childcare provider, they will understand that you cannot come immediately if DD is eg. unwell. My nursery knows it takes one of us 90mins to get back on one day of the week because we both happen to work on opposite sides of London that day. They make it work for us.

Do NOT take a 1 year old Waterloo to Swiss Cottage during rush hour. Honestly it’ll be hell. Plus childcare will be so much more expensive. Just find a decent childminder or surely a nursery has other commuter parents??

Meh. It's honestly fine. I did it for a year with no problem.

I think it might be ok if your toddler is willing to be carried in a sling rather than using a pushchair. How many times per week would it be? How long for?