Absolutely clueless new mother - daft questions about childminders

[nettiehay]

I am due to have my first child in June and am planning on taking 6 months off work, before returning full time. My DP may be able to work from home 1 day per week, but it is likely that we will need a childminder for 5 days a week, from 8am to 6pm (luckily I work normal 9-5 days). Here are my daft questions:

How much should I be budgetting for this? I have no idea what the going rate is for a child minder and am wondering what amount of my earnings will go on child care.
When should I start looking?
Should I be looking at other forms of child care for a 6 month old, or is this the most appropriate?
How do those child care vouchers work (my work is currently looking at joining a scheme) - do I pay the child minder with these vouchers or are they like tax relief?

Thanks heaps for any responses - as justification for my daft questions, I'd like to mention that I'm Australian and have no idea what I am doing as a first time mum!

Thx

If you go to www.childcarelink.gov.uk/ you can look up nurseries/childminders in your area and get an idea what they are charging. You can start looking now but I like to see the parents after their baby is born, as they might not know how they feel after baby is here.

I am no expert on what care is best per age and believe me there is a big debate about this. You just need to decide what option is best for you, a c/m in their house, a nursery, or a nanny in your own home is probably the most popular.

Vouchers are great, they take tax free earnings and turn into vouchers that approved nannies and c/m can use toward fees. There is a certain capped amount you can put toward it but it does help!

Not quite sure how being Australian makes you anymore clueless than the next new mum, but hey ho!

Personally, and it isn't because I'm a childminder, but I do feel that cm's are much better for under 3's. Personally, I think that for the parents, especially the mum, they are much happier knowing that their new baby is being taken care of in a family setting, as close to their own as possible iyswim.

I don't know much, anything actually, about childcare vouchers. Its never come up with any of mine! The hours that you are after, are pretty much standard hours, so as long as a minder has space, you shouldn't have any problems. Do start looking around now, as Crace said, just to get a feel of things in your area and take one stressful thought out of your mind until after the baby is born. Good luck!

who said australin mo??

best to look for a childcare provider once the baby is born, childminders are a great opp for a new baby

as crace said you are best to look at what is being charged in your area as different areas charge different fees

i love childcare vouchers they are so much easier, they mean you dont pay tax on your childcare

oh just seen the australian bit

I am a CM and get paid via a voucher company. Basically the parent gets £xx per month taken out of their salary before tx, it passes to voucher company and then after I do invoice for the parent they tell the voucher co to pay me (online) and I get the money in my account a few days later with any shortfall paid by cheque. I know some cms who receive actual paper vouchers that they have to phone up to 'redeem'.

The childcarelink website may not say costs, you might have to phone up a few cms in your area to find that out. Depends where you live! London is £5 plus an hour I think, other places less (I'm in Herts and charge £4 ph plus outings and cooked meals).

Being biased (as I am a cm) I'd say cm over nursery but then it's very much a personal decision. Visit both and you'll get a feel for which suits you better.

Good luck!

Keep up DMO! You scanned the thread didn't you?

im a nursery nurse and have worked in various settings ....i too would opt for a childminder especially with a young baby.

IMO, for what it's worth, I would say that childminder is probably the best option for a child under 3. My own dd went to nursery from 8 months and although she got on well there, I would have sent her to a childminder if I had known more about them etc.
I am now a cm myself and I think that for under 3's, especially young babies, it is nice for them to be in a home setting with less people around than in a nursery.

no i really read it but cant see for looking must have had a bad week

Thanks for your help ladies - will begin to investigate rough costs now as we are trying to figure out finances once Bug arrives. Once he/she is here we will do proper searching, as I think the cm should meet the child as well as the parents!

I am swaying towards a cm rather than a nursery at the moment as they just seem to be the better option for the child, with more attention in a family-type atmosphere.

Thanks Maureen for the comment on clueless mums that aren't Australian. I feel a little left behind other new mums at the moment, because I don't understand the whole childcare/schooling situation (schooling in Oz seemed a lot simpler - you go to your local school unless you can afford a private school!)

nettiehay, are you in London or outside? Your local council should be able to give you a list of registered childminders in your area. I intended to phone up some which looked worth following up but started off by emailing a few who had email addresses with some questions and had 3 responses with places (my baby was born but this was Sept/Oct and I was looking for March this year). One was too far and had high rates, others were close. Rates vary from £30 a day to over £50, I decided the maximum I could afford was £35 (about half my take home pay). I met two minders who were charging £140 and £200 a week, and I went with the first - money was a consideration but not the only one, and I think I would have had to ring round and visit more if I'd not liked her.

Childcare vouchers - if your employer uses the scheme - and don't forget to find out if there's a possibility of dh or dp using the scheme if available with his employer too - you can get up to £55 a week (£243 a month) taken out of your salary and paid in vouchers before tax and NI. As this is salary sacrifice it could affect your pension if you have a company pension or future maternity pay, as these can be calculated on a salary which has been reduced by £243 a month. I'm intending to get them but have decided it's too hard to sort out until I actually get back to the office, as I'm concerned about what happens if I do get to have another baby.

Just to say i have just tried that link from crace-brilliant!! found a childminder within mins who could pick up my children from school and take my little one to nursery!! now all i have to do is get my dithering bosses to finalise what my hours will be when i return to work...

i am NOT a new mum or australian and it all baffles me, good luck with new babe and your work !

Elkiedee - thanks for that info - it's really helpful. I did just want a general idea, although I know that prices will vary greatly as I live inbetween Richmond and Kingston in Surrey (so 2 very different areas in terms of affluency!).

Hi
I found my childminder using the Opportunity Links website and she is a godsend. I started looking when my dd1 was 3 months. Originally I wanted a nursey but I couldn't get a nursery place in my area (I would have had to put my name down for a place before I had even conceived!!). Now, I wouldn't change her for the world. My dds are 4 and 2, and they adore her and her family (she has teenagers of her own). She takes them to playschool, so they have the social interactions there. Also, she looks after children ranging in age from babies to 14 years, so my LOs get to interact with others outwith their own age group (which doesn't always happen in a nursery). I am expecting my third baby in July, and I have already booked the place with the CM. My CM will take DD1 to school too, so she will have continuity of care all the way from 8 months old on.
Can you tell I love my CM too?

PS I think she's probably cheaper than a nursery place too, but that doesn't factor so much with me - knowing my children are happy, loved and well-cared for while I get to work is worth more than money.

Poledra, that's good for you, but some daily childcare costs exceed many women's take home pay. £80 isn't that unusual in noth London for a private nursery, but it's more than I get paid even before the cost of the journey to work.

Those of us who have to factor money into our childcare choice don't love our babies any less.

Elkiedee, that isn't the message I was trying to give and I'm sorry if it read that way. I do have to factor money into my childcare, but the difference isn't that great between the nursery and childminder here (my DH's work subsidises nursery).

With childminders, as with any other form of childcare, you must listen extremely closely to your instincts. This is not so much about child safety, but about what you can stand. If you find yourself intimidated by the cm, or dislike something about them, but think that because s/he is a professional s/he must know better, forget it.

Vouchers: do you work for a large firm who want to offer this to many employees, or a small company who are setting this up for you? As far as I can tell, there is no actual need for an intermediary voucher company at all, although it's easier for you. What happens is that you get your payroll dept to deduct the amount you want from your salary (maximum was £273 a month the last time I did it, but it changes). This appears on your payslip as a salary sacrifice, i.e. reduction in your pay before tax, theere's a box for it on the slip, and obviously it comes off the total! The childcare provider then invoices your work, and your work pays the invoice with the money they have withheld from you.

Don't forget that you and dh can both sacrifice anything up to the maximum amount s
from your salaries in the same way, so that you can jointly pay up to £546 a month like this.

Your childcarer must be Ofsted registered to get paid via this scheme, but all childminders are, this is only an issue if you decide to go for a nanny or nannyshare instead (don't rule a nannyshare out, it can be great, esp if you don't find a childminder you really like).

So I don't really see why your childminder shouldn't be able to just invoice your employers directly, eliminating the need to pay the voucher company their whack. But the childminder may or may not be happy to do this, and I never quite managed to set this up myself, i always did it via a company. The person to get on your side is the management accountant or the payroll person as they have to sort it out. The employer saves money on the employers' natioanl insurance side, so it shouldn't cost them much if anything.

choosyfloosy, good advice, but the maximum amount is £243 per parent. I have 10 vouchers paid to me a month as both parents claim for each child the max they get is £486

Thanks for the advice re: childcare vouchers. The company is looking at bringing them in for all staff, however, they seem to be dragging their feet. Luckily I work in HR so know the payroll people quite well, so will try to do it without the intermediary company if they don't pull their fingers out. I will also get DP to investigate at his work as that would also be really beneficial.
I knew I could rely on the all-knowing mumsnetters!

I would consider very carefully whether you use a cm or a nursery. A cm can have lots of children up to Ofsted ratios especially if they do after school care for the older ones. A nursery can only have 3 babies per adult and then 4 once they get over 2, then 8 once they get over 3.

I used a nursery until my son went to school and now a childminder for some wrap-around care. She's a wonderful lady - but her house is far too chaotic for a baby. Baby rooms in nurseries are quite calm places - assuming the nursery is a good one.

My dilemma would be between 1 and 2. Over 2 - childminder or nursery - or a mix. Under 1 - nursery.

Inbetween - I really don't know. It is a dificult age and I don't know if my son was that keen on it at the time. Of course he can't remember it now and he loved nursery from 2ish onwards - I did feel though that between 1 and 2 he could have done with more 1 on 1 attention. This is all with hindsight and what's good for one child may not be good for another and vice versa. No child is the same, childminders are different and so are nurseries.

I guess if I had my time again, I would stay at home until 1, between 1 and 2 years old I would look for a childminder with only a couple of kids and over 2 use a preschool/nursery some of the time. If you can afford a nanny well that gives you another option.

hellywobs and others, a sole childminder can only have one under 1 and 3 under 3s and generally ratios per person are lower than those you give for a nursery. Childminders are also inspected and I've been shown or told of examples of their comments which include the suitability of the home for babies (and my cm has a much more baby friendly front room than our home!)