Flexible childcare hours

[xlavenderhaze]

I am a teacher and want to go back to work 3 days a week (preferably Mon - Weds). My mum (paramedic) and partner (police officer) can both help with childcare but they work shifts meaning their days are different each week.

E.g. one week I would need no nursery care as they could cover all 3 days but the next week they may need all 3 days in nursery.

How does this work? Do nurseries offer flexible days and hours? Does anyone have any experience with this? I could tell the nursery in advance for the whole year which days I need but they will be different each week.

I'm in the UK

You'll just have to ask at the nurseries local to you. It's rare, because you're taking a space that another child could use every week, but you never know.

Maybe try a childminder they may be more flexible.

It would be unlikely in the childcare settings local to me. They need to make sure they stay in ratio and they would struggle to fill the ad hoc space week by week.

You'll probably have more flexibility with a Childminder.
Can your DP and DM submit a flexible working request asking for at least 1 fixed day off a week? I have a friend who's DH is police officer and has this so she knows he is always off on a Friday to cover childcare.
That way you would only be booking 3 days every week so not so expensive if you're not using all of them.

Not usually, however some days at nursery are usually less popular than others - Monday and Friday usually.
so if you can get your OH to fix say a Wednesday, you could book a regular Tuesday or Thursday and then often get a free Friday or Monday that you can book ad hoc

The only nursery I have ever known to offer this is the one attached to my local hospital. But only for staff at the hospital.

Round me I know of one childminder who would do this - if you would commit to a minimum of one day a week.
None of the nurseries would touch it.

So you want to pay them part payment to keep the spot open for three days for your child, when you know logically no one else can use your gaps because they're so ad hoc?

Pay for the three days and if your DP wants her on days she's in nursery, he can not take her in. Save Mom help for time when you and DP have a chance of time together.

I would expect most nurseries will charge for 51/52 weeks a year even if you don't use it.
If you need childcare I would look soon as my nursery is full in the baby room until January 2025 so some of the babies have yet to be born!

Can you pay for days and just not use them? In that case I'd just book all 3 of the days. My mum wants to do it when she's free.

Yes, you could definitely book for al 3 and let nursery know you won't be in on certain days.

But, the suggestion to see if your partner can e.g. have permanent Wednesdays off is a good one. Then you'd only need 2 days.

I’m in a similar position and just had to pay for the 3 days and not send them in on days that weren’t needed. It’s a bit galling though to pay that money and not send them in so in actual fact they do normally go to nursery and that day is used for other jobs that never seem to get done.

I heard a friend mentioning a nursery who is doing a trial run on a system like this but it was much more expensive and didn't work as it was more like pay as you go. I would say it's rare at least where I live (mid sized city in England). You may have more luck if you live in a bigger place?

Agree with everyone else.
It would be very unlikely a Nursery could facilitate this.
Quite unlikely a CMer would, although, as they are self employed, there might be someone, who for whatever personal circumstances, might.

Yes, you can pay for 3 days a week and then let them know they won't be in one day, but it would probably hurt a bit to not use what you are paying for.

(Your partner isn’t “helping” with childcare. He’s caring for his child)

Our nursery way back in the dark ages offered flexible days for shift workers. They needed rotas a week ahead.

Some do. The nursery we sent our son to does - it has to be booked by Tuesday the previous week.
If you are in the Bournemouth area, look at Tops Day Nurseries (we were very happy with them)

Yes, you can do that. It’ll probably wipe out most of your salary though.

A nursery or childminder might do term time only for you. Term time only saves a good amount of money and don't forget to sign up for tax free childcare.
If you had term time even if your off family could help you have some free time/ do stuff together or catch up with school stuff.

I had identical, I was a teacher DH was a paramedic and annoyingly I worked wed-fri which 1 week was his days on and 1 week his rest days. We had no choice but to book childcare wed-fri and half the time paid and sent him in while DH was at home. One nursery did offer flexible but we really disliked it!

Can I ask why you didn't like the flexible hours?

She means they didn't like that nursery.

Yeah sorry i meant we didn't like the nursery! We decided we'd pay the extra to know we made a choice we were happy with.

The nursery my DC attended would accommodate shifts with 6 weeks notice. Ie: you booked a place for x many days a week, and every 6 weeks had to confirm which dates you wanted. They were a few farming families too, who booked extra time in spring and summer.

As a result there were loads of children of doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, fire and rescue etc, and they had great "careers days".

Posted too soon -

... So have you tried asking your preferred nursery? Or could you mum and partner ask their colleagues with small children what they do for childcare?