Can’t get baby into childcare until they are 15 months - how do I return to work?

[Prickled]

We are not using a nursery as I don’t like the idea of them for babies, having worked in many myself.

We are on several childminder waiting lists. One has space when our child will be 12 months but they are further afield and not our preference. Our first choice doesn’t have space until they will be 15 months old.

I am still pregnant, I will add!

How do I return to work in this situation? I only wanted 9-10 months off because that was what we thought we could afford, rather than having to go onto unpaid mat leave. I can work from home in my role and it is quite family friendly, and do have relatives to call upon if needed but it’s a huge ask, isn’t it, to have them for 6 months!

You go back to work when you planned and choose the available childminder, but before you do so, you check what the termination terms are. Once a space becomes available elsewhere, you terminate accordingly and move your DC to the preferred childminder. Alternatively, you or your partner do phased return for 3 months if your preferred childminder can do part of the week, for example.

Don't forget you'll accrue annual leave during your maternity leave so you could use all your accrued leave at the beginning of your return and maybe squeeze another couple of months at home.

You obviously won't be able to WFH and have your DC with you, btw, get that idea out of your head - it will not work.

You can also liaise with your local Council to find alternative childminders or consider using more than one, or find a playgroup or a nanny if they agree to help for a few months.

From your post, it sounds as though you're considering WFH whilst looking after your baby. If so, don't even consider it. It's not workable.

As others have said, take the available childminder and switch to your preferred one when you can

You put your baby in nursery or with the childminder that has space and then you move them as and when there is a space for you.

I'm your shoes I'd see if I could stretch the budget, take the full 12 months, & then use your annual leave to cover most of the remaining time - you'll accrue your full annual allowance on mat leave.
Don't forget you can take up to 10 paid KIT days - this helped me a lot in the unpaid period (you'll get the most benefit of you take it then).
Are you going back full-time or part-time? If you are going back part, your accrued annual leave will stretch even further (as it will be accrued at your current rate).

You use the childcare that has availability. If the childminder you like doesn't have any availability then unfortunately you can't use her unless you wish to try and settle your child and then move them. You absolutely can't have your child at home with you whilst working.

It’s bad form to place your child with a childminder while you wait for another childcare setting to become available, unless you have told them.

I have had parents do this to me and it is very upsetting. A childminder is not like a mechanic you are taking your car to, We take the time to get to know your child and your family, we nurture and teach your child with the general expectation that that child will be with us for some time. It takes time and energy and emotions to settle a child and then you drop the childminder because something ‘better’ came along.

Remember that things can change quickly in childcare, spaces can become available quickly due to changes in the circumstances of the children we care for.

Keep looking, make sure your childcare.co.uk profile clearly states when you are going back to work and when you want your childcare to begin. Some of the childminders where I live will not entertain a family looking for childcare so early, definitely not while the mum is still pregnant and not returning to work for 9mnths.

There is still plenty of time.

You can use a combination of your annual leave, your DH's annual leave and a short-term nanny (look for one who is Ofsted registered so you can use tax-free childcare). Plus family help if anyone is available and willing to have them one or two set days a week.

We have family help so id be working from the family members house who would look after our child. Should have said that!

waiting lists change A LOT. get on the lists now and there is a good chance that another child at 'best childminder' will have moved away or gone somewhere else and a place will come up sooner.

I think you need to continue looking for childcare options. Working at a family member's house while they look after your baby is a huge ask for your family but also going to be very difficult for you. What if baby screams for you and won't settle while you're trying to work? I know parents who have tried similar and it did not go well, and they were told that they either needed to drop baby off at the relative's house and then return home to work, or come into the office to work, as the set up wasn't working.

Couldn't agree more. I did that for 2 weeks when we were travelling and staying in my mum's house and it was a proper nightmare. Incredibly stressful and distracting. Couldn't get a bigger piece of work done as there was always "something" with my DS that required my attention. Although my mum was looking after him. It's good for a couple of days, a week max.

Yeah , this won’t work.

DH has managed to do it, when DS has been in the 48 hour period after sickness but hasn’t actually been too unwell. He’s done to his parents and WFH there and his parents looked after DS. So it’s not ideal but can be done.

Agree. Drop the baby off and go and work from home/office/a cafe. Much easier for you, the person looking after the child and most importantly the baby.

I speak as someone who has worked from home with a high needs 3 month old. It wasn't ideal, and only worked because I was severely underworked at the time, AND because he would nap 3x a day for 2-3 hours each time (he didnt sleep overnight). He was in nursery part time from 5 months and essentially full time (4 days, compressed hours) from 9 months. I could not have worked my then easy job with a 1 yo at home.

Now I have my second baby (2 next week) I couldn't work from home with someone else caring for her here either. She's my shadow, possibly as she's still breastfed.

We managed a couple of months with a 1yo during lockdown 1, and we manage during frequent sickness. Probably only because we can catch up evenings and weekends as needed, we both have flexible employers who care only that the work is done. It is absolutely not a permanent solution, no matter how chilled the child (our second is an 'easy' happy child).

It's manageable short term, and employers understand for situations like sickness, but it won't be feasible for 6 months and most employers would not be happy with that set up for 6 months