Childcare for twins or children with small age gap in the early years

[GEW2024]

Calling twin mums or mums of children with small age gap: how do you manage/afford childcare in the early years (before they start school)?

We live in London and both hubby and I work full time (I’m returning to work in a couple of months’ time after mat leave). I am doing budgeting and just can’t figure out how we are going to afford childcare once I returned to work.

So our twins are currently 11 months old and will be going to nursery 3 days a week from next month, and that’s £2.2k pm where we live (same price at a number of nearby nurseries). The new funding scheme saves us about £350 a month which helps but is not much. For the other two days, I’m thinking maybe nanny (grandparents not an option as they live overseas). Based on my research nannies cost about £20/21 per hour for twins and I think we need 10 hrs a day. So that would be £1.8k pm. That is a whopping £4k a month after tax just on childcare!! We earn ok salaries as a household, but if we have to pay £4k a month on childcare, on top of rent, food and other essential expenses we will end up with nothing left! We were hoping to save a deposit for a house as we really need space for our girls.

As mentioned, grandparents are not an option as they live overseas. I don’t want to give up work and be a SAHM because my current employer is amazing - they are very supportive and flexible about WFH and working hours like early finishes (the only thing they cannot accommodate is working part time unfortunately) and job opportunities are very limited in my profession especially for someone returning to the workplace after a long career break.

So back to my original question: how do you manage/afford childcare for twins or children with small age gap in the early years? Will really appreciate any thoughts and love to hear your experience!

Ahh ok depicted very differently in books

Well, in real life I’m sure there are plenty who get exploited into doing a lot more than they should!

Yes think £103. I never did it. Had many friends who did. Payment to me is a nightmare aa she got paid 6 times a month as did a nanny share so both mum and dad from both families claimed and then both paid her the remaining

so she got it in drips and drabs which would annoy me

other friend her family saved the first month and paid whole salary - then used the previous months vouchers to pay nanny so she got paid twice in one day. The vouchers and the remaining salary

Yes think £103. I never did it. Had many friends who did. Payment to me is a nightmare aa she got paid 6 times a month as did a nanny share so both mum and dad from both families claimed and then both paid her the remaining

so she got it in drips and drabs which would annoy me

other friend her family saved the first month and paid whole salary - then used the previous months vouchers to pay nanny so she got paid twice in one day. The vouchers and the remaining salary

Oh god no, sounds like an administration nightmare, I couldn’t cope!

Just to add (I don’t think anyone has mentioned so far) the 30 funded hours is term-time only so if the nursery stretches it across the year it works out as approx 21 hours per week. And you only qualify if both of you earn below the 100k adjusted net income threshold (so after pension contributions). I think this applies to tax- free childcare too. If one of you brings home more than 100k you only qualify for the x15 funded hours (term-time), the term after the child turns 3.(this is available to everyone).

Not really, it's very unusual for a nursery to have a set up where they would have babies and 4 year olds all together. I've lived in several areas and looked at lots of nurseries and never come across this.

Childminders yes, which was my point.

Childminder would probably be cheaper (I am one and offer 24 hours a week totally funded) but I have a waiting list for Sept 26 at the moment - it's not as easy as just saying 'get a childminder!'.

have you actually used a childminder? I don’t know any that schlepped about dragging littles ones around
mine did language lessons, forest school, baking, weekly trips out and encirclement trips to dentists, fire stations, libraries and so on

Ours are 15 months apart so not the same but we had to get a nanny - to start with, my salary was less than what we were paying the nanny but I knew it would increase so we saw it as an investment at the time. It was a ludicrously expensive time of my life and I imagine it is even more expensive now!

I don't know any childminders where this would happen either. Very strange.

It isn’t strange. I see them at school pick ups all the time with small children in the buggy.

You don't know of any childminders who have both babies and 4 year olds?! Bizarre.

No, because I decided I didn't want this. I couldn't find any that didn't do school runs, and the ones I spoke to focused their routine around the toddlers so couldn't guarantee keeping to a baby nap schedule.

I also often see childminders about locally with a baby in a pushchair, while the toddlers play in a playground etc.

My aunt and cousin have been childminders for years (and minded me when I was younger) and always did school runs as well as having younger ones. My aunt would come to pick me up with a double buggy with two little ones and usually an older toddler walking. It's very very common practice for childminders as then they can have more mindees.

If they're doing language lessons etc for the older toddlers or preschoolers then for sure any babies are getting dragged along, they're not going to benefit from it at 11 months so it's not a baby focused activity.

No the childminders that I know don't do school runs. I know around 20 and none do so there are plenty around. Just as there is a lovely variety of nurseries too. We don't need to assume all settings are the same

No but we don’t need to assume that none do do school runs either. I find it hard it hard to believe you know of twenty separate settings and not one of them caters for school aged children.

@GEW2024 why only 3
days in nursery ?

if £2.2 for 3 days that’s £170 a day so be be for 5 days £3.6k

why do both ? As the nanny on say £20g will be £200 a day + employers ni and pension so more then nursery

I don’t have twins, but I have the pre-schoolers close in age.

Does the flex in your job allow you to move out of London, OP? Nursery fees for my eldest were more than my entire salary so we planned our move at that point as we knew we wanted more children more than we wanted London. Obviously, the changes to childcare funding would have helped, but I have just looked at the fees and we would still be paying over 1k per month per child to attend 4 days a week.