HELP - childcare when DD starts school......

[mammamic]

Hi

our 4 yr old will be starting school next term and we still don't know how we are going to do the school runs/after school care thing....

my husband works full time and i work 4 full days. we can do the drop off no problem but don't know how working parents manage the 3.15 pm pick up.

are there childcare options out there which accomodate just pick up and 2 hrs for 4 days? where should we start looking? is this seen as 'babysitting'?

we vaguely looking into the CM option but they want a full day's pay for 2 hours only. I understand the issue as they obviously cannot take another child if they have ours for those 2 hours. this is not an option for us as we would not be able to afford this. Our dd is currently at state nursery for am sessions (free) and from midday she is at (heavily subsidised!) nursery at my husband's place of work.

We currently pay £14 per day (4 days) for childcare. we can probably go to £20 per day ie for the 2 hours - will this be enough to find decent solution.

sorry for the overkill on info but I REALLY NEED HELP and advice - how do other families manage....

thanks for any input and advice

ask at the school first as they will probably have an afterschool club

Have you looked into all of the CM'ers in your area because not all of them will charge for a full day for 2 hrs, I don't.

After school club is the other option, most schools do them nowadays.

I sympathise. Some of my working mother friends have given up work for this reason. The trouble with working parents is that after school childcare needs also to cover half terms and holidays.

You could try a specialised agency like

www.afterschoolnannies.com

(I haven't used them)

or advertise on Gumtree (if you are in the right area) - there are some people offering after school service.

What about either a local student (maybe see if the local University has a 'job shop')or seeing if there are any other mothers in a similar position at your daughter's school that you could team up with to share a Nanny.

This is also the sort of part time employment that might appeal to a Nanny with their own child. Will you also need full days in the holidays? Good Luck!

I know many childminder who only charge for the time they have the child, ie 2 hours after school. No way do they charge a full day. You may have to pay for a minimum of say 3 hours at possible £375 an hour, but that's less that you pay now.

You need to phone lots of cm's and then you can make an informed decision.

I'm amazed that your dd start school in a matter of weeks and you are just getting childcare sorted now. You are one chilled parent !

TBH, we mostly only considered primary schools with after-school childcare facilities or links thereto so that is what we now use. We would have researched afterschool childminders if this hadn't been an option.

You may be too late to get a place now if there are afterschool facilities as they can be oversubscribed in some areas and many other parents may have taken up the child minder places already but some childminders do have places for afterschool only, in fact plenty of them do this in my area.

How are you planning on covering the school holidays ?

As a cm, I am not aware of any that would charge for the full day. The only time that would happen is if your dd was taking up an under 5 space, but if she is at school full time them she counts as a 'rising 5' and therefore does not come into the cm's numbers as an under 5 anyway.

I would phone some more cm's and find out. I only charge for the hours I have the children after school.

Or, an afterschool club could be good for you also.

I dont know ANY CM's that would charge all day.

Definately ring round and ask.

Has your school got a website? It may say on there if they have an after school club.

You may struggle though as another poster said if you have left it this late re childcare.

Hi Mammamic, I'm pretty much in the same boat except my existing childcare has fallen through.

I have four children, two of whom are teens and dont need childcare but the eldest will be at college 9 miles away from Sept so not able to help out with childcare sadly or I'd have gladly paid her.

I had been getting free after school childcare from another mum with the same age children but my youngest 5 absolutely hates her 5 year old and there have been some other things I have ben unhappy about but as she was doing it out of the kindness of her heart I really couldn't complain.

So we've come to the conclusion we need someone to pick up from school, bring them home and mind them for 1.5 hours (1 on Fridays) so that's 7 hours in total.

I am being quoted 50-60 pounds a week for this and as its being done in my house, using my electricity/heating etc. Being picked up and taken to an after school club would cost 80 pounds a week. I'm just speechless at the cost. I might as well employ a live-in au-pair who would also do the morning school run and some light housework for the same money.

We;re in a small town, the primary school doesn't have an after school club (I wasn't working full time when I chose it) and I'm just stuck for ideas really. Think the au pair thing might be worth investigating but it means giving up our play room. Hey ho, whoever said going back to full time work after 14 years was gonna be easy?!!

Maternaltouch

You say that your school doesn't have an afterschool club. I think there are government guidelines being rolled out regarding schools having to put into place some sort of wrap around care even if they don't provide it on-site themselves. Perhaps you could research the matter and approach the governors/head teacher.

you may find a nanny willing to do after school care with own child so willing to work shorter hrs and if brining own child may cost you between £6 and £8 net an hr.

i dont think £50/60 a week is bad for childcare every day tbh - yes you only need an hour/90mins a day but for it to be worth someones while, it could cost you a lot more

if it is a small town,maybe another mum could help, but not the one your child dislikes the other child

seems silly to have an AP, if all you need is 7hrs a week, but can understand why you would possibly get one, if you are spending that amount anyway

what would happen in school holidays?

Where abouts are you mammamic?