Childcare Bubble

[whatatool]

The wording around childcare bubbles is confusing me, particularly where it states exclusivity.
Does this mean that Grandparents can only be in 1 childcare bubble and effectively choose which set of grandchildren to care for?
Must we choose which set of grandparents to form a bubble with and only allow them to care for our kids?
Help?!

The wording on the .gov website is:

For any given childcare bubble, this must always be between the same 2 households

I don't think you can have more than one childcare bubble as it would defeat the point of a bubble.

Surely this is going to cause massive issues for people. Luckily I’m still on mat leave but when I return DS’s childcare will be split equally between both grand. Neither is able to provide full time.

It’s too late to get a nursery place around here and childminders are like unicorns. So either I’ll be breaking the rules or being forced to quit my job 👍🏻

This is driving me crazy as I agree that grandparents are going to have to choose one set of grandchildren but my in laws are refusing to accept this and say that it does not specifically say you can't look after one set of grandchildren on one day and another set on a different day. I've tried sending them the screenshot of the gov website where it says as above "must always be the same 2 households " but they are adamant I'm wrong. Is there anything anyone has found which will prove me right on this that I can send to them so it doesn't look like we are just being the bad guys and not letting them see our daughter?

I'm not following this rule. I don't have one person that can do regular childcare, I have to use various family members on an ad hoc basis when they have days off work.

I agree I'm not following it either. It's unworkable for some people. We need both sets of grandparents otherwise we can't work. Nursery are limiting children because of bubble sizes and no after school clubs for school children. It's totally unworkable.

unworkable here too.

It's not workable for us either. My parents and my in laws split the childcare, we only actually need 2 or 3 days a week, sometimes nights. We only see them and they only see us. Not exactly the definition of bubble but it's the only way we can do it.

Quite a few local government websites have the wording:

A childcare bubble is where someone in one household can provide informal (i.e. unpaid and unregistered) childcare to a child aged 13 or under in another household. This must occur on an exclusive basis - always the same two households. or similar, which is much clearer and less ambiguous than the description on the central government website.

E.g.
www.bolton.gov.uk/coronavirus-support-1/local-restrictions-can-cannot/3?documentId=648&categoryId=20119
www.oldham.gov.uk/info/201170/coronavirus/2604/support_and_childcare_bubbles

@Totallyaddictedtoshoes

Assuming you are in a tier 2 area or above- this is the legislation regarding childcare bubbles and makes it very clear- so you don’t have to be the bad guys!

As of today I’m a criminal. I have to use 3 different people as childcare. It’s that or quit as you don’t get furloughed for childcare issues. And as I have a 6 month notice period that wouldn’t really work either!

Thanks @Hardbackwriter and @Ibizababyy. We knew we were right and felt really awkward. I know they don't want to have to choose ☹️

It is definitely a unchanging bubble of 2, difficult but yes, you have to choose.
My parents used to have mine every week day just to walk to school and 1/2 hour after (I have no in laws) and 3 of those days also my brothers toddlers all day and picks up my other brothers children after school. Thankfully my SIL's mum said she would have the toddlers for the foreseeable, but mum still had to pick which children to have. I managed to change my hours so I don't need after school care but my brother is now having to pay for after school club as there was no way to get mine to school and me to work on time without my mum.
The worst of it all is how much the children are all missing seeing their cousins.

Yeah we're ignoring this too, although we have a social bubble with one GP and the other GP does different days. So no chance we will follow this rule

So can granparents be in a support bubble and a childcare bubble? SIL is single parent so has formed support bubble with her son and ILs, and they provide childcare for us. We don't have a choice but to use it but wondered if it was allowed.

It's confusing – I was hoping that my DM, who is in a childcare bubble with my DB, could also be in a support bubble (not childcare) with us, as she is a single-person household. I can't see for certain that you can't have a childcare bubble and a different support bubble. DM and DB are in Tier 2 and we are Tier 1 restrictions.

@IsabelleSE19 why does she need a support bubble if she’s already in a childcare bubble with your DB?

@Racoonworld I'm not sure whether it's defined in official parlance as 'needing' a support bubble (in fact that was the question underlying my original post), but she has a history of depression and hates the place she lives in, so being able to come to us for a few days really helps her mental health.