Affording Second Child...

[Piglet93]

DH earns £41,000.00 and I earn £21,000. We have one DC, 6 years old so we have not paid nursery fees for a while.

I have always been one and done, but in the last 6 months or so have felt the want to have another, and DH has always wanted another! I am early 30s so is DH.

What scares me is the cost of nursery fees! Having done my rough calculations of £86 a day (our local preferred nursery), 4 days a week, that is roughly £1350 a month. With the tax free childcare, we would still be paying £1080 a month. I know there are changes due to come in with the funded hours so by the time our (hoped for) baby is 9 months they would receive funded hours but I still can't work out how would that lower our monthly bills?!

You’d have to ask your childcare provider what the impact of the funded hours would be. The way they use them varies dramatically. One of my friends has seen her nursery bill go up since having funded hours in place!

The other thing to consider is the age gap. If your DC is currently 6, there will be a minimum 7 or 8 year age gap, depending on when you start TTC / are successful.

If you’re okay with parenting for an extended period of time and getting your freedom back later, then it’s not an issue.

If you only earn £21k, is it worth looking at a different job, or shifts, so you’d need fewer nursery days/hours? I used to work evenings, dh came in from work amdnd I went out, so we didn’t need paid childcare

Thats a really good idea to check with the nursery - I hadnt thought of doing that.

Re age gap, yes we are happy with parenting for an extended period of time. Until now I didn't feel the want for another child/we couldnt have afforded two littles ones in nursery anyway.

@Jeezitneverends I have floated the idea in my head, but my work are really accommodating with changing hours in the past, working from home when needed and it's a nice environment so I'm not keen to leave - I've been here for 11 years :)

Did anyone save prior to nursery costs and if so what would be a recommended amount - maybe £250 a month? Which means trying to save £7500 (roughly).
Am just trying to mitigate the few painful years :)

Look for childminder options, they might be a bit cheaper per day. Or options of needing less hours ie your or dh working part time or one day a week at home (can drop child later and pick earlier if not long commute)

@Caspianberg I am also thinking a childminder might be the way forward!

Honestly...

You save up,
You earn more
You cut your hours to save on childcare
You see if family can help with childcare.

Its shit OP... 💐

Just to update, thank you so much for advising to contact nurseries!

I felt a bit silly, because its for a baby not yet conceived however I was surprised to learn some even having waiting lists until February 2026, so should we crack on with our plans, I should contact the nurseries ASAP to secure a place!