Feeling so meh about the childcare years…

[excitingbella]

Wondering if anyone else is feeling the same. .

I have 2 DC, one who started school this year so does wrap around care, and another who’s in nursery 4 days a week and won’t start school for another 2 and a bit years.

DC1 started nursery age 1 and is a September birthday so effectively went to nursery 4 full years and is now 5 and a half so we’ve been paying nursery fees for 4 years.

They have just gone up and up and up and despite the 15 and 30 free hours coming in earlier we’re barely feeling any better off with the COL eating up any tiny saving.
I’m so fed up of seeing a huge chunk of my wages disappear every month. I know the alternative is not to work, or work less but we need the income for our increased mortgage and any hope of nice days out etc.

Just feeling fed up and still very much stuck in the childcare fee years… anyone else?

Use a childminder? My parents have tiny invoices now.

Yep its pretty depressing with the col too. I always got told it gets better when they are at school but what with the need for wraparound care and I have a sen child too that would need expensive specialists one to one care it really hasn't been the case for me. Plus the school day is shorter than nursery. Then there's the holidays. Where I can't even find suitable childcare for.

I've had to just accept I can't work much at all untill my children are a lot older. I really really hope the cost of everything won't keep going up and up, we won't survive it. Thankfully our mortgaged is fixed for a long time.

You're not alone op it sucks. It's no wonder so many people are deciding not to have children.