Find A Nursery/Childminder

[Uglymush]

Hi, does anyone know when you should start looking for nursery or childminder places?

Popular nurseries can have huge waiting lists

I did it for my first, when I was 6 months PG and going back to work when he was 6 months old, so 9 months in advance

When I had my second I got my nanny in place a year before I needed her

Most nurseries where I am (south east) have a 6 - 12 month wait list

Thanks Ruby Better pull my finger out then!! Although I am in the dim 'up north' I am sure the good nurseries will be just as popular here.

Depends where you are "up north", some Manchester suburbs have massive waiting lists, my nursery has a 3 year waiting list for full time!
Direct.gov.uk have a good comprehensive list of childcare and you can search by area and type of childcare.

Don't know about nurseries but childminders offer spaces at fairly short notice but it is obviously luck of the draw as to whether the good ones have spaces at any given time.

Contact your local council and ask to speak to their family information service and then ask for a list of all childminders with spaces in your area. I've been a SAHM since I was made redundant and got a new job a few weeks ago so had to sort out childcare quickly. I was able to get my DD registered with an excellent CM with 14 years experience and Ofsted rated excellent in a matter of days.
This means I've been able to have a 3 week settling in period before I start work in case of any problems.

Good luck :)

p.s. I'm in SE london/kent borders

Thanks everyone. Time to check out the local council and OFSTED reports. I'm 'proper' up north (:)) in Cumbria, and so far get the impression some nurseries are great and others are a bit... well not great!!

Hello, does anyone know of a good childminder in the Bushey (Herts.) area? I am looking for one for my 16-month-old son, to start in October. I've gone on childcare.co.uk but no luck!Any help, advice would be much, much appreciated. Many thanks!