Nursery registration during pregnancy

[billim]

Hello - I'm just wondering if people really register with private nurseries when they are still pregnant? I fear I've been taken in by the media hype.

I'm 16 weeks pregnant and work colleagues and family have suggested I need to start looking into this. We're in Northfields/Ealing area of West London and have no idea whether nurseries are over subscribed around here. I'm planning to be at home for the first year so won't event need a nursery place until Autumn 2016.

To be honest, we're a bit uncomfortable with the idea of registering before birth but perhaps this is something we need to do?

I'm interested to know the answer to this too! We're in south west London and I've been wondering the same thing ..

We did - not in London but our chosen nursery had an 18 month waiting list. Plenty of my friends waited though and have found somewhere they like. I have been back since baby was born as I had more specific questions.

I booked my place before I knew the sex of our baby, so would have been about 16 weeks pregnant. Though I did intend to return to work when dc was 6 months old and there was only one local nursery with a decent facility for such a young baby.

Nurseries round here can have a 12 month waiting list, depending on the days you want. It's generally pretty cheap to book or reserve a place though, so if you change your mind later its not a massive issue.

Media hype mainly.

Even in SW London, when maternity leave was only 18 weeks, prenatal registration was rare.

Now, that's some time ago. But of course, it is very much in nurseries' interests to have lots of parents paying registration fees (which they of course do to several nurseries), as churn is so high and so many applications are never taken forward, on return to work or when the child is a bit older.

The complete muck up high level of unintended consequences of the last revision of early years grants (then an educational provision) led to shortage is spaces. With this government turning it for the first time into childcare provision, and moving a number of the parameters whilst being silent so far on some important aspects; I can see why people might want to rush to get the chance of a place at a nursery they think they can afford come what may.

Righto - think we will start to look at the local nurseries in the next week or so. Thanks all!

Not in London but I signed up two months before DS was born and he finally got a place when he was 20 months old!

I registered a couple of weeks before a place was needed at an outstanding nursery

I did this. Whether you need to very much depends on your area, and how the supply matches the demand. Lots of areas which are popular with families actually have loads of nurseries.

Where we live now there aren't so many nurseries, and some have waiting lists of over a year, so if you are planning on going back before your baby is one you need to register early.

We booked a nursery place when I was 8 months pg for a starting date of 10 months old. (so about a year in advance).

I didn't with my first and struck lucky - I registered my second the day after my 12 week scan!

Media hype. I'm in north London and had two nurseries with places for my DS at only a month or two's notice.

Depends on the area. Some nurseries will not let you register before birth. Call a few to get an idea in any case.

We registered at 35 weeks pg for a place starting 10 months later. I think we could have left it longer, but in the event, I'm glad we just got it out of the way. It was easier to make a considered decision when I wasn't wracked with guilt about leaving my pfb behind! I think I'd have struggled to be objective if we decided once she was here.

Personally I would do it. I registered when I was 5 months pregnant for the local outstanding nursery.

We still don't have a space and he's 2.5!! This is se London and most nurseries round here have a waiting list of at least a year.

Luckily we moved anyway so he got into a slightly less popular nursery, which we love, but we still had to wait 6 months for a space.

That meant we had to take a space at a place we liked but didn't love so I could go back to work.