How do I apply for the free childcare for 3 year olds?

[MaryBoBary]

Can anyone advise what I need to do please? We’ve chosen a pre school which he will start at in January, but I can’t find anything online that explains exactly what we have to do in order to get the free 15 hours per week. I’m concerned about missing any potential deadlines that I am unaware of.

Speak to the preschool as its them that claim the funding

The 15 hrs you need to speak to the pre-school and make sure he has a place, they claim the 15 hrs and you pay for any hours above the 15
If your entitled to 30 hrs you need to apply for a code from the hmrc website, just google free 30 hrs childcare and follow the links x

Hi Mumsnet
I’m a soon to be father trying to do my best to prepare for the household financially with maternity leave and a mother who may not shan’t to go back to work following the 52 weeks.

Any tips/methods/ setups that worked for you that you could recommend to plan for what’s coming ahead?

Thank you everyone! Panic over for me.

@tayolya247 I think you may have meant to start a new thread but for us in terms of tips shop at Aldi/Lidl for the majority and just top up at another supermarket for branded items you may want. Our weekly shops for 2 adults and a toddler would be about £100 in Asda, but comes to £50 a week in Lidl. Much more economical.

Also, don’t pay out for baby groups. Your local children’s centre will do them for free. To be honest though the first 12 months with a baby is the cheapest as at most you will need to buy formula and nappies and wipes. I would also get a mix of newborn and 3-6 month clothes as I found almost all the clothes we were given as gifts when baby arrived were newborn size so I should have saved my money on those. My final tip would be to look on facebay for toys etc as they get older. If you’re not precious about it you can literally save hundreds of pounds on pranks and cots/furniture by buying second hand. Look out for grandparents selling things like that they had bought for having the grand children over. They will barely have been used. But don’t buy a second hand car seat (in case it’s been involved in an accident and is damaged underneath the cover) or mattress as they advice is always that these items should be new to be safest and avoid SIDS.

Prams not pranks