Childcare - how does it work?

[Lucynewmum2be]

I’m expecting my baby in July 2025. Me and my partner both work full time and together earn around 60-70k a year.
i am looking for childcare around our work pattern
Monday - half day (2-6)
Tuesday full day (7-5)
Wednesday - half day (2-6)
Thursday full day (7-5)
Friday full day (7-4)
total hours = 37 (depending on if I can pay exact hours or need to pay for longer on the half days).
I’ve read that as of Sept 2025, 9 month olds can get 30+ free childcare hours. Is this right?
My baby will be 9 months old in April 2026. When should I apply for childcare and will I get that as soon as I return to work when my baby goes to nursery?
Am I right in thinking this will leave me with the bill for hours over 30 plus meals etc.
This is my first pregnancy so all new to me. Any advice greatly appreciated. TIA

HI OP

Chances are that nurseries will at most offer half days and those will be set hours (eg 8-1 and 1-6). You will have to pay the 'full' slot i.e. you won't get a discount for picking up at 4pm or 5pm if the nursery is open until 6pm.

Not all settings will have a 7am 'early hour' but some will so you need to look for this.

You will also probably pay some kind of top up on the 30h as government funding isn't really enough for the nurseries to break even.

Some of it is really nursery-dependent - some don't offer half-days. You're very unlikely to be able to pay for exact hours, as they won't be able to sell the additional ones to anyone else - so theoretically you've got 2 half days and 3 full days, so it will be more than 37.

Hours kick in at the start of term time, so if your baby isn't born until April, funding won't kick in until August. You can apply a bit before but you have to be intending to start work within the next 30 days of when you apply.

Funding will be really nursery dependant. We don't pay extra for meals here, but do pay a daily consumables charge, and then an hourly fee for funded hours. My son is 2 and currently does 2 days a week, he's there 8 - 4pm but could be there 8 - 6pm. We pay £480 monthly for 2 days a week, and he gets 15 hours free each week. My nursery spreads the funding, so we get 11.4 hours a week rather than 15, but we get them all year round. Some nurseries will only apply the funding during term time, so you get more each week but will get higher invoices during holiday periods. If you need a 7am start here, you'd have to pay an additional amount each day for an early start.

My baby starts nursery in April, honestly it’s really complicated because the 30 hours free isn’t actually 30 hours free. You don’t get 30 free hours because the gov don’t pay the nursery enough to make it free, it’s easier to see it as “subsidised”. When you use free hours most nurseries (at least where we are) will then charge you a fee for the hours + extra for food/milk/nappies, so even on our “funded” day we pay £37.

You also can’t pay hour to hour, you have to pay for either full or half days. So a full day at our nursery is 7:30:6-15 and then half days are 07:30-12:45 and 1-6:15, so you have to pay for either of those slots rather than being able to pay just for the hours you want. You might struggle to find any nursery that can take from 7am, none of the ones we looked at do, 07:30 is the typical standard so you may need a childminder rather than nursery if you absolutely need 7am.

You can apply from 3 months before you need the place.

The only thing is you need to see if you can actually find a nursery that will offer the funded hours, lots of them just won’t because they can’t afford it now x

Thank you for the info. What a minefield it all is!
I have enquired with a couple of local nurseries to see what my options and fees/funding will be. Hopefully with not needing child care until April 2026 I will be able to get on some waiting lists and get things in order.
thankfully I won’t need childcare in the holidays as I work in a school so I am hoping that elevates some cost?
really appreciate you taking the time to reply

Most nurseries are open all year round and don’t offer a term time contract as they can’t fill the space just for a few weeks. A childminder may be a better option and you’re more likely to find one to do the earlier hours. Some childminders don’t offer term time only but you’re more likely to find one that does than a nursery.

Nurseries should be quite used to first time mums not knowing about the funding as it is so complicated! So they should be able to talk you through the pricing. Our nusery was able to give us a sense of what the cost would be before we committed. The other thing to look out for is whether there is a discount for FT. We get a 10% discount for a FT place, so its worth having for the flexibility, even if you don't need it every week (but on the other hand charged extra for a 7.30-8am drop off as standard hours were 8am-6pm).

Definitely check with the nurseries about which ones might offer term time only - in our area only nurseries attached to schools offer that (and none that start from 9 months!) - the rest are contracted year-round.

Agree with others that you usually can't negotiate hours with the nurseries, they'll have flat sessions - and unfortunately nurseries seem to be flexing when they will and won't use the hours, and additional wrap around fees are sky high to try and get money to supplement the little they get from the govt for the funded hours.

It's an uphill battle but knowledge is power. Try and talk to as many local parents as you can, or ask about specific nurseries on local FB groups etc to get a general feel for how each one is.

Yeah, agree with this - especially one who does after school pickups as they may be happy to not have your baby in the holidays if they are covering school children in the holidays.

With the hours i would suggest looking at child minders rather than nurseries. If they have their own children they are often happy to have term time only. You will most likely fine though that you cannot pay for those exact hours, most require the full day or a half day

I agree to look at childminders. They are generally a little cheaper anyway but also are more likely to start at 7 (I’ve never come across a nursery which opens at 7, and struggled to find many which opened at 7.30) and accept the half days (my daughter used to do 7.30-1pm with a childminder so you may find one who will accept your half days too. They are also more likely to offer term time only / I’ve come across few nurseries which offer this for babies (preschools from 3 are more common) and those that do charge more per day for a term time only place.

You'll have to enquire with local nurseries to work out if you can only pay for the hours you need.
My daughters nursery only offers full days. The other local one does half days but only specific hours (a morning and afternoon session), but they only offer childcare funded hours for morning sessions not afternoon sessions.
Also the 30 hours doesn't cover the full cost as its funding for the staff member looking after your child, not all the extras that are needed, so there's normally a top up fee.
The 30 hours is also term time only so if you need a full year nursery then its actually something like 22 hours a week funded.
Also, our nursery the earliest drop off is 8am but you'd need to be in the queue much earlier to be first to drop off and the latest pick up is requested at 5.45 because if you're not out the door with your child by 6pm then you'll be charged extra.
So just be aware that your options for 7am drop off might restrict your nursery choices.
Also if you work over the Christmas period then check each nurseries closure period - ours closes for much longer over Christmas then we realised initially.

Ours does term time only, shifts and all year. It is only closed at Christmas. It is open between 7-6.30.

It does half days 7.30-1 or 12-6 or full days 7.30-6. Early start from 7 is extra and so is late finish to 6.30. Prices include their lunch, so it is fairly flexible. I think you can also choose 4.30 finish before their evening meal or a slightly earlier pick up at 5.30 for some of the age bands.