When do I need to start looking into Nurseries? I'm in N16 - Stoke Newington, London

[hackneybird]

Not due til Oct, and will return to work either 6 or 9 mths afterwards, finances depending, and of course how happy I am leaving the baby.

This is my first so am totally clueless.

As Stokey is very child friendly I imagine it's competitive for childcare places. I don't want to miss out, but I don't want to start getting too previous either.

Am also confused about benefits of childminder v nursery.....

Thoughts from experts would be most welcome.

hb
xx

Hi hackneybird. I used to live in Stokie and my DS went to nursery there. I'd phone around, visit places and register with them ones you like asap. You should be fine if you get cracking pretty soon. There are some good nurseries in Stoke Newington.

I'd advise you contact and visit a few childminders, too. You'll probably get a feeling about which you'd prefer once you actually go to a few nurserries/meet a few childminders and it's reality and not 'what if'.

excuse typos

Hi there - we are in Stokey too, you're right, it's a fab place to spend your maternity leave, tons to do, loads of other parents around and really good fun

We started looking at nurseries when DD was about 2 months - we looked round about 6 I think, decided which one we wanted and applied. We had no problems getting her in when we wanted her to start but I know some are more competitive than others - eg: Coconut on Church St is ridiculously oversubscribed and it can take months to even get an appointment to look round.

We found local nurseries on the Ofsted website and looked at their ratings before we arranged visits.

Good luck with your birth and new baby!

Also, don't be put off by the ones that say they have a huge waiting list. Places often come up as people move away or their circumstances change. Just give yourself options - so register with a few nurseries, definitely.

Agree with all of this - in my experience, the childminder vs nursery issue will also depend a lot on your child. DS is really lively and active and sociable - loves a gang of people and lots going on, so we think that nursery will really suit him. But know babies of similar age who have completely different characters - one little chap is so meek and timid, his mum has decided not to go for nursery and is looking for a childminder.

I personally found Coconut really snotty - 'ten months before you can even visit, tra la la, must dash it's time for baby french lessons..' but maybe just got them on a bad day? We're going with Minihome.

Hello MissMitford (love the login name btw!), MrsMattie and novicemama.

Thank you for your advice - we will do as you recommend and so some research before we visit, and also try to reserve places at a few different nurseries in order to cover our bases.

I'm worried as I'm freelance so my work is quite unpredictable. I sometimes have gaps or a month or more between contracts. I've no idea how I'm going to square that with regular childcare - I'll have to see what the nurseries say I suppose.