Nursery and shift working

[berrycravings]

Hi all,

I hope someone can help. I am currently pregnanct with number 1 and currently know very little about the childcare world.

I am planning to go back to work 4 days a week after my maternity leave. My DH however works shifts (4 days on, 4 days off, 4 nights on..etc) We know his shift pattern in january for the whole year. On his days off he wants to be at home with the little one.

Are nursery's flexible in allowing you to have Mon,Tues,Wed,Thurs one week, then Tues,Wed,Thurs another week? I don't really want to end up paying for 4 days a week when some weeks my DH will be at home all of those days.

Many thanks for any advice. feel a little out of my depth .

I think you would have more joy finding a childminder who is willing to work flexible hours for you. It really helps that you can give the hours so far ahead so the childminder could make plans to fit when your child is there. I have worked a contract like this for a parent who was a nurse and she had an agreed minimum number of hours per week so I had security of a basic income.

Nurseries are less likely to allow flexible hours.

I would look around some local settings and then raise it with any that you feel are good to see if they could accommodate your needs.

Our nursery does flexible hours. As long as they have notice they can manage.

My nursery did flexible hours but you had to pay more

Many thanks for the feedback, I Will make sure I look into childminders as well as the nursery's.

I'm a shift worker - I have to pay for a full time place at nursery to guarantee a spot on the days I do need, but I keep them home with me on my rest days. It's annoying because I'm paying for far more than I'm using but I couldn't find any alternative.

Last year when they were under subscribed I was able to only book 4 days per week (tues/weds/thurs/fri) and then book an extra session for any mondays I required. I gave them a years worth of advance notice of when I would need these sessions and just paid the extra as and when it was required. Unfortunately they are unable to guarantee the extra days due to numbers so I've had to go up to a full time place

I give them a copy of my roster so they know in advance when we won't be there.

Having re-read my post it very ramble-y and may not make perfect sense but I'm very tired! Hope it make a little sense and is helpful nevertheless

Hi Mrskitty it made alot of sense to me (also very tired so maybe on the same wave length!) Thank you for your reply I think i will definately check all the local nursery's and see what their policies are.