Wondering about childcare, do I sort out work or child care first?

[Chocoholism]

I go back in November to work and DD will be almost 1, I want to go back part time although I haven't discussed this yet with work. Do I confirm work days etc before I l

Arghhh stupid phone!

Anyway do I sort out work days times before I look at childcare or can I start to look around now for childcare?
When should I tell work about my request to go back part time?

Depends on what type of childcare you want. If you want nursery setting you better start looking now. If you would prefer childminder you might find there is more flexibility.

I had booked a full time place for my daughter at daycare thinking that if my work agreed to me going back part time, I could just drop the days I didn't need. However, it worked out that the daycare had a set number of full time and part time places per day and so my first choice of days wasn't available when I needed it. Initially I had to go back to work Mon/Wed/Fri as they were the days the daycare could offer but as DD was there, as soon as a part time place came available in her room on a Thursday we got first dibs on it (took about 3 months) and I could move to my preferred Mon/Thu/Fri.

Oh - and I spoke to work about going back part time about 5 months before I was due to go back but not sure if you need to do it that early.

I reserved a nursery place before i spoke to work. There is a horrible shortage of places round here, so it was more important to get that sorted first.

Then I had a return to work meeting and said, I will be working on x days. Employer was pretty good then, and agreed straightaway.

I booked nursery at 12 weeks pg both times.

If you're planning nursery then get on to that ASAP! Book for full time, speak to employer and the adjust days at the nursery as soon as you know.

Childminder and nanny may be possible at a later stage but good nurseries get booked up v v early.

Do both in parallel if you possibly can. It's a bit like buying a house and selling a house at the same time - you need to do both together to get it all to work properly

Both times nursery was booked for when i was 20 weeks pg.

With ds1 I booked a full time place until negotiations with work re: PT were complete (about 3 months before I was due to return), and with ds2 for the same days as I was working following my return to work after having ds1.

If you're after a nursery place then I would get your dd's name down and get negotiating with work asap. I would be honest with bioth work and nursery about the current state of play.