Whats the difference between a creche, nursery and daycare?

[Redkite11]

Hi, I am currently 19 weeks pregnant and I am thinking about what happens when I go back to work after maternity leave (I know it is a while away but I would like to begin looking into these issues). If I return to work after 8 months (and I work Monday to Friday 9am-5/6pm with one hour commute) what kind of childcare do i need? A creche, a nursery, daycare? Do the prices vary enormously?

Different names for same thing (in England at least). At different times my DC attended

• a nursery (DD1 from 16 months until 2yo)
• a preschool (DD1 from 2yo to 4yo, DD2 from 21 months until 2y4months)
• a crèche (DD2 from 2.5years until 4 years)
• a school nursery (DD2 from 3 years unt 4 years- overlap with crèche)

With the exception of the school nursery, all took from 6 months to 4 years with the same opening hours and set up.

Nursery/Day nursery/Daycare tend to be interchangeable providing care all year round, 8am-6pm-ish for children 0-5.

Pre-schools/Nursery schools/School nurseries tend for be term time only, 9am-3pm-ish for 2-5 year olds.

Creches (in England) tend to be drop-in care for 0-5s in leisure centres or gyms, weddings and events, colleges - eg you leave your child for a couple of hours while you go swimming or do a course.
I believe in NI creches are more like day nurseries though.

Your other option is a childminder, someone who works in their own home caring for around 3 under 5s at a time.

I think there are regional variations, but IMO you need a nursery (or a childminder or a nanny). To me, a creche provides short periods of care (eg while you go to the gym) and daycare is the same as nursery but not a word I'd use.

The prices vary a lot by region but are likely to be similar within your area.

A creche tends to be childcare where you can drop off children for short periods of time on an ad hoc basis, like in gyms, shopping centres etc.

You would be looking at a private day nursery to provide care to cover full time working hours. One thing that might be a problem is that they usually close at 6pm.

A nanny would give you more flexibility with hours but would be more expensive. You might be able to find a childminder that would provide care till 7pm, it would be a bit cheaper than a nanny but not many work that late.

Agree with pp - you probably need a private day nursery (daycare is an American term for the same thing). Ours is open 7am-6pm & provides full care all day. You might really struggle to find one that opens past 6pm though 😕 you work a very long day & have a long commute - can you consider shorter hours to accommodate childcare?

Our private day nursery is open to children from 3 months - school age. The children move up rooms with age. We have a baby room until walking. Toddler room until second birthday. Nursery room until third birthday & then pre-school from third birthday to school. All in the same building & you keep your place the whole way through.

You do also get separate pre-schools for 3-4 year olds. You’ll find some people refer to these as nursery, particularly if their kids haven’t gone into private nurseries from a younger age. Sometimes these are attached to schools, sometimes not. They tend to be term time only & run on school hours so 9am-3:30pm ish.

Thanks for all the help!

Daycare-American word for nursery
Nursery-provides care for parents who work or shorter sessions for parents who want their children in some kind of setting , usually to learn and socialise
Creche-where you leave your child while you go swimming or similar
Pre-school-often attached to schools and provide part time or full time education and play opportunity, not normally full time
Play group-used to be more common, part time pre school often in church halls where pre-schoolers would play and do crafts

That’s a long day. An hour long commute to arrive at work at 9am realistically means dropping to nursery at 7.30am ish.,
And not getting back to collect until nearly 12 hours later.
You may need to consider a nanny coming to your home.