When to sort childcare for return to work?

[countdowntobaby2020]

I'm not planning to return to work until April when my little boy will be ten months old. My mum is going to have him two days and we've decided to go for a nursery for the other two or three days (depending if work let me drop a day...) I've been browsing the websites of a few local nurseries to get a feel for them, but when do I actually start contacting them or going to view them? Don't want to come across as massively over keen this far ahead but also don't want to leave it too late that we struggle to sort something.

Also, what things do you look for when visiting a nursery? A few people have said to me I'll just know when we've found the right one like an instinct thing but what was it that made you know you'd found the right place?

Start now, depending on where you live a lot of good nurseries have children registered before they're born.

Before they are born round here!

The nursery my eldest went to you had to put down name on for pre waiting List when pregnant and once baby was born You could move onto the waiting list ( over a year long)

With our childminder we go in contact once we knew when I was planning to go back to work because she booked up fast! By September last year she had no vacancies until 2021

I agree contact the ones you like the look of/handy now - it does no harm they may ask you to put down a deposit - I looked whilst pregnant at a couple as recommended by friends - looked again once dc arrived and i was a bit clearer about what i wanted

Wow wasn't expecting that! Best get a move on!

Totally depends on where you live. Some people have their baby on waiting lists as soon as they fall pregnant. My baby starts in January and we registered them in July as it was a brand new nursery that’s only just opened.

Start talking to nurseries and arranging visits as soon as you can.

In some areas, nurseries are booked up many months in advance meaning parents have to start looking and deciding during pregnancy!

I agree that you will 'know' if a nursery feels right.

For me, it was happy friendly staff (obvs), excellent security procedures, low staff turnover (if they will divulge that info), plenty of outdoor space and encouragement to spend time outdoors every day, good admin processes (I hate orgs that don't communicate effectively with customers, bill late, don't keep good records etc) , owner available to meet/talk with, early opening hours/late closing to give me flexibility in arranging work shifts. The price was secondary to all of these.

Now. You need to start checking and joining waiting lists. We started checking 3 months ahead and... DS had to go to two nurseries a week as we couldn't find the we needed in the same place. He got enough days in the same nursery after 6-8 months attending.

Having said that, with so many people working from home it may not be as difficult now as it was back then.

Now. Where I lived there were year long wait lists at the best places.

Oh and good quality premises. You don't want to see tatty decoration, damp patches, overgrown car parks etc, which would indicate lack of investment.

We looked around when I was pregnant because I wanted somewhere near my work and they were all notorious for having long waiting lists. If I could have been a bit more flexible with area I’d probably have got away with looking at 6 months or so.

In terms of timing, I think it seems on where you live and what the demand is like. I am in London, and for both my children I had to confirm a place and pay a deposit while I was pregnant! So more than a year in advance. The norm may be different where you live but I am sure you won’t seem over eager.

Regarding choosing a nursery: I think that you will definitely get a feeling about the right place and if is important to visit a few places so you know it when you feel it! But overall you should think about:

The staff: Are they well qualified? Do they seem professional? Your child may well be here until they start school - you want to be sure that they will get a proper early years education. Most importantly, do they seem to genuinely care about the children? Do they seem happy to be at work?

The facilities: these don’t have to be fancy, but are they clean? Do they have enough resources (toys / books / different areas for playing and sleeping)

Childcare philosophy: sounds a bit wanky, but what I mean is do they share your views on raising children? E.g. if you like structure and routine, you probably won’t want somewhere that is very loose and free flow, and vice versa.

And some practical things:

The opening hours: Some nurseries have quite limited hours - will this work with your (and any other parent / caters) schedule?

The location: What will the drop off and pick up be like? Will am awkward route / one way system / missed train completely mess up your commute? You will be doing this journey every day for about three years so make sure it is doable!

I'm returning in June and sorted it out a couple of weeks ago getting the last place in my chosen nursery a and not the days I initially wanted!

I manage a nursery and our baby room is full till at least this time next year
We have lots of babies registered before they are even born
You really need to look now

In my area you look before they're born. It will depend where you live but definitely start calling round now.

I registered my son before he was born

Agree with others - we looked in January for DS to start this week. We did get in to our first choice but not the days we wanted although I'm hoping we'll be able to increase them in due course.

For me, there was a mix of practicality and gut feeling. So what were the opening hours (we needed somewhere open until 6pm), how convenient was the location for home and office, how many weeks a year are they closed plus cost of course! We used that to make a shortlist and then visited the ones we liked. we had two which were similar in terms of practicality but I preferred the nursery we went for in terms of diversity, flexibility and just the general happy feel of the place. Plus the things that they valued aligned with our values. So far, we're very happy!

Former day nursery worker here... Don’t panic, but start arranging viewings. I sorted mine with 4 months of mat leave left and had no problems with spaces where I am so it’s obviously different in some areas.
As for viewings, some might be zoom style, some might be after hours when the children have all gone and others will be doing as normal.

Personally I only considered those I could visit during normal hours so I could see staff interacting with the children and get a feel for the place.

Ask about staff turnover

What is the outdoor provision like- separate baby area? Accessed frequently?

How do they arrange the baby provision? Separate room for under 1s for example?

What system do they use for learning journeys? App based like Tapestry so you can view photos/videos of your child whenever they are posted? Or paper based that you’d have to ask to see/wait for a parents evening?

How many Level 3/2/students do they have?

And of course the more obvious things like do they seem interested/interact with your child at the viewing, the general feel you get from them

Oh, I sent my son at 5 months old. The baby room in the nursery I chose had an age range of 3 months - 12 months. Nost others I looked at had an age range of 3 months - 18 months. This was important to me.

Thanks for all the tips and advice, I've sent out some emails and will hopefully get some visits sorted ASAP.

We booked our place when I was 5 months pregnant and we got the last place on the days we wanted.

I booed my nursery place before dd was born too.

Booked after 12 week scan on both occasions. Start looking!

I enrolled ours last week at 4 weeks to start in May. The nursery we have chosen is a 2 minute walk from the station and couldn't afford to not get a place at the nursery for my commute plus it has a very good review. When I contacted them their wasnt a concern about a place but they did warn me to complete the paperwork promptly as places fill up quickly.