Both parents working full time?

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How do people manage it once they're all school? Especially if you're in jobs where there is sometimes no guarantee you'll get out on time?

My job has changed a lot and when we had children I always finished on time, now maybe twice a month i will finish late which in itself is fine but husband is also debating a job which would land him in a similar situation but its more often he will be late

Is it possible? No family support locally

I should add i will know in advance dates ill be late but he won't

We both work full time but in flexible jobs. One of us can always do pick up/be at home with a sick child/ work evenings instead.
If you don’t have flexibility you might need to rely on after school clubs or a nanny?

We had no family support locally so we had au pairs from primary age to do drop off and pick up.

Of course it's possible but it depends on so many variables. How flexible your jobs are, the availability and affordability of suitable before/after school care if needed, the distances between your workplaces and the school etc.

We did it. It was a bit of a juggling act but both of us were in very flexible roles so we didn't actually need to use paid childcare.

Afterschool service or childminder?

We just made it clear to work that sometimes we didn't have the option to be late without notice to sort cover. Then stuck to it.

Interesting to hear thank you - we've debating whether we can handle it or not

After school club seems to finish at 5 which is early compared to nursery but ill look into local childminders etc

Thank you

We use Breakfast club and a childminder for after school. I leave home later than DH so I do the morning drop off, DH gets home by 5 so takes care of evenings until I get in between 6 and 7. It’s total team work and it’s exhausting but we make it work. None of us are flexible with our hours although occasionally one of us has to leave work because one of the kids needs something. I’m a teacher so our school holidays are covered too.

If you know in advance that 2 days a month you have a ate finish, then dh just needs to block out his calendar in advance on those hours so he can guarantee he leaves at say 5pm.

I went back to work full time in a big job when both of mine were 9 months old with no family around us to help. It's fine IF you can pay for good quality, reliable childcare and you have enough flex to be able to cover sick days (I just used to work at home and in the evenings to make up the time.) We have an after school nanny who does 3.30-6.30 each day and if one of us needs to work late the other covers, if both do one of us comes home and does their work once the kids are in bed

I don't know any different to this so I guess for me it seems strange to think it won't be fine. Been doing it 9 years now with no disasters! I guess you have to want it to work is the thing and be ok with working in the evenings/weekends to make up the time if you need to

If you can afford it, nanny

We use after school club till 5.15 or 6, live near enough the school to drop off in the morning and get back home in time for work at 9. There is breakfast club too for those who need it.

We do, and it's totally fine, but we have a nanny and I don't think I'd enjoy it without her.

She does housekeeping in the day, picks up the kids and does all afternoon activities until we get home. I'm usually home between 5-6.30 but she can usually stay late if I'm stuck in a meeting.

I do all drop offs as I work 2 miles from school so drop off at 8:45 and arrive at work just before 9.

Childminder does all pickups, she's open until 6 - we also live around the corner from her, very lucky in that the small commute really helps.

Its mainly the worry if we clash days, he will not be able to leave if seniors say he can't. I don't really want him using all annual leave days for days I'm on a day I won't get home till 7pm say just in case but I can't see another work around.

We do it and manage but it’s a knife edge balance sometimes. No family help. We used afterschool club which closes at 6. Normal finish time is 5.30 but at least once a week we won’t finish until 7. We just coordinate diaries with military precision and ensure that our late days don’t clash.

The only way we could make it work was to have a nanny. Originally we had a nanny share to make it cheaper.

What does he do? How often will you clash?

Thats the issue we wouldn't know if it were to clash until it happened. Hes currently office based in public services but looking at going back out as an emergency services worker - if something happens he will not get off on time and he will not be able to leave.

I'll know my dates but if something happens and he can't leave then we would be.....well stuffed. But I assume people have children and relationships with nurses, doctors, police etc and make it work so I think it must be possible

If you use a childminder and you know in advance then you could sort it with them I suppose.

Yeah its more the "what if" his day means he can't get out on time and I am away. Wondering if he'd need to take annual leave on every day its possible to make sure it didn't happen!

You have to work with the LATEST collection time it could possibly be for him and look for a childminder who is willing to have your dc until that time every once in a while.

For those days, as you can plan in advance, would it make more sense to book a babysitter to pick up from after school club?

We used Childminder for school pick ups when ours were primary age.
Gave us flexibility. We had 5.30 pick up but if for whatever reason one of us couldn't be there we just paid extra and she was happy to have them up to 6.00.