Splurge on nursery or save for later??

[Sundaysunshine21]

Baby will need to go to nursery full time 7am-7pm from 9 months. Would love for this to be different, but the mortgage won’t pay itself.

Viewed lots of nurseries, only really liked one. Unfortunately, the preferred nursery is very expensive. There is a difference of c.£500 per month between it and the second choice.

Could just about afford the preferred nursery, but it would be a stretch. Fees will increase annually.

Are early years so vital, and baby will spend so much time there, that it’s worth paying extra for the nursery? Should the money be saved in case baby needs tutoring/has additional needs/takes up an expensive hobbit etc. later on?

Really stuck, any thoughts welcome!

This. Why have a baby to never actually see it. If you can afford the feed you can afford to drop hours obviously.

Definitely spend the money on your preferred nursery. Low staff turnover is priceless.

Don't worry about the negative comments, I went back to work FT by choice when DC's were 3 months. They are absolutely fine and your baby will be too.

I can absolutely guarantee that he doesn’t LOVE it. You’ve had to do it to provide the best for your family.. that’s absolutely the right thing to do. However, please don’t kid yourself that a baby from 10 months old has loved spending 10 hours a day at nursery.

Op - pick the best nursery you can. For that £500 maybe try and drop a day if possible as it may not work out too dissimilar after tax, no etc.

There's nothing you could save the money for that will have greater impact than his pre-school care.

I think pp knows her DC and what he does or doesn't enjoy far more than you do.

£500 a month leeway is £700 before tax.... You must have a decent salary.

I don't think you need to stay home - and it sounds like you're in a career which you like which is great!

I guess posters are confused as if you are able to flex to pay an extra £500, is there no possibility of dropping one day a week? Or taking a job that pays £500 less a month that has more reliable/shorter hours?

Good luck whichever option you take

Plenty of posters would be fine with this if it was granny you were dropping to. Some of us don't have the privilege of having lots of free childcare on their doorstep.

But logistically how will that work, you won't be able to book days in at all different times. I've not heard of being able to do that. You pick your start and finish times for each day and that's it. My nursery really dislike people who have a start time and then turn up an hour later as it's so disruptive for planing the session and settling children in.

I would double check they’ll let you leave them for 12 hours. Our nursery was 10 hours max for under 2’s. (Even though he only went 2 days a week)

I would do the preferred nursery, less because of the benefit to the baby and more for peace of mind for you. It’s hard leaving them and I think it makes a big difference if you’re happy with where they are.

My nursery always let people drop off and pick up whenever they liked within their operating hours (unless you’re paying for a half day instead of a full one then obviously you need to collect at lunch)

Hi OP, out of interest, have you had your baby already?
I completely get the needing to work full time. I am the main breadwinner and our mortgage is through the roof, would not be possible to cover it without me working full time. Thankfully I work compressed hours over 4 days so little one only needs nursery 4 days. I also do extra work from home most evenings, which I am very lucky to be able to do in my career.

You haven't mentioned specifics about your career but are you currently climbing a ladder? Will your pay ever get high enough that you can consider LTFT?

In your situation needs must, if your child has to be in childcare 5 days a week you can prioritise having really good quality time and experiences at the weekend.

Our nursery is drop off or pick up anytime you want within the hours. In the older rooms they offer breakfast which is cut off if you don't get them in before 8.30 although they always gave me D's breakfast when he asked for it at 9 or beyond!

Good God, 12 hours a day every day? Poor baby. Is there no way at all to reduce hours?

Yes early years are that vital. But, it does not necessarily follow that she will benefit a lot more from going to the pricier nursery. Especially is the cheaper one looks decent enough.

It’s a difficult decision. But the fact that you are taking so much care over it shows baby is loved and that is the moat important thing. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Oh, interesting! My nursery really dislikes this and the people that just turn up whenever. It's very small though so maybe it really impacts getting the group settled.

Expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better.

I recently turned down a place at a nursery which was c. £500 a month more expensive than mine. It probably had on average better facilities.

But… my child is happy and settled in another nursery. The staff are fantastic which is really the key thing.

Financially… it’s £6k a year after tax extra. Possibly £11k before tax.

What if you have another baby? Then you might be spending £12k a year extra - or £22k before tax.

Are you eligible for any of the government schemes?

Same here - DT’s started full time nursery at six months. We liked the staff so much that two of them became our long term babysitters and friends.

A baby that age needs 11-12 hours of sleep a night, I’m sorry OP but sending them to nursery 7-7 is just not going to work. They will literally be asleep or at nursery 5 days week, no career or home is worth that, you’ll barely have enough time to get them washed and dressed. Why can’t you reduce hours and pick them up earlier (perhaps between you and your partner?). Allowing them to spend a few hours a day with a parent will be really beneficial for them and allow them to get the recommended amount of sleep.

If you currently have £500 ‘spare’ to pay for the more expensive nursery (on top of the other nursery fees) then you should be able to afford to drop some hours. Is it your employer/s who are not willing to be flexible? If so why can you not look for a new employer/s?

We are sending our baby to childcare 8-4.30 x 4 days a week. That means they can sleep 7-7, I can get them dressed and give them breakfast and play with them every morning and have time to walk them to nursery, then also every evening take them to the beach/park/soft play and give them dinner and do bath, books, cuddles etc without rushing. I’ll also have a full day each week with them to go to baby classes together etc. Is this something you can consider?

Have you tried posting on local groups etc to ask if any childminders/Nannies have availability coming up?

Like you, I went into having a baby planning to go back full time at nine months. Once she was here it totally changed. I dropped to three days and it was so much better.

I would look at compressed hours/in-home help before 12 hour nursery days.

Many of us don’t have jobs where you can’t reduce hours. You can also request reduced hours and it not be accepted by the employer.

It's going to be pricey if you need those hours each day but I'd just go for the one you felt most comfortable with. You'll get some funded hours soon enough

Same