Today's been a really chatty day and it's taken me ages just to catch up reading.
Great news re school Eddas.
My CM's rates are very low compared to what everyone else seems to charge/be charged round here, although her rates are higher for part time - I pay £140 a week, dropping D off at 8.15 to 8.30, normally collecting 5 to 5.30 but him staying until 6 one day last week was no problem, but she would be £30/day or £5 an hour. Her other mindees are a brother and sister before and after school and come at 7, leave at 6, and the school is so close it's almost visible from outside the house. The other CM I visited charges £200 a week and another quoted £5.50 an hour and lives the other side of Tottenham from both us and the tube station (so that would have cost an extra hour a day and added 2 hours a day to D being out of the house etc). The Council nurseries are £35 a day, about half my take home pay and most of the private ones are twice that.
If you're thinking of childcare vouchers and you have a dh/dp who works for an employer who does them, and you do too, both of you can get them, increasing the maximum saving. Higher rate taxpayers can save more. You do need to check the impact on your pension, and/or what to do if you hope to have another baby soon (as it would affect Statutory Maternity Pay and other things that relate to how much you get paid, as you are considered to have taken a pay cut).