Nurseries, and childminders, and waiting lists, oh my!

[deliwoman1]

Sad but true - I'm 30+5 weeks pregnant and already having to look for (qualified, hopefully very lovely) strangers to take care of my child! It seems crazy but we live in London and it's a brawl for good nursery and childminder places, particularly in our area, so we have to put ourselves on waiting lists now. We'll be in need of childcare from around May or June when she's between 10 and 11 months old.

Just wondering if anyone else is doing the same, and what your approach has been? What kind of questions have you asked of the nurseries?

Also, registration fees... am I mad to think it's a bit off for a nursery to ask for a completed form and a fee before we've even visited the place? How am I supposed to know it's a good fit, if we haven't paid them a visit?! I understand the need for the fee, but I'm not keen on handing over cash and going on a waiting list for something I may not even want!

What part of London are you in? In my experience this issue is way over hyped and there are spaces available. We are in SW

You need to aggressively chase once you are on the waiting list - I didn't pay a deposit but regretted not doing so when it looked like we wouldn't get a place.

My last pregnancy 2 years ago I put my sons name down when I peed on the stick so 1 year and 8 months later. I got a place but I know of others who didnt get one in that nursery even applying that early.

I'm currently 11 weeks and have already been looking at nurseries ( we have since moved so my sons is no longer a convenient option). I'm planning on submitting my application after my 12 week scan.

I signed up to nursery when I was pregnant. Not sure it was completely necessary, but I appreciated the peace of mind.

Second child's setting currently has closed it's waiting lists.

I am due this month and have signed up to a waiting list at a nursery in North London which should have availability from April 2023. I am expecting twins but didn’t expect the wait to be so long! Some nurseries didn’t have availability until September 2023! They let me visit before I signed the forms and I don’t need to pay the deposit until they confirm the hours. I would recommend signing up asap if you have a fixed date to return to work.

I had to put my twins down for their childminder when I was 10 weeks pregnant - they were lovely, local and affordable and willing to do term time only and were signed up to tax free childcare - I was happy to pay a retainer to guarantee them a space - I knew I had to return to work though when they were 20 weeks so not like I was going to have a year off and expect them to hold the places that long