Hear me out, nursery places...

[rach971]

This is for anyone who is currently pregnant and intends to send their child to nursery.

I've seen quite a few posts recently on various mum groups, about nursery places. If you're pregnant and want/need your child to go to nursery any time before they're 1 then you need to get looking at and applying for nurseries now.

Yes it will somewhat vary by area, but there's a huge demand for nursery places and that's only increased now due to the 9 month old funding coming in. I looked into almost every nursery back in March last year, both in my town, and the two towns next to my town. That was at 4 months pregnant... and the earliest I could get a place was September of this year.

I don't think a lot of people realise how long the waiting lists are and how far in advance they need to be sorting it, so I thought I'd pop this post up in case it helps anyone

I think it really does vary by area. I heard these warnings and starting looking recently even though I wouldn’t need a place for 18 months- everywhere near me is still accepting admissions for this September!

Really worth asking in your local area if you want a childminder also

Demand is going to increase . The problem been booking too far in advance - nurseries do change hands , new managers some better than others.

Definitely agree, I'm only 23 weeks pregnant and we've already gone on the waiting list. Demand will only increase over the next 12-18 months as the increase in funded hours kicks in (hopefully!). Especially if you want to pick a specific nursery.

That's brilliant. I've heard some people who can't get a place now until Jan 26 😫

I'm 10 weeks pregnant, and although I thought I was bonkers, contacted nursery's by me this week and most said they're full until January 2026!

On the other hand we haven't yet sent my almost 2 year old to nursery yet and I have found there was a lot of options for him. I think the problem is with the baby rooms and so I'm just about to put a £100 deposit down for a nursery without even having my 12 week scan or really knowing when I want the place for!

Yes it’s utterly insane…here the waiting lists are 18 months - 2 years!! It was more than a year when we had DD1 who is going to school in September, and for baby 2 we signed up at 10 weeks which felt crazy. Childminder not an option for us as we need early drop off and late pick up which I think is common here too as a lot of people commute. This extension of free hours funding from the government is really highlighting the shortage of places where we are.

We had to commit when I was 12 weeks pregnant. The child is about to do GCSEs. This isn't new.

Same, couple years ago now but I started looking in May time and got a place for September. And this was the case for all nurseries near me, I had a pick of 4 different ones. That being said I know our nursery said earlier this year they only had one place left for September.

My nursery knew I was pregnant with number 2 before I told almost anyone else! I needed a full time place in the baby room which I knew would be hard to come by.