Share your childcare tips with The Childcare Voucher Providers Association - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

Sorting out reliable childcare can be a difficult task for any parent. The struggles of trying to organise appropriate childcare can sometimes turn your whole day upside down. With that being said The Childcare Voucher Providers Association would like to hear about the tips or shortcuts you have for arranging your childcare, whether you’re a working parent or not.

Here’s what the Childcare Voucher Providers Association has to say: “We are on a mission to ensure that working parents have the best support possible for arranging their childcare. And this includes a genuine choice in the financial support that best suits their families. We think it’s great that the Government is focusing on improving access to childcare support and we welcome the additional choice that tax-free childcare will bring to accompany the support that millions of parents have received from Childcare Vouchers.

However, the Government wants to close the voucher regime to new parents in April 2018. For many parents, Childcare Vouchers will provide far more financial support than tax-free childcare, including for couples with one working parent who won’t be able to claim any financial support at all under tax-free childcare. That’s why we think rather than closing one scheme, the Government should keep the voucher scheme open as well as tax-free childcare to give parents a genuine choice and access to the support that best suits their family. If you agree with this then please feel free to sign this petition to keep the voucher scheme open.”

Do you have any tips on managing your childcare around a busy working life? How do you manage when you have to drop your kids off at different providers? Have you got any tips that save you money? Or perhaps you enlist the help from family members as well as childcare providers?

Whatever your tips are share them on the thread below, where one lucky MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck.
MNHQ

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Lucky to have a large close family who helps out a lot with looking after the little one. We do take her to daycare for a day or two each week mainly to let her get use to seeing other adults and interacting with other children.

We are very lucky to have retired grandparents near by that can help with our busy schedules! Not sure what we would do without them!

The safest place to keep them is locked in the freezer, slows 'em down a bit and they can't come to any harm in there - as long as you're not away for more than an hour or two ;-)

Organisation is key. Plan meals, plan for events (e.g. fancy dress days, birthday parties), plan everything. I have never been as organised in my life until I had children and worked full time. My husband and I have a joint online calendar - everything goes in it. If I need to work late/plan an evening out, I can check the diary and see if it clashes with anything else.

Family is always best for childcare. If you don't have family then listen to your friends and go by their recommendations.

We relied on our children's grandparents and took advantage of the subsidised childcare hours otherwise it would not have been financially viable to return to work

I did a child swop with my friend in the early days! We both worked part time and looked after each other's children on our days off! It was hard work but saved money!

We used a holiday club throughout the summer, It ended up very expensive and we have vowed not to use the holiday club again! My Friend has been really helpful and we swap days and help each other

I try and help my friends out when I can by picking up their children from nursery and school and they do the same for me which allows me to do some longer working days which are essential to pay for the childcare costs!

When it comes to picking primary schools, one with a breakfast club is a massive help. Also getting together with other parents and sharing school runs and after school care can save money, with everyone benefitting from the arrangement.

I mix between family and childcare. Whenever they are at family I work extra hours and build it up for extra holiday time to have with them myself.

Luckily I have family around who provide support - the cost of a nursery place is super high and would literally make it worthless working

Neither my husband or I are high earners and we have never had family available to care for children. We have 4 children where the eldest is now 22 and the youngest is 11 and we have finally reached the point where we don't need much in the way of childcare. Whilst the children were very young, my husband worked full-time during the day sometime between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00. I then did various part-time roles to fit in around him - childminding, home typing, bar work, Evening & Weekend Receptionist at our local Accident & Emergency Department. Although these roles didn't pay as much as a full-time role, I never had to worry about being let down by childcare and, to be honest, I always wanted to be at home with my children during their early years, so I got the best of both worlds. In fact, I did do a home typing job alongside most of my p/t jobs from the time my eldest daughter was about 6 months until she was about 14, so I probably earned just as much as if I had had to pay for childcare.

When my youngest daughter started school aged just 4, I took on a position working in our local M & S store. This was initially 20 hours a week, working from 6-10 am. My husband adjusted his hours by 30 minutes in the morning, so that he could take our youngest to school. I was offered full-time within 6 weeks but felt that there were too many holidays to cover so compromised on working 6 am - 1.30 pm. During the holidays, my eldest daughter, who was nearly 16 looked after her siblings until I got home. Unfortunately I suffered an injury so left in the May. After the summer I found work at our hospital and worked from 8am - 1.30 pm. These hours were fantastic as my husband saw the children to school, i was home before they got in and we didn't need any childcare. I would definitely recommend to anyone weighing up the pros and cons that they really consider the advantages of one person working part-time. The lower salary may not actually be that much less once childcare is taken out of the equation.