I am starting now to look at daycare options and looking for jobs. It is really difficult as with no job yet, I don't have a clear start date for nursery nor any idea if whether an employer will take 3 days or will ask me to work 4.
I have an idea that jobs will most likely be in one of three or 4 geographic locations, so I need daycare near where I live, or else in a location on the way-ish to any of the 3 most likely locations.
The nurseries I like are highly subscribed - waiting lists for all or some days. So I need to plan to possibly have a childminder as a fall back option for the day/s I might be on a waiting list for. Nanny is too expensive even compared with nursery for my two children.
I have put their names down at my favourite nursery for a hopeful start date in April (hopefully I will have a job by then!). If I don't, but places at nursery come up, I have to take the places then anyway or go down on the waiting list again. And will probably have to mix and match nursery and childminder until all the days I need at the favourite nursery are available. I am not relishing looking for a childminder not knowing what days I will want nor the contract length. And not great for the children to have two day care set ups to adjust to. But I don't want to send them to a nursery I am not happy with either - the ones with spaces available seem to be less full for a reason, it seems to me.
It is really hard! I am envious of people who have parents etc who could step in temporarily but this is not an option for me. I just hope that a job cones up and nursery magically has places when I need them.
I am lucky in that only one nursery I looked at takes a fee for putting you on the waiting list but where I used to live in London they all did, I ended up paying loads to be on waiting lists that actually I was looking at too late to have a chance if getting the baby into by the time I'd have had to return to work, and was really lucky a new nursery opened up just in time that I liked.