Anyone work with one at school and one at nursery/cm?

[TreeTrunkThighs]

DD1 is 6 and so in school full time. I am currently SAHM with DD2 who is 18 months.

I am thinking about getting a job but am struggling so much with how to manage the childcare part of it all.

So if you do it, how do you do it? And what do you do as a job - looking for inspiration there too!

The people I know with children same age as mine or thereabouts have a lot of family support, actually grandparents seem do a lot of the childcare/to-ing and fro-ing from school. We have no family close by.

Anyone any ideas?

We will be in this situation from September when ds1 starts school.

IMO the best option is a childminder who could have your dd2 all day and then pick up your dd1 from school (and possibly before school if you need it). This is our plan! Your problem will be that finding a cm that you like with availability for both dds. Depending how confident you are about getting a job you could start looking for a cm at the same time as looking for work. IME personal recommendations are the key. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a good cm and see what comes back. We heard that our current cm had vacancies by word of mouth.

Do you have a dh/dp? If so you may be able to reduce the hours of childcare that you need by one of you going in early and then getting back to do pick up while the other does drop off but the works a bit later. Does that make sense? Many jobs have neough flexibility for this to work.

Thanks muddleduck.

I think I much prefer the sound of a cm picking up dd1 from school than her having to go to afterschool club all the time.

I do have a DH - he has his own business - you'd think this might mean more flexibility but in reality it just doesn't happen. If anything he is more committed to being there early and working late so all drop offs and pick ups will come down to me.

I am really quite liking the idea of one cm who, as well as looking after dd2, picks up or takes dd1 to school...at least they'll see each other if not me/DH!

That opens up a few more possibilities for me

I work pt and have a 20 month old dd and a 5 year old dd who is at school.

I am very fortunate in that I work shifts. Dh does vert regular hours, i.e. home by 5pm ish most nights.

dd1 goes to wraparound before and/or after school the days I am working. In the holidays we muddle through. My mum (not local) has her occasionally. If we didn't have my mum then I would either put her in play scheme (same staff as wraparound) or see if dd2's cm has space.

dd2 has a cm, who she loves. She was in a nursery but it didn't work out for her.

For dh and I it works that I can request some of the rubbish shifts (e.g. late shift on Fri, any weekends etc) so that I can be available for childcare. He is always here for the evenings and weekends if I am working.

If you have any choice in your hours, I recommend seeing if occasionally there are unsocial hours. Rubbish for my social life obviously but with 2 dds we don't get out a huge amount anyway!

p.s. I am a mental health nurse. Jobs in healthcare often feature unsocial hours which in our case is a benefit.

We have one at school in year4, one at playgroup - soon to be nursery. Dh takes them to school/pg, then cm picks up dd for the afternoon and ds goes to after school club. I finish earlier and can pick them both up, It works well for us but school and cm are failry near to each other. Also Dh was lucky to be able to change his hours to 9.30 to 5.30 whilst I work 8 until 4. You have to work with what's best for you I guess.

I teach.

Ds is at school (reception), dds with a CM who also drops off/picks up ds (her dds attend same school).

Dh does most of the dropping & collecting from CM - if he's working away it's a logistical nightmare.

It works because CM has looked after our kids for 4 years now - & is happy to be v flexible & go out of her way - with 3 kids in 4 years we're basically her main income for the best part of a decade - she's fantastic.

I am a childminder and I look after 4 children from 1 family. The older 3 are at school so i have them before and after school and the youngest is with me all day.
Their parents like the fact that
a. they are all together for a lot of the day
b. they only have to drop off and pick up from 1 place
c. they can all still be together during school holidays
d. they are in a home enviroment where they can just chill out and do what they want after school as they feel before/after school club would be too tiring

Hope that helps