How much do London childminders cost?

[SamboM]

DH keeps telling me that we could save a fortune if dd went to a childminder instead of our nanny (who is actually pretty cheap as nannys go and is totally wonderful).

I would like to prove him wrong but don't feel I can call individual childminders and waste their time just to make a point!

We live in Putney, shortly to move to Sheen. Sometimes our nanny gets here at 7am if we both have early meetings, but more usually at 8am and she never leaves before 6, quite often 7pm.

So my q is, how much would it cost to drop her at a childminder's instead? Do they charge you if you are late collecting (I often work outside london and get stuck in traffic coming back). What time in the morning can you drop them off? And how late can they stay?

I work from home 2 days a week, so those days it would only be 9 to 5.

And finally, can anyone recommend a childminder in Sheen in case it does work out much cheaper!

don't know about prices but from your description of your work I think the sheer additional stress of having to drop/pick up as opposed to the nanny coming to your house would negate any small financial saving!
don't know about you, but I found that my working life/childcare etc was very finely balanced - great most of the time but if anything slipped it was a disaster. the mere thought of having to pack up children with all the things they need for the day and drop them off somewhere BEFORE going to work makes my heartrate rise and my palms go sweaty....!

why don't you tell your dh how much extra work is involved (rising at least an hour earlier etc, huge problems if child is sick and can't go to childminder etc) and he will probably quietly drop the suggestion?!

I am a childminder and I charge £40 a day, maximum 10 hours, so £200 for a week, overtime is after 6.00pm and is at double rate,

Whilst that might seem expensive, I then have to take off Tax and National Insurance and expenses, so what I get at the end is a lot less!

Nannies are quoted net of all deductions, so £200 a week in your nannies hand is costing you about £330 gross.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both types opf care, with nannies you can leave dd in her cot asleep if you leave early, with a childminder you'd have to wake her and take her to the c/m.

The extra cost might be justified in that she is looked after in your home, her own cot, toys, familiarity, your food etc, but then you have extra bills for heating, lighting, wear and tear, food for both nanny and baby.

I'd stick with the nanny if you can afford to, DD must pbviouly be happy and if you decide to have another, the nanny really does become the better option.

PPH I already have! He works in London and doesn't have to leave till 8.30, so I said to him if he doesn't mind getting dd up, giving her her bottle and breakfast, getting her dressed, getting her lunch ready as childminders don't provide it (ok I was lieing to try and get him to say it was too much!) and then dropping her at the childminders, then if I am late getting back he would have to leave work early, pick her up, give her tea, bath her, play with her, give her bottle, put her to bed, then feed the dog and make dinner (he was looking pretty traumatised by this point) oh and video eastenders for me.

He still says he wants to find out how much it will cost!

Thanks Alibubbles, will show him your msg. DD is so happy with the nanny, and yes we are planning another so that should be tic.

Ah, good point Batters. Will tell him I am too busy and that I sorted out the first lot of childcare, he can do the second. She'll be 18 before he gets round to it!

ps Batters, where do you live?

another thing to consider is whether your nanny does any baby related housework for you e.g. making meals, baby laundry, general tidying up after playtime. needless to say, if you move to a childminder you will also lose this.

She does all of the above, and other stuff for us too. If she sees we are out of something eg milk, bread, she goes and buys it! She is always doing little bits and pieces like taking stuff to the drycleaners, walking the dog etc. I know that our lives would be hell without her!

sambom, may i ask how much you are paying her (you said she is cheap as nannies go) as i'm wondering what to do about 2 sets of nursery fees...

£250 per week plus use of a car at all times. She is live out.

The reason dh is worried is that we are moving house in August, our mortgage will be an extra £700 per month and for the past 5 months we have had the extra expense of a nanny, so we are feeling rather skint!

Bossykate, how much do your 2 sets of fees come to?

thanks for your response, sambo. assuming the numbers you have quoted are net and an effective tax/ni rate of 34%, i make this £1641 pcm. two sets of nursery fees would be £2000 pcm. wouldn't want to move ds from nursery though!

dilemmas, dilemmas...

if it's twins, dh will have to take a long sabbatical from his job! i know how that would go down!

The voucher scheme works out at £406 per term, which helps but doesn't go that far when you're used to paying about £750 per month for a full-time nursery.

The sessions are not free if the child is in a private nursery. They give £612 per term towards the cost. The nursery also has to be registered for Early Years education, not just as a day nursery.

Do all nurserys take them?

Interesting difference in allowance, maybe it's different in different LEAs. Only nurseries that follow the LEAs early years curriculum and are registered with the LEA can take them. At the moment you can find out by seeing if there's an OFSTED report for your daycare/preschool etc. Some daycare nurseries offer some preschool provision (letters, numbers etc) but don't follow LEA guidelines and therefore don't qualify. Another reason why a childminder/nanny can be a better option.

So can you use these vouchers towards a Nanny then? Sorry if I sound dim, I can't seem to find any info on them. Is there a website?

SamboM, you could ask your employers to give you nanny vouchers, then you would save 11% on the amount of vouchers you ask for.

I get paid in Busy Bee vouchers, my families request them each month and then give them to me and my account is credited three days later. THe families I look after save £100 a month as their childcare bill is £1000, so although I get £1000, it only costs them £890.

There are other companies who offer them as well, I got the employers to set it up, it is very easy. I think there was a thread about vouchers before somewhere,

Batters, don't get me wrong, I'm pleased to have the vouchers as every little helps. I was just pointing out that it doesn't cover full-time childcare, which it presumably wasn't set up to do anyway.

You know, what worries me about having another child isn't really the impact on ds, me, dh or my career, it's the bloody cost! Childcare is a nightmare. Would have to shoot mum in the leg to force her stay at home with my kids. £2000 a month???

you're not wrong, aloha, i've been looking at our finances today, making me feel rather queasy...