Child care costs and when to look for it

[widowwadman]

Horatio is only due in January but I already wonder when I need to start looking for child care arrangements and how much it'll cost us. I was actually hoping to get back to work when he/she is about 6 months old. I only know the horror stories from home (Germany) were kids have to be registered at birth to maybe get a nursery place at 3 years so I wonder what it's like here.

Also, what is better, nursery or childminder? And how much am I looking at spending? I live in York, if location makes any difference.

 

[daftscotslass]

We're going for a nursery - I know most of the childminders in my area (went to school with their kids!) and I don't particularly get on with any of them so it's not an option for us.

Several nurseries in my area have waiting lists - the one we wanted asked for a final decision about 5 weeks ago (Becky was 9 weeks) to reserve our place in January. To get the nursery she wanted my cousin had to have her daughter registered before birth. A full time place is about £150 a week for us.

 

[tinkerbell*]

Hey,
I work in a nursery (at NHS hospital) we charge £30 for a full day and £14.90 for 4hrs!
the nursery is open from 7am - 5:45pm.
the waiting list is Reeeeeeeeeally Long,,, you have to put baby on waiting list before they are even born!

 

[widowwadman]

Ouch I guess I best quiz the midwife about it too, then. Doesn't help that I don't really know people with kids round here.

 

[xkikix]

Ouch I guess I best quiz the midwife about it too, then. Doesn't help that I don't really know people with kids round here.

Or just ring round a few nurseries you like the look of, ask them what their waiting list is and ask for a viewing

 

[Becky]

The best thing to do is get the phone book out and start ringing round the nurseries/childminders that are in your area (or on your route to work) and ask them what kind of waiting list they have. When I was ringing round for Lucy I found that some nurseries had a waiting list of 2 years no matter what provision you wanted and others could take in a month or so depending on hours.

While you're on the phone ask them to send you some info about costs (they all seem to work slightly differently - e.g. our nursery provide home cooked lunch but others ask you take packed lunch).

Once you have an idea of how quickly you need to move start asking for visits then you can decide where you want your little one to go. We put Lucy's name down at 5 months for a place when she was 10 months.

As for childminders vs nurseries, the only thing I can ever think of is that often a childminder is one person so if they are sick/on holiday you need to be able to make other arrangements whereas a nursery will always have enough staff to cover.

 

[Bubalu]

My LO will go to the nursery at DH's workplace. We had to wait for my Mat B form to book a slot (which I got at 20 wks). We immediately applied for full time and the earliest we can have all days is Aug 2009 (I'm due in a couple of weeks). They said that this date can come forward if there are cancellation and I can have 1 day a week from June 2009. So I'd say book ASAP!

 

[lisa282]

I must be really lucky then after you ladies, cos when I enquired about putting my son into nursery, several of the local ones had places available, they just asked for a months notice before starting him to allow for staff requirements etc. I have also already asked about putting my daughter into the same nursery when I return to work after my 9 months off and they said it shouldnt be a problem, just want the months notice again.

Just shows how much things vary from area to area......x

 

[mandspice]

I checked out a few nurseries on my area last week and 3 out of 4 said to come back 2 - 3 months before needed - only one had a waiting list.

Prices around here average £35 a day but it does vary a lot I think....childminders seem to charge around the same but for some reason my instinct says nursery....not sure why, just think it's a personal choice.

Once you've seen a few nurseries check out the Ofsted website - you can get full reports on all aspects of the care, it's really useful. The nursery I saw with the waiting list, also the most expensive, had the worst report!

 

[nori]

Im personally opting for a childminder twice a week which has been recommended to me. She charges £3.50 and hour. Ive never liked the idea of a nursery as there are so many children in some but its definately a personal choice.

Claire x

 

[Jade&Evie]

The cheapest local nursery here is £845 a month

I don't like the idea of a childminder when Evie is so young.

I've been advised to book 3 months in advance.

 

[mdsremos]

Hi
We checked out the Ofsted website and found a link for Childminders where they list what times/services they offer and you can contact ones you are interested in for a chat.
We started looking when Charlie was 3 months old and that was two months or so before I was looking to return to work (when only 6 months leave was paid for). We were so lucky to find a Childminder called Debbie just round the corner from where we live and paid £2.50/day to keep Charlie's place once we decided to book him with her and now pay £125.00 per week from 7.45am to 5.30pm 5 days a week.
The best decision we ever made was to choose a Childminder as he has developed so well in a loving, homely environment with Debbies own children and is one of the family when he is there!!! He has been with Debbie since 5 months old and we would not consider anything else and he will still be with her part-time when he starts Pre-School and even Junior School for drop off and tea-time.