Childcare??

Hey girlies, I hope you are all well.

I was just wondering when you all go back to work what sort of childcare you are going to have and when you are going to think about sorting it out?!

Im planning on going back to work 2 days a week, my mother in law will have Archie 1 of the days and I havnt really thought much about the other day!

Please let me know what you are all planning xx

Thankyou
Adele xx

Helloooo!

I think your best route would be to ring your local Childcare Information services and they will give you a list of all the childcare providers in your area, childminders and nurseries etc.............. then you can compare Ofsted reports and prices, disance from you etc. and work out what works best for you!
I am a childminder so I am slightly biased towards thinking they are best for personal care as the ratio's of children to adults will be less, in some cases your child might be the only one they have! Lots of people prefer the stricter routines of a nursery for their children though! At the end of the day it is your decision!
Good luck XXXXX

Childcare

Hi Adele,

I am going back to work at the end of October but only three days a week. Emily is booked into a nursery which has a good reputation and I wanted her to be somewhere where she can interact with other children and do activities etc. Hopefully this will propell her skills of talking and moving about. She will only be 8 months and will be in a room (large one) with a maximum of 9 children and there will be 3 adults to take care. The room is very large, clean and packed full of toys and there is a quiet area too for sleeping or a room for cots if this is what we want Emily to do. They will do organised activites but will follow her routine and feed her what we feed her at home.

I am looking forward to going back but I think it will be hard the first week or so to get into a routine and getting Emily used to a nursery and me getting used to leaving her there. She seems a social little girl so I am hoping that it will go well.......!

Although it is expensive, it works out about £44 per day, we can drop Emily off as early at 7am and pick her up as late as 6.30pm and all her meals are included in the price. The only thing that is not included is her nappies and milk. When you work out this price per hour it was not that bad. Plus Mark's work is part of the childcare scheme so he is putting money away now to reduce the cost a little bit.

I did not want a childminder on a one to one basis as then Emily would not interact with other children.

Love Natalie & Emily x

hava look round...

Hiya,
Well I wrk an hr a day n my mum has kids so thats my childcare sorted.
I use 2 send now 3 yr old 2 a private day nursery 1 day a week purely 2 mix with other kid her age. She loved it after the initial shock n crying sessions. lol!
It cost me £30 a day, including meals open 8 til 5.30pm. It was £15 a session.
A nursery I wrked in a few years ago was roughly the same prices n opened 7.30 til 6pm.
Its a hard decision though ain ... I would definately look round n ask other mums in area what local places r like, go visit as many as possible as no 2 places r the same! Childminders are another option.
U can start looking wheneva though, sum use 2 look round where I wrked when they were pregnant!!!!
I would have a look round when possible so u get a feel of different places etc. U then have more time 2 choose.
Good luck n all the best hun. xx mummyand2. xx

Hi adele

I'm going back in Feb and have provisionally put Sam down for a nursery nearby that seems very nice. He'll be going 2 days a week and then 2 days at my mums and I'll have weds off. I also looked at childminders but all the ones nearby were termtime only so nursery it is. I wasn't sure whether to go childminder or nursery as I think there are pros and cons for both but location was important, want him to be near home as OH works from home so will be easy for him to drop off and be near if needed.
I was initially dreading the thought of leaving Sam but feel better now we've seen a few nurseries and decided on one and he liked it when we visited.

Good luck with the hunt, babycentre has a good page about questions to ask when looking round btw.

Rach x x x