Early child care options please?

gemmaj

At the risk of hijacking this post, I was wondering whether I could ask a few stupid questions?

I bought a house last year with my now-husband as step 1 of working towards having a baby. So of course we now have a large mortgage (theres no such thing as a small mortgage in Guernsey, and renting costs more than the mortgage). I am the main earner by far, my husband gets paid a pittance working at woolies - so there is no way I could give up work, and I don't want my hubbie to be a house husband and raise my kid. What are the child care options for when they are very young? Can they go to nursery or child care etc when they are just a month or 2 old? Would that mean I couldn't breast feed? (Or if I express could the baby have BOTH the bottle AND the natural way, or does the kid have to have the same all the time?)

Thanks for any info, I just can't find the information out that I need!

lottie26_2

I think they can go from about 6 months, when I had DD2 in 04 I had 6 months paid meternity leave I think its 9 months now, so you could take that if you don't think you could manage money wise whilst doing this do you have any spare money to put a bit by until you have your child?
Good luck, they are worth everything xx

Pink.

Hi gemmaj,

I have moved your post over to the families board where hopefully you will get more replies.

Pink


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comping_cat

You might find a child minder might take your baby at an earlier age than a nursery.

scoobydo_2

Hi I'm a childminder and this would be a good option for you as a childminder can offer you with a very young baby a more personal care and cater for yours and the childs needs . You will be able to express the breast milk and it be fed to the baby at the minders if that was your choice. The babies built up a good bond with the minder and its a real homely type care where they get used to being around othe young children ,though a maximum number is 3 children under 5 yrs.prices vary but you can look around and meet someone you feel comfortable with and has the same childcare ideas and values as you .

hope this helps

alison

galaxyone

Childcare is expensive - will probably cost more than your husband earns, if he earns 'a pittance'. Also, there's no way of telling how you're going to feel until you have actually had the baby. I can't imagine any mother really wanting to leave their baby at such a young age and I think it's pretty selfish actually.

Why wouldn't you want your husband to look after the baby anyway??

Theogirl_2

Hiya, the nursery at my work will take babies from 3 months, I think that this is about the earliest that most will. Does your work not offer any sort of paid maternity leave? I don't know what the regulations are for this sort of thing on Guernsey.

troll35

Hiya, I agree with scooby. I think a childminder is a very good option for parents with a young baby. We (I am one) can often be more flexible and supportive than private nurseries. Generally we are only allowed to look after 1 baby under 1 year old - you have to get special permission from OFSTED to care for more than one eg.twins.
When you do start looking for childcare (probably whilst you are still pregnant) visit as many places as you can, several times if necessary.
With a childminder try and have at least one visit whilst they are caring for children as this will give you a very good idea of what is on offer and whether it will suit you. Don't be afraid to ask for references, see inspection reports and don't forget gut instinct. You have to be able to get on well with the childminder as he/she will be an important person in your child's life.
For private nurseries I would look carefully at the staffing of the baby room -some have a tendency to put the young, inexperienced, trainee staff in the baby room (I know this may cause uproar with some nursery workers out there -sorry!) I say this because I actually care for a baby and a toddler who's mums work in private day nurseries
Another point - many childminders can offer continuous care ie. as your child grows up they can still continue to offer their services whilst your child goes to playgroup, state nursery, primary school and secondary school until your child is of an age where you are happy to let them stay at home alone.

Hope this is of help, good luck

Spendless

Think it must vary but think I've seen one saying from 3 months, though this was before paid maternity leave went up to 6 months. You could express so the baby could have breast milk. Like others have said childcare is dear if you both work at least 16 hours a week you might get help with childcare costs from tax credits. Check here www.entitledto.com

If you don't thaen you could see if your employer offered childcare vouchers via salary sacrifice scheme.

How does your hubby feel about it. Would he be happy to stay at home with baby?

When you do the figures if childcare is going to take all or most of hubbys wages what about him working part-time evenings/weekends when you are home.

troll35

Me again, I just re-read your question gemmaj. With regards to the breast feeding you won't know the answer to that until you have a baby. Some women find it easy to express (my sister), some find it nigh on impossible (me). My sister was also lucky to have an understanding employer (Inland Revenue) who provided her with a private room and refridgeration facilities at work. Also all babies are different, when my sister went back to work it took me two weeks of feeding breast milk with a syringe before I could get my niece to have a bottle (breast is best!! she is still stubborn). Some will happily take both powdered and breast milk and others won't.

debsley_pig

Childcare does cost a huge amount, though. Not sure about where you live, but the average costs in the UK are (for a full-time place) about £7,000 per year.