working in london, have a child. possible?

Fluffi

As a Londoner I'd tend to agree with Kicki ... 90 mins door to door is good travel time. Even people living in zone 2 tend can have 45 min D2D journeys depending on where their workplace is. There are also huge benefits to staying near your support network (who'll be able to help with childcare when your child is sick and the nursery won't take them due to their illness, strikes, snow etc).

I dunno how much rent in Wimbledon/ is right now but I do know a single room in a houseshare in Maida Vale is £600pcm, so I dread to think what a 1 bed flat (assuming you sleep in the living room and your child has the bedroom) would be at least £1000pcm plus you'd still have travel costs, bills, food etc on top. I know childless graduates who are in good jobs earning £35k+ that rent rooms in flatshares because housing costs are that crazy!

I wonder if you'd be better off trying to find local childcare arrangements that cover slightly longer hours like 7am til 7pm? Or is there another working parent in the area you could share with maybe? E.g. so you could drop your 5yo off at their house at 6:30am/7am so you can get to work by 8am (while they take your child with theirs to school) and then you finish work at 4:30 and pick the both kids up at 6pm and this allows the other parent to work until 5:30/6pm. This would also give you more flexibility when you have to attend functions/work late.

Travelqueen

Hey
I think in the first instance see how you get on with the job. There is no point making any firm decisions until you know what your options are. However, I do understand that you are trying to get your thoughts in order incase you should get an offer in London.
So, my twopennorth, as a previous poster said, you may find that if you are offered a job in London that you can have flexible working hours or even work from home which would certainly help in the short-run.
You don't say your age, but London can be a lonely place to live if you don't know people when you first move there. Also, whilst I realise your child is still young, do you have a network around them at the moment that you would miss?
London isn't impossible for kids, I know friends of mine who do it, but in the main they aren't single parents.
I would also think carefully about long commutes. Last year I took a job as I was so desperate to leave my last employ, which was 75miles from my house. Having written my car off on the motorway only a few months earlier I didn't fancy driving everyday so commuted 4 hours by bike and train instead. I left the house at 6.30am and at the earliest returned at 7.30pm. I told myself that in London people do the same thing everyday, as I'd done it before too, but it nearly killed me (especially cycling in the snow!). Anything is doable when you have to manage, but whether it is sustainable is another matter.
I think you need to be honest with yourself about what is most important to you, but also know that your child will be becoming increasingly independent and a good job will be good for both of you even if it might be hard to start with.
With regards to rents in London, they can be high, however, when you know where you are located you can choose somewhere on the same tube line to make things easy. Out into zone 3/4 on the good lines like the Piccadilly or Central its only 30mins into central London. A friend of mine commutes from Loughton (zone 6 east London / essex) into Liverpool street everyday, his office is 2 minutes from the station. Can you research potential offices and then have a quick look on sharing sites like gumtree to give yourself more of an idea what you might be looking at housing cost wise?
I do think though that you will be looking at minimum £500/£600 a month probably plus bills - ouch!
Good luck anyway, and fingers crossed on getting the job!

Nickynoo1

Thanks to you all for being my sounding boards, and for offering food for thought. I know I haven't got the job yet, but i do like to think abouth the implications if I do. Also they may have placements outside London, I have to put a preference so maybe i should try to steer clear. Although, if I had no child I would be up there like a shot for a couple of years bright lights living.
thanks