Mums, dads.. People with young children. Looking for some advice

Wilma33

If you have paid for a nursery place then I'm sure the staff would be delighted if you didn't bring the child in as it's an easier day for them! But paying for more days than you need will work out expensive. So an au pair or nanny might work out better.

esmy

Another recommendation to look at a childminder - they are more likely to offer the flexibility regarding times, days off etc. Also think about looking for a minder/nursery near where either of you work rather than near home; this was more convenient for me till my children were at school.

Jagraf

view wrote: »

Yes we would pay for all days however not take our child in every day. Thought this might be frowned upon however? Although still haven't figured out how we would actually get our child there and back! Just a small hurdle then :-)

Thanks for the comment about no guilt :-) x

Sorry I didn't see Scotland so not sure if its the same.

If its a private nursery my experience was that you could just pick and choose - you are paying for the space.

This is 12 years ago so maybe things have changed ...

onlyroz

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Au pairs aren't supposed to work for more than 30 hours a week.

Perhaps an au-pair in combination with a nursery or childminder. The au-pair could cover the mornings and the nursery the afternoons.

And yes, of course you can pay for hours you don't use. I don't see why this would be a problem at all, as long as you can give them reasonable notice of the days you won't be in.

MandM90

An au pair around here is probably much more cost effective than nurseries. DD is 8 now but IIRC her nursery was £1.3k a month. Growing up we had au pairs (with mixed experiences...some of them were fab though) and the cost was reasonable.

I am however wondering if that age range is more the work of a nanny. Aren't au pairs (for the small fee they get) only meant to do some babysitting and "light housework" rather than a full time job?

I would contact a few childminders, and as above look into nanny sharing. Only the childminders themselves can tell you what it is they can do for you.

Ms_Chocaholic

Would it be easier to find a nursery/childminder where you work so you wouldn't have to drop your child off until later - 7.15 ish? Also you could collect your child possibly 45 minutes earlier when you finish work and before the drive home. That would save you up to 2 hours childcare every day but there's the disadvantage that your husband couldn't drop your child off at the nursery as it's an hour away from home.

Mojisola

view wrote: »

Do nurseries allow you to say pay for 4 days but then only take a child in on a random (paid for) day which would change every week? (As when OH had days during in the week our child wouldn't go to nursery as OH would like to spend the day with our child).

The new salary wouldn't allow for an au pair

If you can't afford an au pair, can you really afford to pay for full-time nursery (especially if you don't actually use the days you pay for?)

onlyroz

Costs of an au-pair:

https://www.aupairworld.com/en/au_pair_program/uk/family/pocket_money

£70-85 per week plus "room and board", and they can do up to 30 hours a week. So perhaps you could come to an arrangement with a local childminder to cover any hours required over and above the 30 hours of the au-pair?

view

Mojisola wrote: »

If you can't afford an au pair, can you really afford to pay for full-time nursery (especially if you don't actually use the days you pay for?)

Someone pointed out I was mixing up a nanny with an au pair. Very new to all of this so I used the wrong terminology. We have found fees for a few nurseries and by using the child care scheme we could afford five days a week but our child wouldn't go or five days.

view

onlyroz wrote: »

Costs of an au-pair:

https://www.aupairworld.com/en/au_pair_program/uk/family/pocket_money

£70-85 per week plus "room and board", and they can do up to 30 hours a week. So perhaps you could come to an arrangement with a local childminder to cover any hours required over and above the 30 hours of the au-pair?

Thanks for this. No room at our rental for an extra person unfortunately