Expecting first baby - childcare costs don't add up

giger

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Not sure about the idea of your OH getting a weekend evening job when first baby comes along - to me this would be a bit like working full time 24/7 with a new baby (may work for some admittedly)

I agree, although didn't want to say earlier for fear of getting a flaming! I think without the support, looking after baby all week and then working weekends/evenings will be too much for her.

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

giger wrote:

1/ having no family nearby to support us and for other reasons means she may not cope very well on her own

Your comment here was the case with me - I did not cope well on my own - I had no transport to get to the various local groups for support/company suggested by HV's and thought I could continue to use public transport but this proved problematic with pram, baby and all the other baby stuff to transport! as a result I became very lonely and felt the need to return to work (so that I could afford to learn to drive for one thing!):rotfl:
What I earned only just covered the nursery fee but it was worth it to keep my job (later on I needed that when hubbie and I parted company)

I know your worried now and want to plan but I think it may be a case of having to wait and see when the time comes

Thanks, & she will also have no transport. I just want to try and sort it out so my other half doesn't have to worry - just trying to do the right thing for everyone. I think she will lose her sanity without her job, but have just calculated that she earns £39.06 a day net, local childcare is £40.50. I'll break the bad news to her later _pale_

mrcow

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Not sure about the idea of your OH getting a weekend evening job when first baby comes along - to me this would be a bit like working full time 24/7 with a new baby (may work for some admittedly)

Never thought of it like that, but welcome to my world anyway! (and I have three children lol :eek:) Maybe that explains a few things about my emotional state lol

I know your worried now and want to plan but I think it may be a case of having to wait and see when the time comes

This is good advice......a lot can happen in the 6 months to December and you may feel that your options become a lot clearer by then. In the mean time, enjoy the pregnancy and get as much sleep as possible as you won't be getting much over Christmas

galvanizersbaby

Giger That nursery sounds really pricey - my daughters monthly full time bill is 652 pounds so think that works out around 30 pounds a day and I live on the South Coast and nothing's cheap round here! :mad:

Is the proposed nursery near to OH's work or yours? - might be worth checking out some others if that's a possible option - I know most charge a bit extra for babies due to nappies etc... but that still seems high

Try not to worry yourself/her too much about it now - it will work itself out somehow - when is your baby due?

mrcow

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Giger That nursery sounds really pricey - my daughters monthly full time bill is 652 pounds so think that works out around 30 pounds a day and I live on the South Coast and nothing's cheap round here! :mad:

I did think that, I live in a main commuter route to London and haven't come across anywhere as expensive as that (and I've seen a lot of nurseries round here!).

galvanizersbaby

mrcow wrote: »

Never thought of it like that, but welcome to my world anyway! (and I have three children lol :eek:) Maybe that explains a few things about my emotional state lol

Tee hee! - I have 2 children and work fulltime during the day and I reckon I could physically manage to work weekends aswell now they are older (4 and 5) if I had to but I don't think I could have done it when I'd just had my first baby :eek:
Mind you then I would hardly ever see them - weekend is when we do all our fun stuff - hope you get a break to do fun stuff sometimes mrcow x

mrcow

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Mind you then I would hardly ever see them - weekend is when we do all our fun stuff - hope you get a break to do fun stuff sometimes mrcow x

Yeah they are 6, 2 & 1 now so a little older so every day is fun stuff lol and we go for days out in the school holidays etc. When they were all babies, I actually thought it was easier.....at least I was only working to my own timetable and not the school's.

Doing grown up stuff on the other hand......what is that again?

This is one of the biggest dilemmas for any mother I think - when and if to return to work and how to do it. No matter what you do, you feel guilty and never feel like anything you do is good enough.

giger

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Giger That nursery sounds really pricey - my daughters monthly full time bill is 652 pounds so think that works out around 30 pounds a day and I live on the South Coast and nothing's cheap round here! :mad:

Is the proposed nursery near to OH's work or yours? - might be worth checking out some others if that's a possible option - I know most charge a bit extra for babies due to nappies etc... but that still seems high

Try not to worry yourself/her too much about it now - it will work itself out somehow - when is your baby due?

Hi baby not due until 5th December. I'm just a bit of a planner that's all. We actually have an appointment at the nursery for next week as places are so limited!

It's a kidi-caru. Our housing estate has a primary school and this nursery school. It's a 10 minutes walk from the house and we both pass it going to/from work so is very handy. It is also modern, they have small classes and it looks like they have a really good development programme. Thing is, other nurseries are cheaper, but only slightly. When you factor in some are in town so traffic is bad or are out of the way this one is the easiest option for us, & we really like it.

Plus I am the only one that drives and I leave the house at 7:30. The other half could drop baby off on the way to the bus stop, and I can pick up after work. If it was elsewhere my other half wouldn't be able to get there.

galvanizersbaby

giger wrote: »

Hi baby not due until 5th December. I'm just a bit of a planner that's all. We actually have an appointment at the nursery for next week as places are so limited!

It's a kidi-caru. Our housing estate has a primary school and this nursery school. It's a 10 minutes walk from the house and we both pass it going to/from work so is very handy. It is also modern, they have small classes and it looks like they have a really good development programme. Thing is, other nurseries are cheaper, but only slightly. When you factor in some are in town so traffic is bad or are out of the way this one is the easiest option for us, & we really like it.

Plus I am the only one that drives and I leave the house at 7:30. The other half could drop baby off on the way to the bus stop, and I can pick up after work. If it was elsewhere my other half wouldn't be able to get there.

Nothing wrong with a bit of forward planning giger
Does sound like you'll be paying over the odds for the kidi-caru but I guess if it's your first choice and your happy (never heard of one of these BTW)
One thought I had re the transport arrangements to drop off/pick up - seeing as the kidi-caru is 10 mins walk from the house (convienient when one of you is at home) how far is it from where one of you works? - in the first year of nursery with both my 2 I had to leave work and collect due to illness on many occasions (they catch anything and everything at first as their immune systems build up - don't be alarmed BTW this is usual with nurseries:D )

I chose my nursery location as it was 2 mins walk from work so I could be there in record time on foot

You've probably thought of that but just occurred to me!

galvanizersbaby

mrcow wrote: »

Yeah they are 6, 2 & 1 now so a little older so every day is fun stuff lol and we go for days out in the school holidays etc. When they were all babies, I actually thought it was easier.....at least I was only working to my own timetable and not the school's.

Doing grown up stuff on the other hand......what is that again?

This is one of the biggest dilemmas for any mother I think - when and if to return to work and how to do it. No matter what you do, you feel guilty and never feel like anything you do is good enough.

I agree mrcow - I think it is a big dilemma
Know what you mean about the school timetable too - my son started in reception last Sept and it's a right juggle! - they've just decided to have another one of their 'inset' days randomly as apparently they hadn't put enough on the school timetable this year! :mad:

giger

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Nothing wrong with a bit of forward planning giger
Does sound like you'll be paying over the odds for the kidi-caru but I guess if it's your first choice and your happy (never heard of one of these BTW)
One thought I had re the transport arrangements to drop off/pick up - seeing as the kidi-caru is 10 mins walk from the house (convienient when one of you is at home) how far is it from where one of you works? - in the first year of nursery with both my 2 I had to leave work and collect due to illness on many occasions (they catch anything and everything at first as their immune systems build up - don't be alarmed BTW this is usual with nurseries:D )

I chose my nursery location as it was 2 mins walk from work so I could be there in record time on foot

You've probably thought of that but just occurred to me!

This is the place:
http://www.kiddicaru.com/
It seems to be very good and just so happens that is is part of our estate. It is a 10 min drive for me to work so no probs if I had to dash back. On the other hand my fiancees work place is a mile away but takes an hour on the bus :mad: . But my work are flexible so wouldn't be a problem for me to leave.
I will look at other nurseries (it would only be right) but could be more of a problem as we work on different sides of town and we work slightly different hours.