dojj

iTrader: (3)

anyone else got the same problems as me?
the place that we booked into last summer have just got back to us saying the've got a vacany, but at £19 for a half day that's a fair whack of money for the week, £190 all in so i'm thinking i'll have to say no

the only bonus is that this is on the way to work for the mrs

then again, there is another place we have looked at that is £118 a week, but it's a long way out for the mrs to go to

and then there is the place across the road from the mrs that is £50 a week but fuck going there as junior went there on friday afternoon and came back with a big bruise on his eyelid

or i can leave him with the folks but the old dear is blind in one eye and says she can't look after him no more and my old man is a bit of a bumbling git to say the least when it comes to child care

there is only another 4 or so months before the summer holidays and the mrs is due to pop out sprog number 2 then so she's got her 6 months to a year off as maternity so that won't be a problem but after watching that whistle blower program on tell the other week it's got me worried as to the levels of care i could expect to be provided at the paid for nursuery places

even though my folks are clumsy they always look out for junior and make sure he doesn't get up to sillyness, even lilmiting his tv as the old man tends to take him out during the mornings to tire him out so that he can sleep for the afternoon

but that's not an option for much longer so what do i do?
fork out money for the easy option, i never knew child care was going to cost so much, or give in to the mrs idea of her going part time, which means losing a lot more money than we would currently be paying for the nursey spot?

anyone else in a similar predicament?

how have you managed?

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Childcare is a fortune. You can get a list (from the council I think) of registered Child-minders in your area. These are properly vetted people.

The predicament we have recently faced is that these Child-minders will only care for children up to 12 years of age and we weren't happy to give Rosie a key and the responsibility of being in the house alone at that age.

It's a nightmare.

mark

at 3 you can put him in a school nursry for half a day it costs fook all then

St3V3_C

We pay £440/month for JUST 2 and a half days - so 220 per full week approx. That's for a baby, I'm sure they are more expensive as they get older...

Sucks, but there you go. We are luck enough that each of the grandparents have him a day each, and I get Friday afternoon off. Fuck paying full time care.

dojj

iTrader: (3)

the mrs works in a school so when he's 3 there won't be a problem
and as she's on her maternity in 4 months then that's the problems solved

but it's the run up to this time that's the problem as everywhere is booked up and when spaces do come up we can't both go along to see what's going on because we are at work and the spaces go

can i get some sort of tax credit for this or, seing as i'm in the 40% tax bracket, will they tell me to jog on?

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

If you're in the 40% tax bracket, why the fuck are you worrying? Unless you REALLY can't afford child-care, you should put a price on it according to how you value your kids.

I'm sure you could get someone like this who would 'sit baby real good', for alot less that you have looked at so far.....

dojj

iTrader: (3)

ouch!!!!!!! that's a proper pisser that is

she's got friday mornings where she can take him to work as there is a playgroup going on hen, but it's the other 4 days that look like they are going to be a strugle

plus she's pregnant so i don't want her to have to walk half wayt o school to drop him off and then walk the rest of the way eithe, but seeing as the place opposite the school let him get that big lump on his eye they have had their last chance, i'd rather she took the time off work than risk haing him get inuredd there again

dojj

iTrader: (3)

it's not the money that's the issue, it's the care he's going to get
if you have someone who is goin to look after him for a fiver or soemone who is goin to charge £19 for the same time how do you justify the extra £14 over one from the other?
but that's probably why the spaces get booked up so quickly because of the "perceved" extra quality that extra £14 is going to get you

but without the cance to take him there we will never find out, catch 22, and with the enxt open day being this wednesday when i'm away from home tomorrow wednesday and thrusday it's a bit diffiuclt for me to work things out around it

my mrs works in a shcool so knows what she would expect at a nursey in the way of saftey and staffing levels etc and i know what i would look for if i was going to leave my kid there, but it needs to be a joint decision and that is prooving difficult to manage

also, without going into too much detail, i spent a lot of time being looked after by other people and they don't care as much as your own family do in my experience

as for letting someone into my house to look after him there, that ain't gonna happen

SortedCossie

dojj we in a similar situation, we pay £30 for a full day and we send her 2 1/2 days a week so my mrs can get some sleep after doing a nightshift 3 nights a week. Our 2nd is due in August and had contemplated taking our daughter out of nursery for the 9 months paternity but that means that we loose our place and have to wait for a place to become available. We are lucky in that the nursery is very local to us and has a decent standard of staff (3 to 1 carer in the pre-toddler group).

we have no close family who can have her so we're just going to keep paying until she's 3 ish when she can go to a pre-school nursery, by which time our 2nd child will be 1 year old so no doubt we'll be paying again then.

we registered ours at a primary school when she was a year old as the places at popular infant schools get snapped up, so if you have a preference get the child registered now.

Twellsie

iTrader: (1)

my mother is a child minder, listening to the stories there is no way i would ever put my kids in a nursery.#

little confused about your comment "as for letting someone into my house to look after him there, that ain't gonna happen" If i was going to trust someone to look after my child, i would certainly trust them in my house, in otherwords would you let some one look after your child that you would not let in your house?

SassyRS

Finley go's to nursery 8.50 - 11.20 everyday I also had confirmation last week that he starts full time school in Jan!!

Hes only 3, where is the time going!!

bookwyse

We have two young ones, one of three and the other of seven. The seven year old went to the same nursery as the three year old is at now and there has never been any problems. Its costs us £140 a week for the three year old and 55 a week for the childminder to have the seven year old before and after school.

The nursery is very very good and in the last seven years have only had TWO staff changes. The owner knows us very well and if we are going to be late picking the little one up we just have to call and one of them will either stay or take him home so that we can collect him.

The seven year old goes to a childminder who takes and collects him from scholl for us and also works as a dinner lady at the school. Again she would bend over backwards to help us.

At the end of the day it is down to the parent to ensure they are happy with the plae they send their children. I would certainly be looking at the staff turnover to ascertain if it is a good place to work etc before sending children there.

As for the comments about never sending children to a nursery, I ask why not???? At least at nursery the children learn how to interact with other chioldren and adults and don't go to school without a clue how to act.

As for tax credit if your in the 40% bracket and the missus is working then you will not get any, however every child over the age of three is entitled to government aided nursery for some of the time (I think its around 1.5 days a week) so you will get a reduction in the fees that the nursery HAS to pass onto yourself as they will receive government funding.

Jeff

Paul Eggleton

Thank god we can afford for Sam to stay at home during the week

Thats silly money

Dannn

I pay £600 give or take a month for my daughter to go to nursey and I would pay it even if the Mrs was at home.

She loves it and I just can't tell you how advance she is for her age (17 months) - worth every single penny and then some....

dojj

iTrader: (3)

the social interaction is why we want him to go, but seeing as he's got "issues" with his temper we've been a bit slack in finding places for him when he was a tiddler

besides, my folks were more than happy to look after him but now the old dear is a bit difficult with her eysight it's time to bite the bullet

the only consideration at the moment is that he's gone to nursery one afternoon so far and come back with a bruise on his eye, but the staff there said he got it while he was playing and fell over, but it looks like he got into a bit of a scrape as it reminds me of them lumps you get when you'd had a punch in the face, right swollen up and puffy

so you can see why i'm a tad nervous about sending him to a place where he won't know hwo to fit in

he's not a bully but he's a bit boistrous when he plays and gets all excited really really quickly and then just runs around, like kids do, but he's obvlivious to the fact that there are dangers around so he won't look where he's running, he won't let go of anything he's grabbed onto while he's running, none of that stuff, and then he'll take a tumble and gets a bump and then start crying, but i don't know what else to expect from 2 years olds so perhaps i'm worrying baout nothing, i just want him to be safe which may explain my paranoia

St3V3_C

What he said. Our boy can't wait to go off and play when we drop him off. He's so well behaved around other kids, and is learning 'people' skills he just can't at home by himself.

On top of that they do have a really good curriculum (nuts I know ) for actual learning.

If we could afford it, he would be there all week...

St3V3_C

Now is exactly the time for him to learn how to fit in.

He's never going to do that at home mate. Talk to the nursery about your fears - you can bet they've seen it before.

Paul Eggleton

Savannah still goes to all the groups but you can't beat one on one parent time

dojj

iTrader: (3)

one on one parent time is what he craves

he's even got it down to the fact that he will come and get us and point to where he wants us to sit and what he wants us to watch him do

and i almost feel guilty about what he's going to feel like when his little brother or sister comes along to ruin his days of bliss in being the only child and being pampered everywhere

i'll send the mrs to the nursery to check it out and if she likes it then he'll go there, it's just so difficult to let go

Dannn

I think it can most of the time from what I have seen so far...

dojj

iTrader: (3)

sorted

he's going to the one along the way to school
mrs will drop him off in the morning
my old man will pick him up midday
£19 a morning
but they want a packed lunch and potty training stuff so at least they'll be earning their money

Iain Mac

Get your work to do the childcare vouchers in lieu of some earnings and it effectively comes out of gross instead of net pay.

I don't know the details because the scheme came along too late to be of any use to me (ours are 17 and 20!), but it was Martin Lewis on "It Pays To Watch" so you'll either find something on the Channel 4 or 5 website or moneysavingexpert.com

fuzzy

weve got it easy. my missus is a nanny for a private family and she takes our 2 kids with her to work for free.
shes setting up as a childcarer from home for when her job finishes next year.

dojj

iTrader: (3)

they were offered but there was a proper presentation type thing at head office and i dind't bother to go
should have done so

but i'm slightly annoyed about today as it's his first day and he went there all snuggled up in about 5 layers of clothing, fleeces and jackets and all sorts, plus his bob the builder mittens and hat and scarf and when i got home the old man said that he'd been playing in the water and had got wet and he came home in his tshirt and trousers (which we had supplied incase his clothes got dirty or whatever) but in wet socks and trainers
i waited for the wife to come home and we went round there and created merry havoc
we found his jacket, his fleece and his bob the builder kit which they had not given to my old man when he went to collect him
and he's also lost his "you just can't have too much power" car as well which he took with him in the morning
"you expect me to pay £160 a week for this?!?!?!?!?!"
and they were like "sorry, sorry, there was a different set of staff in the morning"
"that doesn't explain why you let my son go home in just a tshirt and wet trainers"
"we're very sorry and will make sure that everone gets a written letter explaining how and what needs to be don with all the kids for tomorrow morning"
"you'd better, or else i'll take this way further, if he's ill tomorrow who's going to look after him? not me, i've got to work, not his mother, she's got to work, not his granny because she's blind, and not his grandpa because he's got arthitis in his joints, why do you think we fork out so much money to let him come here?"

and then i walked off

but my mrs really blew her top and collaered the deputy head as she was showing a prosepective parent around the building

that's one sale she won't be making