 When
to start looking for childcare
You haven't had the baby yet, so why the rush in looking for
childcare?
When to start
During pregnancy, most of your thoughts will focus on getting through
the 40 weeks as comfortably and happily as possible, considering your
options for giving birth and trying to imagine life with another little
person in your home. Decisions about when and whether to return to work
will also feature, perhaps in the second and third trimesters, and an
important aspect to think about is what form
of childcare you will want to use.
With many mums returning to work after their child is born, competition
for places at good nurseries and childminders is stiff. Therefore it pays
to start looking for what will suit you and your situation earlier, rather
than later, in order to ensure that you get the place you want. Lara from
London says "If a nursery has a good Ofsted report expect to have
to go on a waiting list. We waited 3 months for one nursery place for
our son and it was 6 months before we could move him to our first choice
of nursery. My friends outside London still face a waiting list but nothing
nearly as bad as this!"
What to do
The first thing you need to look at is what is available in your area.
To do this, use any and all resources open to you:
- Talk to friends and work colleagues about their arrangements and
see if they have strong recommendations based on their experiences.
If no one you know can help, talk to people at antenatal groups and
parentcraft classes.
- Using your local telephone directory and the internet, draw up a
list of local nurseries and childminders to visit. You needn't visit
each and every one; perhaps select three of each that are near either
your home or your workplace so that you're not driving miles in the
opposite direction to drop your child off before retracing your steps
to get to work.
- It doesn't hurt to consider all your options, and this includes looking
at nanny or nanny share options.
If you are looking for a nanny there are some internet businesses that
offer search facilities or you could consider putting an ad in the local
paper or on one of the aforementioned web sites. See Where to next?
below
Once you have done this, you will have started building up a picture
of what's out there and perhaps forming a preference for the type of childcare
for your child.
Time to decide
The legal ratio currently stands at one carer to every three babies in
nurseries so, understandably, waiting lists can be long for places. Therefore,
as soon as you have visited your shortlist of nurseries it is advisable
to make your decision as quickly as possible for when an offer of a place
comes through. However, that doesn't mean accepting the first offer you
get. You won't be happy at work if you have any doubts about the suitability
of your childcare choice so it pays to bide your time if the first offer
is not your favourite.
With childminders, some are unwilling to commit themselves too far in
advance for obvious reasons; if you pull out of the arrangement, they
will then have a space to try to fill. Talk to several childminders about
their policy and contact the Children's Information Service in your area
for advice on how best to proceed with this.
If you go for a nanny, many will not want to give notice to their current
employer until nearer the time when they are required to start work (usually
a month's notice is sufficient). This shouldn't stop you searching for
possible nannies, though, to get a picture of availability and possible
candidates.
Where to next?
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