Childcare London UK

[tuga]

I am moving from US to the Sutton, UK area and I am researching childcare options since I am 13 weeks pregnant. Does anyone know minimum age (looking at starting work at 8 weeks), average prices for daycares and waiting times?

[pittpurple]

There's really no way of knowing what it will be like where you will live - it can vary greatly from neighbourhood to neighbourhood within the same city.

For a starting point, I'm in Edinburgh and full time childcare is £1,100 a month and there was an 18 month waiting list for a place. This is longer than at many other locations in the city but I use the University daycare and it's really popular. I am not aware of any lower age limit, but most women take 6-12 months off work so it's really rare to see a baby younger than 6 months old. The best thing for you to do is look up the specific daycares you'd be using in your area and start phoning - it's definitely not too early.

[UnderProtest]

Sorry, I'm not much use here. I know that a lot of places don't take really young kids so definitely start looking early if you want to start back at work at 8 weeks. Check out child minder sites, I think one is childminder.co.uk or something like that. I was in London so most people had nannies.

[brainie]

I'm not in London, but here are my thoughts:

Sutton is part of London, isn't it, so I'd imagine competition for places is going to be pretty high. You'll have the best luck getting a place that starts in September, as the older children will be leaving to start school. Otherwise I'd start looking into it now - it can't hurt to get your name down early.

Ofsted can help you find nurseries near you: reports.ofsted.gov.uk/ They also have reports that "grade" the facility, but take them with a grain of salt. I'm also not sure any will take infants before they're three months old. Also keep in mind some places won't take children until they're 2/3/potty trained, so keep an eye out for that kind of restriction. AND some only do half-days, although I'd guess that's less common in London.

You're probably looking at somewhere between £1,200 to £1,500 per month for a full-time place.

[mrsukyankee]

www.nct.org.uk/parenting/childcare-options

You'd be looking at either childminders or day nurseries, unless you want a nanny.  Costs do vary by location.

[fbf2006]

Like others have said, availability and pricing would vary by location. I live in the Canary Wharf area in London and it was pretty easy for us to find a place due to the number of nurseries (day cares) in the area. We moved here when my son was 16 months and he started nursery 2 months later. I don't know if they take 8 week olds but there's a baby room (under 1s*) at our nursery. Our previous nursery was around 1,250 but we currently pay 1,175. The range I've seen in this area was from around 950 - 1,250 (in my immediate area), but went up to 1,500 at two particular nurseries IN Canary Wharf itself. They are probably 1,600 today.

Most of these nurseries do half days/part time (in addition to full time care), which I think is great for those who don't need full time care.

Child minders are cheaper. I believe they are pretty much synonymous with home day cares.

*ETA: I just checked my son's nursery brochure and they do take 0 - 12 months. I suggest researching the nurseries in the area around Sutton where you think you'd live and call them.

[marriedfilingjoint]

We lived in Wimbledon and our daughter went to nursery in the Wimbledon/Raynes Park area, so not far from Sutton. We paid 320£ per week, however, our daughter was 3 and babies are typically more expensive. Our nursery was fairly new so there was no wait list but it was the only one we found with immediate availability. Our wait was going to be at least 8 weeks anywhere else, not sure how long for babies. Our nursery did not take babies under 6 months. I used Ofsted, Google, Facebook, GoogleMaps, and NetMums to search for nurseries, and then I emailed them and explained that we were relocating from the US. Almost everyone I emailed was very responsive and allowed me to handle everything electronically.

Also be aware that daycare payments and the deposit will probably have to be made by electronic funds transfer. Before we had a British bank account, I was able to pay our deposit and first month's childcare via XE.com. It took about 2 weeks but you can expedite it for a fee.