Childcare/nurseries
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I had to sign my daughter up when I was 20 weeks pregnant to get her into nursery for when I went back to work due to the waiting list being so long xx
Our boys will be going to the same nursery our daughter is currently at. They are now full with a waiting list for this September when the boys will start. We put their names down before they were even born!
If you know you are going back to work and will need to use a nursery I would sign up now. It's good that you're viewing them, but you really should get your name down with your preferred one soon because god forbid your chosen one gets booked up before you get the chance. We also confirmed our son's place when I was pregnant.
Definitely start getting your name down, I left it until a month ago to get mine sorted and ended up going for days I didn't want, because I left it late🥲
Waiting lists can be over a year where I live. We used a childminder for my first baby and will use the same one again for this baby. If nurseries aren’t feeling right to you could you look into a childminder as an alternative? I won’t lie, they still being home lots of germs, but they are exposed to fewer children than at a nursery, so it might not be quite as bad!
I can see where you're coming from but at the same time if you know you have to go back to work then you really do need to sort something, like, last month. The nursery my daughter is booked into, I booked her space, just put her down for full time because I had no idea what we'd need (still don't). Booked at 25 weeks pregnant last summer and they were full until October 2025. She is 4 months old next week and I cannot even fathom having to take her to nursery and it breaks me that I have to and don't want to think about it but it's simply not an option for me not to work so I know I am just going to have to deal with it. Germs are completely and utterly unavoidable. They will pick up bugs, colds, etc and they will do so for the rest of their lives. They are human beings and that's just what happens. Kids spread them more easily because they are children and they play closely together, they hug each other, roll around on floors, in sand pits together. Hell, they even lick each other!
If you’re going to go back to work the sooner the better! The good ones will go and then you’ll just have to settle
I think if you know you are going back to work I'd sort it out asap, as funded hours are extending in September so nurseries are going to be rammed. I booked a place before he was born but that's because my 3 year old already goes so I know I want him to go there. They don't necessarily bring back lots of germs, depends on their constitution. My daughter has been going for about 15 months for 4-5 days a week and she's only been off sick like 2 days in that time. Even when many of the children and staff got sick in October, there was one day where only 7 children were in out of 40 and she still didn't get ill.