Hello ladies,

I'm not due until September but have started to research child care for when I go back to owrk which is likely to be in March 2010. The few nurseries where I live in south west london all seem to charge around £60 a day - so full time childcare will be around £1300 a month!! i was wondering if this was the going rate in the Richmond/Barnes area and whether there are credible alternatives I can also look into. I have been considering a nanny share, which may work out cheaper but I'm interested to hear from other mums who have experience with this or other full time childcare arrangement such as childminders.

Appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks very much

Victoria

full time nursery is very expnsive my little boy goes 4 days a week in a nurser in ascot which is nearly £1000 a month nannys are good but i perfer that there is more than one person to look after and play with my son they are great too my little boy is 22 months and is potty trained and so clever i cant believe it.

full time nursery is very expnsive my little boy goes 4 days a week in a nurser in ascot which is nearly £1000 a month nannys are good but i perfer that there is more than one person to look after and play with my son they are great too my little boy is 22 months and is potty trained and so clever i cant believe it.

I live in SW London too (Wandsworth) and need to start looking into this. £1300 does seem very expensive! I had been hoping to pay more like £800 pcm, but that is starting to sound pretty unrealistic!

Eek!

Good luck and let me know how you get on...

x

You may find that it is cheaper to get a nanny, or a nanny share. I live in south east london, where the going rate for a sole nanny (i.e. nanny looks after your child and nobody else) is about £9 per hour, but the going rate for a nanny share (where nanny looks after your child and 1+ other) is more like £11 per hour, which of course, you split with the other family. We have a nanny (not live in) and unfortunately, I have yet to find another family to share her with. But my neighbour has a very successful nanny share, and it works out much cheaper than her putting her lo in nursery. Just something to bear in mind with a nanny though - you pay NI on top of the hourly rate, as you are an employer. And there will be wear and tear on whoever's house the children will be looked after in. And it is pretty standard for nannies eitehr to use your car (and you you insure them, put petrol in it etc) for child related purposes, or you pay them mileage if they use their own car (40p per mile is standard). So it does add up!

But I wouldn't be without my nanny. It makes my day so much easier, as I don't have to wash, dress and feed lo before I go to work. he is in his pyjamas when our nanny comes which saves me loads of time in the morning. x

Thanks for your replies ladies. Sorry for the late response though.

I have checked with three nursuries in the my local area and they range from 1250 to 1350 full time. Even with NI and tax on top on a nanny salary, it seems a better option but only if I can find someone to share with me. There are pros and cons of both options of course but I am getting quite nervous that if i leave it too late I may miss out on a nursery place. with that in mind, I plan to put my name down for a nursery place at a local place and then look into nanny shares when baby is here.

Good luck with all of you too!

My nursery is in Whitton (Twickenham) and is £790 per month, it has an excellent Ofsted report and I absolutely love it, more importantly, so does my son. He is 3 so I think it may cost more for a baby but not much more.
Are the nurseries you have looked at independent or part of a chain? Just that the two I looked at which were big chain nurseries were a lot more expensive, £1100+
Good luck with whichever route you choose x x

A bit off the original question but i think its terrible that London childcare is so expensive (twice as much as some places) and that you don't get any help with working tax credits child care costs if you earn average money. We all know that you have to earn more cos its costs more to live in London than anywhere else but we get doubly penalised with child care, its a joke!!! I'm thinking of writing to my MP or something(? - might start a petition!) cos i feel that us london working mummies get a raw deal having to get public transport to and from work and getting hit by astronomical childcare costs just to keep the wheels of industry turning, its only just worth going back to work which is just crazy!!! Anyway, rant over unless anyones with my to lobby downing street!!!!! x

Count me in. I relocated to London just over three years ago and I've discovered LOTS of things are more expensive here, childcare included. How can nurseries justify prices double that in other parts of the country. If only I earned DOUBLE what I earned in the Midlands!

I agree too! I get paid a whole £3,000 per year more for working in London than I would for doing the equivalent job anywhere else in the country. Everyone says London wages are higher and they are right - but not THAT much higher! Certainly not enough to compensate for all the added expenses!

I'll sign your petition jamtart...

x

A petition is a great idea and I would sign today! I live a couple of miles outside the M25 and we still pay London prices for train fares, houses, hairdressers and childcare, etc - extortionate. I also spend a total of 3 hours a day travelling to/from work. So many people in this country get some form of benefits, but like other Mums on here, I can't claim a penny despite paying sooo much tax. My son will need to be in childcare from 7am to 7pm which is a long day but I have no choice. Catch 22 situation - can't afford not to work but childcare will eat up nearly all of my income. OH doesn't earn very much. Ooh, don't get me started as I am outraged. OK, rant over.