How to choose your childcare arrangements

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By far one of the biggest challenges I found about having children, was deciding who was going to look after the girls when I went back to work after maternity leave. After 13 months maternity leave, as much as I had adored spending time at home with Erin and Neve and loved seeing every minute of them growing up, I was ready to go back to the office and had really started to crave some adult company. That said, the decision on what to do for childcare was pretty tough and to be honest as a couple we really struggled to agreed on the best approach for our family.

We decided the easiest way to decide upon childcare options was to create a list of pros and cons for each of our choices, and I thought it may be helpful to share our thoughts with you should you be facing a similar tough decision!

Table of Contents

Hiring a Nanny

Pros:

A Nanny offers childcare on a one to one basis in your own home – which is about as close as you are going to get to your child being at home with their Mum or Dad.
Nannies offer the familiarity and security for the child being at their own home with their own toys
Live in Nannies can be far more flexible than other childcare providers, often being able to commit to longer working hours.
Whilst expensive, Nannies can be far more cost effective if caring for multiple children / siblings.

Cons

It goes without saying Nannies aren’t cheap and do come at a premium.
A Nanny is effectively your employee, so if you do directly, it can be very complicated with contracts, tax, and payroll unless you do via an agency.
You may need to interview and meet a lot of Nannies before you find your perfect match, so it is much easier to find help using a domestic staff agency.

Nursery / Daycare

Pros

Nurseries give your child the opportunity to mix with variety of children of similar ages (although it can be a bit daunting for them whilst they are settling in to nursery)
Nurseries enable your child to build relationships, create bonds and form friendships with other children
Nurseries often serve as a useful introduction into education and structured learning and are therefore a great prequel for when they start school.
Whilst expensive, nappies, food and essential items are often included with the price.

Cons

Nuseries can be expensive (we currently pay £54 a day!)
With nurseries you have to pay for holiday periods and even when not attending due to sickness in order to reserve your slot.
Some nurseries have very fixed opening hours which may not work for those who work longer days or need to drop off early in order to allow for their work commute.

Using a Childminder

Pros –

Childminders have less children than nurseries and with a smaller adult to child ratio, they are likely to be able to offer more individual one on one care.
Childminders can usually have babies from a younger age than some nurseries which is handy if you are going back to work very soon after giving birth.
Childminders often have a variety of different age children, meaning your child may learn from older children in their care.

Cons

If your childminder is ill or on holiday, you will need to arrange your own emergency childcare – this level of unpredictability can be hard for some families.
Sometimes childminders have their own children with them which can make some parents uncomfortable about preferential care.
May not have any other children the same age, which may prevent them from mixing with their own age group.

In the end we opted for a nursery for both our girls. Erin loved every minute of her nursery journey, and it definitely gave her a great sounding board for school life. Neve on the other hand has found nursery extremely tough going due to her eating challenges but slowly but surely is adapating to live away from Mum and Dad!

Whatever option you go for. don’t rush the decision, and make sure you fully research all the options available to you. Finally, make sure you start planning early! Many nurseries are booked up extremely early, so it is advisable to start thinking even before baby has arrived, or at least very soon after! Good luck with your decision!

Lucy