Hi, I wonder if I could pick your brains. I'm due to have my first baby in late May/early June and don't know when I should start thinking about childcare.

I'm in a salaried job that will pay me for 9-10 months of mat leave but ideally I'd go back to my PhD studies part-time after 3-4 months while on mat leave (usually do on the side). This would mean I'd need some childcare for a baby of 3-4 months of age starting in September or October. My husband will have a fixed day off each week, but other than that I could be flexible for days and hours with probably a minimum of a four-to-six hour window to get any work done and minimum of two days a week. Ideally this would be in a setting that could transition to being 4 days/week when I go back to work in March 2020 but I am aware that's probably asking a lot. I have a car and could drop the baby off, but equally could accomodate someone at my house in Camberwell. I don't want the baby to go to a nursery but would be happy with a childminder or nanny (I'm still facebook friends with my own nannies!).

Is this something I could arrange - for example, as a share with someone with a slightly older baby, or to help with daytime hours for someone with primary aged children? Sorry to be a bit clueless, just looking for some advice or ideas about how this might work and what I should be looking for (and how much it might cost!). Any advice welcome!

Hi there,

I recently returned to my PhD studies with a 7m old baby and we found a number of potential nannies with flexibility for various reasons. I’m now also working and we explored various options. Feel free to pm me if you’d like to chat further

Childcare.co.uk is a great place to start! And family classifieds on here.