childcare options

[camberwell_jen]

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!

[carebear]

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.