Help! Odd hours of childcare needed?

[Mrs_Glennie]

Afternoon all,

Last weekend my husband broke two ribs after slipping on an icy pavement/ He was put on bedrest and has been off work ever since. He has since deteriorated and doctors are worried about his lungs as he is breathing too shallowly as he is in so much pain. he is on a second lot of very strong painkillers and told to rest absolutely.

This alone would be worrying enough, but he and I have a 15 month old daughter and we split her daily childcare pretty much 50/50. I normally leave for work at 7 am to be in for 8 and he does dressing/breakfast/nursery drop off at 9. Since last week I've done drop off and pick up but I fear that my work will only tolerate me being 2 hours late for work for a limited time and my husband will need around 6 weeks to fully recover.

My question is whether there is any kind of emergancy childcare that might cover coming in very early and getting a baby ready dressed and ready for the day and then off to nursery - a maximum of 2 hours each day I would have thought? Does such a person exist?

Yours in shredded nerves,

Mrs G

[Ole]

Does the nursery have an early drop off option so you could take her in earlier on the way to work? If all else fails, there might be some statutory carer's rule which would deter your your work from complaining about your arrangements while your husband is off sick (particularly since it is only temporary?). If they are really nasty about it could you negotiate some overtime when your husband is back to fitness to make up for the late mornings now?

[BeccaL]

Could anyone from the nursery do it - come to you early, sort baby out and then take her to nursery? Worth asking the nursery? Hope he recovers soon

[Norfolkvillas]

I have known of A Level students doing 'top and tail' nannying for couples who work long hours - ie from 6am to nursery drop off, then nursery pick up til when parents get home, corresponding to their before and after school hours. We've used some absolutely lovely babysitters of this age - responsible, reliable, trustworthy etc (now sadly off at uni), but perhaps this could be a solution?

[Gooders79]

Sitters.co.uk might be able to help, normally three hour minimum booking though...

[Mrs_Glennie]

Thanks so much everyone.

We have a great A level babysitter we use for the occasional night out - but she only comes at night once my daughter is in bed.I am going to get in touch with her but fear she'll be off and on her way to school at the time we'd need her.

What I need is a university student who doesn't start lectures until after 9am!

Work *seem* to be ok at the moment with me coming in a bit late and then doing work from home at night so I'm hoping that will be good enough for the next week or so and then we can review the sitaution.

If anyone has a babysitter they have used and trust who you think might be able to do these hours though, please do PM me.

Thanks again.

Mrs G