Childcare

What Are My Childcare Options?

There are many childcare options available for parents. Which one you choose will depend on your needs and personal preferences. The options available include:

• Nannies
• Au Pairs
• Family
• Childminders
• Nurseries
• Day Nurseries

Nannies

There are two types of nannies, those that live in and those that don’t. Nannies tend to look after your children in your home. The hours and pay for nannies are negotiated on an individual basis. The advantage of a nanny is:

• they can provide good quality flexible care in your own home
• they can be cost-effective
• can offer personal one to one care for your child
• they can do housework if pre-agreed

It is essential if you are hiring a nanny that you check their references. Look for a NNEB qualification which is a nursery nursing diploma.

Au Pair

An au pair is an individual that has come from abroad to study in the UK. Whilst in the UK they live with a family and offer up to a maximum of five hours help each day with the children. In return for their help they are offered a room, meals and a small allowance.

Family

Having someone in your family look after your child can be a cost effective way of going back to work. The advantage is that you know exactly who is going to be looking after your child. The disadvantages could be they might have their own ideas on how you want to raise your child which ultimately could cause upset and conflict.

Childminders

Childminders normally look after your child in their own home. A child minder must be registered with OFSTED. OFSTED insures that the minder goes through regular checks and are subject to police checks. Childminders nomally charge by the hour and can only look after a certain number of children at anyone time.

Day Nurseries

Day nurseries offer your children daycare and education, looking after children aged from six weeks to five years. There are several types of day nurseries:

• community
• council- run
• private
• work based

Depending on which you go, depends on the costs you may incur. All day nurseries have OFSTED inspections and most staff tend to be trained. Opening hours tend to coincide with working hours.

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