Childcare question

rubberdecky

Hey guys, am totally new to this so apologies if this is covering somethin that has been dealt with before, I went through the old posts but couldnt find anything similar. Am a 26yo male expecting (14 weeks gone) with my 27yo wife (married in Sept 09) and I have so much to learn. One of the main things I would like to get a handle on is the cost of childcare and what options we have in that regard.

We live in Shankill but both work in D2 near GCD Dart station and my wife plans to go back to work at least part time after maternity leave. What we are trying to figure out is how feasible that will be money-wise, ie will it pay her to go back to work. Obv there are more than money considerations to it but the money side of it is the one we have no clue on. Anyone have any recommendations or ideas or feedback? Thanks in advance

Moonbeam

Creches are generally more expensive for babies then children but there are exceptations.
For a baby expect to pay 900-1200 pm full time and 700+ for 3 day week.
There is no tax relief on childcare but if your wife goes part time you can share tax credits.
A qualified childminder where your child goes to their house depending on hours seems to work out 45-60 euro a day.

rubberdecky

Cheers for that, very helpful to have a ballpark or some idea at least. I know its miles away but am determined to be prepared. Are those rates Dublin based?

Moonbeam

Yup

Shelli2

Many creches have quite long waiting lists, so even though you think it's very far in the future now, your best bet would be to start ringing around creches, and maybe even putting your name on a list in a couple!! last thing you need is to be stuck with no childcare!

rubberdecky

Shelli2 wrote: »

Many creches have quite long waiting lists, so even though you think it's very far in the future now, your best bet would be to start ringing around creches, and maybe even putting your name on a list in a couple!! last thing you need is to be stuck with no childcare!

Ok thanks for that. Will have a look around so and make some inquiries. Any recommend any childcare options in the Dublin 2 area or alternatively Shankill?

Anniebell

Hi Rubberdecky,
Firstly, congrats on your impending arrival and fair play to you both for thinking ahead!
Just a couple of things you might want to consider when looking for childcare. It's only my opinion, but if I was you I would choose somewhere local to home rather than close to work, for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, do you fancy doing the DART trek with a baby/very active toddler first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening in rush hour? I have a 2 1/2 year old and couldn't imagine getting in and out of town every day with her and her luggage - stress!! That's just my opinion though of course. Maybe others can advise you if they're in this situation themselves.
Secondly, if your child gets sick during the day and you get a call to collect him/her from creche, again you'd be faced with a long journey home with sick child on public transport - not my idea of fun!
Thirdly, if you or your partner (or both-it can happen!) are unwell. If you had local childcare it would be a lot easier for you to drop your little one in for the day and head back to bed/couch to get better rather than trekking into town and back twice when you feel like crap.
After Maternity Leave I applied for jobsharing and it's the best of both worlds. Doesn't cost the earth in childcare as it's only part-time and the rest of my wages cover bills. The week I'm off I get to spend with my little girl, some days we do fun stuff some days boring stuff like food shopping, clothes washing, house tidying etc. If your wife has the opportunity to go part-time it's well worth it, as long as you're not left worse off financially of course.
You mentioned in your post about creches. When I first started enquiring about prices in creches I cried my eyes out! The chain ones in particular seem to be astronomical, although this was 2008 so maybe prices have become more reasonable since, I don't know. My daughter goes to a childminder; there could be anything from 2 kids to 5 kids on any day and she loves it!! Even asks to go at the weekend (dunno what that says about us as parents!) to play with her friends. Childminders are well worth looking into as well, just so you get a broader range to choose when you're making your decision.
Best of luck with the rest of the pregnancy and the wonderful times ahead

Anniebell

rubberdecky

Hey Anniebell,

Thanks for all that, definitely appreciate the input. I agree the more I think about it the more sense it makes, i was just thinking of it in terms of getting more time with the bab.

On the creche v childminder dilemma, the problem we have on that is something you touched on there. My mother was a childminder and we always had these three lads with us growing up, like brothers to us. Problem is they love my mam and always clung to her and said they preferred certain things her way and wanted to be at our house (not always but it still rankled) which am sure peed off their mam. This for my wife is a huge fear, that they would see someone else as a maternal figure. I have a different perspective cos I know their mam and I saw it first hand and they were just being typical kids, pushin their mam's buttons but I acknowledge the fear that my wife has.

The most likely thing is that my wife will go to a 3 day week which she thinks would be a good balance, she wants to take a very big part in our child's early development (and she will be an amazing mum) but she is ambitious (and bloody brilliant at her job) and I think it would be too hard for her to stop.

Lots to consider, thanks for the input though

Anniebell

rubberdecky wrote: »

Hey Anniebell,

Thanks for all that, definitely appreciate the input. I agree the more I think about it the more sense it makes, i was just thinking of it in terms of getting more time with the bab.

On the creche v childminder dilemma, the problem we have on that is something you touched on there. My mother was a childminder and we always had these three lads with us growing up, like brothers to us. Problem is they love my mam and always clung to her and said they preferred certain things her way and wanted to be at our house (not always but it still rankled) which am sure peed off their mam. This for my wife is a huge fear, that they would see someone else as a maternal figure. I have a different perspective cos I know their mam and I saw it first hand and they were just being typical kids, pushin their mam's buttons but I acknowledge the fear that my wife has.

The most likely thing is that my wife will go to a 3 day week which she thinks would be a good balance, she wants to take a very big part in our child's early development (and she will be an amazing mum) but she is ambitious (and bloody brilliant at her job) and I think it would be too hard for her to stop.

Lots to consider, thanks for the input though

Oh believe me I know exactly how your wife feels. But you just need to look at it from a different perspective I've realised.

Your wife will always be your baby's one and only mam, nobody, no childminder, no creche worker, anyone will ever change that. It's taken me 2 1/2 years to be able to say that by the way! It's incredibly hard for mammies to leave the babies in anyone else's care, the guilt is horrendous (sorry!) and any childminder/creche worker worth their weight in gold will know that and they would never encroach on the relationship between baby and parents in such a way as to cause problems. When I say my daughter asks to go there at the weekends, it's because she has loads of little friends that she plays with and she loves it there. She loves being with us as well of course but there's no other kids in my family so unless I go visiting other friends with kids, the childminder's house is the only time she gets to play with people her own age.

If there's anything else you want to ask or anything, hopefully I can be of help. Best of luck and hope you're wife is having a good pregnancy.

Sorry, forgot to add, I get what you're saying in terms of getting more time with babs but it's quality not quantity! An hour on a packed DART with baby/toddler can't be fun for either of you!! If you were to get somewhere local, then yes it would be less time for you to spend with babs but at least when you get into work you have had time to relax and then on the way home you can have a bit of a break before spending fun time with babs.

Hope this makes sense!

Moonbeam

I would suggest the opposite and having the child minded near work so that you can get to them quickly in an emergency and spend more time with them. It also makes the separation easier knowing that they are near.
I work 3 days a week and my child comes with me on the train for those 3 days,when there has been an issue I can get there in less then 5 minutes.
I would also choose a creche over a childminder unless you know a very good childminder.
Creches here are very regulated,childminding is not.
I also like the openness of the creche and being able to call in any time.

teacosy

Def think a creche near home is best idea. Your wife may need to use it on days when she's off, but cant mind baby (going to doctor, dentist, hairdresser etc etc etc etc)