Flexible hours and childcare

LirW

Hi,

I'd like to hear some stories from others.
My toddler is turning 2 soon and I also have an 8y/o. I'm currently at home but I feel like I "did my time" and would like to go back to work. I'm currently in the early stages of setting a business up but now I'm reaching the critical stage where I can't work after the kids are in bed but I need to move some work into daytime in order to get things going.
I'm looking for childcare but I don't have set hours in mind. As in, it could be that I need 6 hours one week, 20 the following.

I live rural, there are crèches around but they're full. We don't have the space for an Au-pair either so the only option are childminders that I see working for this arrangement.
We don't have family close by to fall back on either.
The local crèche wants children to have set hours and days, which is understandable.

How do other parents do it that work flexible hours?

shesty

Do you have a preschool nearby that would do afterschool.
I am currently juggling the work dilemma myself as I return soon after mat leave.My hours are quite good but still it requires thought.I did not realise our choice of preschool also did afterschool care until I went to speak to them.To be honest, I am thrilled because it solves a lot of problems for me around primary school pick ups and drop offs too, as they will do that.If your soon is soon two, you could potentially pay for him in a preschool from maybe two and a half, if you found one that suited.We also have a childminder.I am crossing my fingers this all works out!!!
The alternative could be to do a minding swap with other local parents-you take their kids one day, they take yours another.I have a couple of friends who manage that way too.

LirW

Thanks shesty, good to hear that there are others in the same boat!
I'm a little bit restricted with the choice of local options; there's a crèche that has a preschool class, that one takes after school too but they want set hours and days, so they wouldn't consider my toddler.
There's another pre-school that doesn't do after-school and in other villages the setup is pretty much the same: crèches with classes want set hours, other pre-school are pre-schools only, some keep the school kids in longer but don't take after school kids.

The idea with swaps with other parents is great, I'll have to look into that because our village doesn't have a school but the kids are scattered all over the place in other villages for school.

shesty

LirW wrote: »

Thanks shesty, good to hear that there are others in the same boat!
I'm a little bit restricted with the choice of local options; there's a crèche that has a preschool class, that one takes after school too but they want set hours and days, so they wouldn't consider my toddler.
There's another pre-school that doesn't do after-school and in other villages the setup is pretty much the same: crèches with classes want set hours, other pre-school are pre-schools only, some keep the school kids in longer but don't take after school kids.

The idea with swaps with other parents is great, I'll have to look into that because our village doesn't have a school but the kids are scattered all over the place in other villages for school.

Oh it's a minefield.You could mix and match maybe, have him in a creche two days and maybe a minder swap another day or two.The friends I know that do it are in quite rural places too, so they are doing it to look out for each other, as much as anything else.

jlm29

I work very regular hours now, but in the past I used to work more weekends, and have more time off midweek. I just paid my childminder for the days my kids are with her

s4uv3

That kind of arrangement could well suit someone who's at home with kids themselves, or a retired person? Put the feelers out in your locality and ask around, you never know who might pop up!

lazygal

I work shifts and the best arrangement we've had so far is a minder in our home. We employ her and are registered with Revenue and so on. You need to do this for an au pair, as we were told some time ago an au pair is an employee. It is by far the most expensive option but we love having our children minded in their home. If they're sick we don't need to worry about staying home with them unless absolutely necessary and they have their own things around them and can nap in their own rooms.
I looked into several options and I found a lot of the parents offering minding because they were at home weren't really interested in it as a job, it was all about what suited them. Might just be the ones I interviewed but many didn't work over the summer holidays and midterm breaks so we ruled them out from the start. I also didn't want someone who was only taking children to mind because it was handy for them, I wanted someone who was actually interested in child care.
My experience has been that if you work outside 'normal' working hours you're going to have to put a big of legwork into the child care process but it is worth it. Our minder has been with us three years and will continue on with us when I go back to work after this maternity leave. The peace of mind of not having to look for a minder every few months because something has come us is worth the price we pay.

shesty

I do agree, we have a minder around the corner.A lot of legwork was put in to find her and she is worth her absolute weight in gold.She has been taking the kids nearly four years now, and is willing to stay with us and see how it works out with our third too (slight difficulties around school pick ups and drop offs).I'd pay her anything to keep her!! That could be another option besides a creche either OP?