Childcare funding advice

I am in the same situation although I go back around may time. I have no idea what soever!!

Can you go back “sooner” and then take the rest of the time as annual leave ? Not sure if that works. But if you aren’t considered to still be on maternity it may work xx

If it helps, with my first we got the free hours from the term after his 3rd birthday. He was 3 in Feb, so we got the free hours from April.. I’m assuming the same logic will apply with our little babies?

My understanding is that we are entitled to the government funding even when on maternity leave? Our babies will get 15 hours from April at 9 months old and that will increase in the September to 30 hours. That's how it was explained to me when I've asked at my eldest sons nursery, where my youngest is going to go too come July when I return to work x

@Sophie this is what I thought too. I’m still claiming 15 hours for my 2yo while on maternity leave, I’m not technically working but I am still employed 🤔

@Lauren yes me too! Because you are still earning over the £180 odd a week from your employer which makes us still eligible x

@Sophie how do I apply for the 15 hours from 9 months im so confused it said I can apply when she's 23 weeks? This baby brain has made me so confused with it lol Shes 9 months in march 14th! Xx

@Kayleigh yes apply when she is 23 weeks and create a tax free childcare account and as part of that you need to reconfirm your circumstances every 3 months. Every time to reconfirm it will automatically add what you are eligible for based on what you put on the application about earnings/age of your baby. It will then generate a code for your baby that you share with the nursery of your choice for your funding. Hope this makes sense! The more you do it the easier it becomes honestly. Through the tax free childcare account the government also gives you 20% towards your childcare bill each month and you pay the nursery through that account. Also want to mention it should be advertised as "discounted hours" not "free hours" because you still have to pay so much towards it. For example, my 3 year old is currently doing 15 hours per week funded hours, term time only whilst I'm on mat leave and we are still spending £76 a month towards his 2 days a week xx

But that's nothing in comparison to the £500 plus childcare bill we used to pay before the funding came in🙈😅 xx

@Kayleigh it’s so confusing isn’t it?!

@M.E I split my payments over 12 months so think it will get really confusing otherwise 😭 I also don’t have much annual leave as I was planning to use it between July and August while my LG has 15 hours as we don’t have anyone to babysit her

@Sophie oh that’s great! That’s what I initially thought was the case but then got confused when reading the government website. I think I saw that we should sign up for the account when baby is 23 weeks old so I’ll try to do that and see what happens! Fingers crossed

@Lauren that’s great thanks for confirming!

@Sophie aww thank you so much for explaining that! I had brain fog before and now after the baby it's worse haha! Do I look at nursery before or after applying and what about terms etc because isn't it certain amount of weeks a year etc? Xx

@Kayleigh I feel you, I didn't think it could get any worse but after my second baby it has even more so😅. It really doesn't matter which way around you do it because when you've decided which nursery you want you just set them up on your account as someone to pay each month. Yeah so you can do term time only which follows the same pattern as schools or you can spread the hours over the full year, just means you get slightly less funding towards your overall bill each month and you cover the shortfall. But that would definitely be a question I'd be asking the nurseries when you look round because not all nurseries offer the flexibility xx

I could be wrong but my understanding was your entitled to the 15 hours funded at 9 months if your back in work or going back to work before that ‘term’ so if you are on maternity until July you won’t be eligible for funding until the September term as the funding starts at term dates but like I said I could be wrong

The government funding works from the term after your little one is 9 months. So my LO is 9 months on 22nd March therefore we can get funding from the new term in April. If you little one is 9 months after that term starts it would be from the September. Xx

@Molly I think you’re right, so I can claim the funding at the moment for my older child, but I can’t claim for the one I’m on maternity leave for at the moment until the term after I go back to work, so September if I’m taking a full year. It’s not straightforward is it?!

Well my sons nursery have definitely advised incorrectly🥴😅. You're right Lauren, not straight forward at all x

@Sophie it’s about as clear as mud, I don’t blame them for giving you the wrong advice as it’s confusing! X

Thanks Sophie for explaining this so well! I

@Hannah @Lauren thats what’s I read too but that seems so silly because how am I meant to find childcare for July and September especially if I was going to split the hours over the year not only through term time as the nursery is open for her to go to 😩

You'll be able to use a nursery but have to pay per day until your funding starts. My sons nursery is currently £64 per day🥴🤯, but I know that's certainly not that expensive in comparison to some other areas of the country x

@Abi no problem at all x