Community Posts, Tips & Support on Childcare & Education

Hi, looking for nursery recommendations for my little girl! In or around Southend 🩷

I'm wondering what other mums think to help me make the best decision for nursery/pre-nursery. Our local catchment school will not offer pre-nursery places, so to take advantage of the 15hrs available to us from Jan 2025 (LO turns 3 in Sept), we will need to choose an out of catchment school. Beyond that, for her ...

Hi! Recently found out I'm having a little boy💙 I'm thinking of doing a woodland themed nursery does anyone have some inspiration for me or knows anywhere that does cute woodland themed bits? TIA❤️

I am absolutely shocked at how expensive it is and just can't get my head around the fee.. Even with the funded hours there is actually no difference in price and I feel like I am not saving anything. We are actually moving to a new nursery and this new nursery is absolutely expensive (having second thought about it...

I’d love to chat to anyone who’s gone through this tough phase!

We have found ourselves in quite a flexible position this time round with regards to childcare, so nursery isn't neccassarily essential. However, our eldest went to nursery from 9 months old, from 2 days a week and I think she got so much out of it so I don't want our youngest to miss out either. We were thinking m...

Any recommendations on what shoes to buy for my little one for nursery? She has a wider foot and I normally have her barefoot at home. I’m searching for something light, wider but with good support. Thanks for your help in advance.

Has anyone used kids planet nursery either attleborough or George Elliot and have any reviews on either? They open at 7 so are ideal for my shift pattern when I go back as everywhere else seems to be 7:30 or 8.

Should it be on this page somewhere? Or do I not have one? I applied for the free hours and I think the account was also in the same application but I’ve not had anything through about it 🧐

Hi! Im currently in school and staying home with my 5 month old, thinking about starting to babysit as a side hustle mainly so my daughter can have someone to play with. Just wondering if any other sahm have experience doing this and how it went for them :)

I know each nursery is different and doing the 15 hours funding slightly differently but does anyone know roughly how much 2 full days (8-6) a week would be each month with this funding? They charge £84.50 a day. Any information or thoughts would be great!

Can someone please explain to me how the childcare thing works. I have all my codes and accounts etc but how much do I need to pay into the childcare account to pay the nursery etc its so confusing 😕 step by step guide would help but also anyway so I can better understand it 😅 we're doing 11 hour spread over 52…

Evening ladies. My MIL is currently at end of life stage due to cancer. We are now thinking about how to explain the situation to our little girl. She is almost 3 and definitely knows that nanny is poorly as her appearance has changed and she always says things like “I need to be quiet in case nanny is sleeping/is n...

Hi everyone! My LOs nursery provider changed in May and since then it seems the activities changed as well; not sure if this happened due to the weather or so, as he is still in the same group of kids - with the very little babies (0 to 2 yo class). Before he would come back all dirty from various activities but now...

I really want to go back to work now that my daughter is 1 but I don’t really know how to go about getting childcare? Am I right in saying I can only get 15 hours free? And where can I look to get this? I’m a bit stuck just need advice please?

Hi everyone, my son is almost 2 years old and we just started daycare last week. The first 2 days were fine, he didn’t cry when I left (I snuck out without him seeing me when he got distracted) but now he is understanding that he’ll be there without me and is clinging on, crying and making me feel terrible. How do y...

Hi everyone? Do you know if the above can be combined? And if so, under what circumstances? We currently get the tax free for working parents and applied for the 15 free hours. So we qualitfy for the schemes, but unsure if we can get both. Many thanks!

I’ve seen the originals of my child minders dbs but they are from 2021 , they say they are on the update service how do I check a more updated one?

I’ve always wanted to send my daughter to a preschool as I’ve heard they are best for preparing your toddler for a school setting and with our babies being the youngest of the school year I’ve always believed I should give her the best chances to succeed BUT the primary schools within our catchment area don’t have p...

Celebrating my baby's achievement before school starts next week ! 🙌