Choose child care around your working day

1. Write down the whole day

Include the journey before drop-off and after collection, not just your contracted working hours. Make a separate plan for an ordinary day, a late finish and school holidays. Look for the exact service that covers each gap rather than assuming one enrolment covers every session.

2. Compare like-for-like fees

Keep creche, nursery, half-day and full-day fees separate. Ask what meals, extended hours and occasional sessions add to the bill. A subsidy is a separate eligibility question; do not subtract it from every family's comparison simply because a centre participates in a scheme.

3. Confirm the place before changing your routine

Use the centre's contact details to confirm the age band, application documents, actual collection cutoff and current waiting process. Published capacity is not a vacancy count. Record when you called and the next step in your private shortlist; keep children's names and documents out of the notes.

Work through a decision

Example: if work ends at 6pm and the journey takes 40 minutes, a 6pm collection deadline does not fit. Compare an extended-hours arrangement and a backup occasional-care option before comparing monthly fees.

Use the tools with this guide

• Compare published fees →
• Find occasional care →
• Understand service types →

My child care shortlist

Create a free account to save relevant pages and your own private questions. Each saved page has an editable note, so your next step stays with the source you used. You can delete the notes or the whole account at any time.