Nursery

I done this with my daughter but was for a childminder so slightly different. I’m going to be moving start of next year after I have baby and will need to find a nursery and childminder for my eldest and this baby. We’re in the same boat as you as we’re not sure what area we’ll be in so it’s pretty stressful x

We’re in the same boat @Samantha! I’ve heard that private nurseries tend to be easier to get into than school nurseries even if applying later

Go on lists as early as possible. I learnt from my first, my second has been on a list since I found out I was pregnant June this year for Jan 2026 x

I did this with my girl - we moved area at 35 weeks pregnant and hadn’t had a chance to properly enroll her anywhere. We found a childminder that we committed to when she was between 3-4 months. Started going from 12 months. She absolutely loves it there. It was stressful at the time though as some nurseries were totally booked up (all private ones) but a lot of the time you do get called up earlier as not everyone takes up their place. The hardest thing doing it post is just another admin thing to sort when you are in the newborn trenches. But it’s definitely possible to find a solution and some workplaces can be flexible with your return.

I already have a space booked at the same nursery my son goes to for my second baby that’s not due til Feb 25! My area is saturated with families and so I needed to get in as soon as possible. All I have had to do is pay the deposit, and when baby is born I can add their details (sex, name and start date) xxx

We viewed our nursery at 3 months and he was signed up then to go at 8 months so it wasn’t too bad but I do know there are lots of nurseries with longer wait times than this but you might find not as bad as you think!