The first thing to consider is vacancies. Little point making a decision based on facilities etc to be told there is a waiting list and that they can't accommodate you. Check earliest drop offs and latest pick ups if you are working full time. Consider their holiday closure. It could be tricky if they close all of august and 2 weeks in December. Look at menus carefully, if like me you are strict about what your children eat. Think about how their day is structured. If days are long you may want more of a learning focused nursery rather than play based. Budget for 15000 a year. You might want to consider part of the week at nursery and part with a nanny. Look to see if the nanny can have her holiday when you do or in school holidays when the nursery would probably be able to accommodate extra days for you if needed.
This looks like a to do list but hopefully it's useful. I have twins age 5 and had to work things as a single parent with no family so had to consider lots of eventualities for 5 years.

it all depends, obviously. but I would think 08:00 - 1800 full time should be in the £1,200 pcm range

You must be go through the names of such nurseries and find the exact cost.

Hi MorleyNYC,

My daughter (also 18 months) has been at Babyroom on Lavender Hill from March, and absolutely loves it there. I went with Babyroom as there were crucially not many children there (one nursery I went to had a max of 16 kids/room!) - I think their max/room is 9, but in actual fact there has never been more than 6 kiddies in my daughter's room. I would say that in terms of equipment etc they haven't got the newest, brightest things but the staff are wonderful; really lovely ladies who absolutely adore my daughter and is adored right back (by all of us!).

I'm pretty sure there's space btw; a couple of 2 year olds left in the summer as they'd moved from here.

Re location - depends where you end up living I guess. I'm on CC Northside and Babyroom is nicely equi-distant between home and Clapham Junction, so is pretty convenient for me.

I would certainly recommend visiting nurseries though before you make any decisions though!

Mdp216 - sorry, don't know any nurseries around Clapham South I'm afraid.

Hi,

We just moved from NYC and I am looking to enroll my son into a nursery fulltime starting November. He will be 19 months. We will be living near the clapham south tube and was wondering if you had info or insight on the most cost effective yet good care nurseries? Any info would be appreciated

Super helpful, thank you.

The day rate threw me, as I calculated against the month rather than 20 working days.

Thanks again.

It's worth speaking to a few nurseries as they'll all differ. It's a good time of year to be looking as there is usually movement around Sept due to start of school year, which has a knock on effect with kids moving up classes at nursery. That said some nurseries have LONG waiting lists, so it's best to contact them sooner rather than later, especially if you need full time. For full time nursery (8.00 until 18.30) we paid around £85 a day.
Good luck.

Hi,

We currently live in NYC and are heavily researching a move back to London which could happen as early as August. My daughter is 18 months old and has been with a nanny since I went back to work.

We are considering a full time nursery slot and I've looked at quite a few sites KU, Babyroom and others but am getting conflicting information/not enough detail.

Could someone give me a sense of:
How much we should budget for a full time slot?
How long would we have to wait to get one? Should I anticipate to pay for a nanny in the meantime?
Are they open enrollment at this age or is it once per year?
Is there a better location in the valley than others to be looking?

Much appreciated, Carrie (Lillian 18 months and half-American)