Preparing for baby #2

[newbie1992]

Hi girls!

I am thinking about preparing for baby number 2.. with my first baby I went on mat leave 2 months early because of severe SPD, I then went back to work after 8 weeks because the baby was so difficult to handle and i felt so stressed and we needed the money.. the care of the baby was then divided between our families, then as she got older, we got into a routine of my mum in law having her twice a week, nursery twice a weekend and my husband had one day off during the week which worked fine. My mum in law has some health issues and said she was finding it difficult to have her for both days a week as she started to crawl and become a bit of a nightmare, so we reduced her to one day a week and my parents said they would have her one day.. then the other day my mum in law hinted that she would rather not look after her and just see her casually which is fine, so we upped her nursery days to 3 days, my parents 1 day and my husband 1 day. It will cost us a lot every month but that is ok. We both work full time and have a good healthy joint income.

I am just feeling nervous because I was wanting to get pregnant next June. My plan is to get pregnant in June and by the time I give birth I can have six months off, then when I am due to go back my first baby will be 3 and will qualify for 30 hours free nursery care a week which pretty much means my nursery bill will be back to £0, and then the money I was spending on her at nursery I will put the baby into the same hours but will pay money for her so effectively I have two babies in nursery but only paying the fees for one. Then our parents would still get involved as well as my husband.

Im nervous about it all working out basically because i couldnt afford to put two babies in nursery full time.

What do people do though to afford it?? I cant afford two kids in the hefty nursery bills that are around £850 per child per month.. Neither of us can really afford to give up work.. Other people must have this problem too but im just interested to know how you go about this because having another child is really important to me and I don't want to just have one baby.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Nikki_lou]

I have my two in nursery 2 days a week and it costs about £175 a week. We are entitled tax credits which can pay up to 70% (I think!) Of your childcare. Obviously this is dependant on your income but it's worth looking into seeing if you would be entitled. If it wasn't for the tax credits there is no way we would both afford to work as the childcare bill is more than my monthly wage! We do struggle but are slightly better off than if I wasn't working x

 

[Kmx]

It is hard. The way I am able to manage is to have my next baby as my son moves to school. I wouldn't 100% count on the 30 hours free childcare as it is just a proposal and a trial period as far as I know. The other way I manage it is to reduce my hours at work so I have less childcare to pay.

 

[newbie1992]

Thats the thing, i AM relying on the 30 hours free, infact thats so important.. but how sad is this, so many things to consider before having a baby when its not the actual baby i cant afford. This is so hard!

ive checked the benefits and im entitled to about £330 a year. I just feel like we should go with it, have a baby and we will sort it out kind of attitude. I cannot do less days at work, I am the higher earner and my job wouldnt let me drop days its just not possible, my husband potentially could but he has a basic and the commission is so good but he has to be in work to make commission so we would have to see if that would be possible.

I think I will TTC from April next year and go with it, it always sorts itself out in the end!

 

[k4th]

Do you use childcare vouchers? Most employers offer them - it means your money for nursery comes out of your wages BEFORE your tax. Essentially tax free childcare - loads of places take them as well. Worth a look! It saves us a fortune as hubby & I can both do it through work