Childcare options from 6 months

I will need to return to work when my baby is about 6 months old. I'm not
sure what childcare options are "best" for my baby at that age. I might be
able to get away with working about 3-4 days a week (depending on what we
feel we can afford at the time).

I don't think we can afford a nanny but I've been thinking about having an
aupair - but I'm not sure how I feel about leaving a 6 month old baby with
an aupair. Has anyone got any experiance with aupairs and young babies?

Nurseries are an option - but apart from being very expensive - are they
worth it for a baby so young? I can see the benefits of sending of toddlers
of 2+ to nurseries as I'm sure they get lots of stimulation and can learn
from play, mixing with other chilldren etc, but what can a 6 month old learn
from nursery? Is it worth the expense?

My MIL lives close by, but she is not very mobile and although she could
help for maybe a day a week, or odd occasions I wouldn't want to burden her
with much more than that.

What other options do I have? (I live in the UK).

Anika
EDD 11th January 2004.

"Mom2B" wrote in message
...
I will need to return to work when my baby is about 6 months old. I'm not
sure what childcare options are "best" for my baby at that age. I might be
able to get away with working about 3-4 days a week (depending on what we
feel we can afford at the time).

Are there childcare centres near you? Go check one out. I prefer them,
because the workers have a structure to work in, have more support and more
supervision.

In the UK, the big option you haven't mentioned is a childminder - which I
guess is the same as what USans call home daycare. This tends to be a lot
cheaper than a nursery, and some people prefer it especially for small
children because it's a smaller group of children and more home-like. The
downsides as I see it are that you're trusting one person who won't be
supervised and won't even be working in your home, so you have to be
*really* careful about choosing someone (and their environment), that
backup arrangements can be even more crucial (since you have to worry about
the childminder being ill, not just about your child being ill), and that
if you like the idea of the stimulation of a nursery, you may have to
switch care later.

Sidheag
edd Oct 13th