Having 2 or more children in the UK

Most nurseries offer discounts for siblings 👀

Some nurseries offer a discount but it's only about 10%. Some wait until 1st is school age

I’m in the uk with 2 under 2 and our decision was that I would be off work till they started nursery once they are 3 years old.

But I was self employed and it wasn’t an option for my eldest to tag along with me so we made that decision then, then I got pregnant again and I’m out for work temporarily till they go off to school

Yes I have seen the 10% discount but it is much really . I am not sure if I am correct too, but it appears the tax free childcare is not per child either, only the funded hours? I feel like it would be a struggle for us and was wondering if people Just struggle through for the short-term until both kids are at school? leaving a bigger age gap isn't really an option for us because of my age.

how are you finding not working and looking after two under two? Did you save a load a money before hand or is it a case of making sacrifices and just getting by ? X

This is one of the reasons why my 1st and 2nd are 4 years apart, as double nursery cost was just not doable! My 3rd is almost 10 months now, so I'll only have her childcare to fork out for as my other 2 will be in secondary school in September (well one is already there).

Having a small age gap isn't the holy grail, I don't know why so many people think it is?

I have a 2.5y age gap, both are in nursery currently. Tax free is per child, so that helps. And the new funding makes nursery cheaper than it ever has been or would have been.
I’m back at work part time. So if money were to get tight, I could always work more days. Fortunately it hasn’t, but I suppose it just depends what you earn and what your other outgoings are.

I have a 2.5 year gap. My eldest is 3 and my youngest is just approaching 1.
My nursery do offer a 10% discount for the eldest child if there are siblings, but only if they don’t receive government support. The 3 year old has 30 hours funded so only goes to nursery for 3 days a week. The youngest will qualify for 15 hours in April then 30 hours in September. Their dad has them the two remaining weekdays. I’m a teacher so they are in term time only so I don’t have to stretch the funded hours.

From September it will only cost me about £130 to send them both each month in top up fees. With the amount I’ll be saving each month I’m looking to see if I can drop down to part time so I can actually spend time with their dad too and enjoy them being so little.

I have a 2 year age gap and I stay at home to look after them while husband works. Once my currently 11 week old becomes more predictable at going to bed I’ll work the evenings so we get both incomes again. I guess it depends what your job is and if you would consider changing to work around the kids x

We honestly can't afford it. It's one of the reasons we're waiting until our first is at least 4 before having a second.

saving more would have been great, but honestly we got lucky with our landlady having cheap rent for a 3 bed house in our area and it hasn’t increased since moving in 4 years ago.

2 under 2 has its hard days, but I have family living on either side of my house so I have the help around and my first knows after 3pm is nanny time and he loves it there

My kids are two years apart. I’m currently on Mat leave with my second. I’m delaying going back to work as much as possible as even with the funding starting in September we will be 1.3K out of pocket. Brill then we are almost 2.5K a month

Tax free childcare is per child. I’m claiming it for both of mine. I have a three year old and one year old in nursery 3x per week so claiming 30 hours for our eldest and 15 for our youngest.

I work in childcare myself
So having my baby in the same nursery I work I get 75% off the fees, plus the 15 hours, plus tax free.
He goes 4 days a week and I’m only spending around £230
I’m currently pregnant and by the time I’ll start again my first will get 30 hours plus the sibling discount.
Not bad at all

We have a three year gap and had a 5 month overlap paying two sets of nursery fees - so £1400x2 🫠

Not ideal but it deliberately wasn't for long. Kids are expensive so I'd say plan according to what you can afford!

Remember that as of September all children over the age of 9 months will get 30 funded hours which would help with a second child close in age.
Our nursery does offer a 10% discount for siblings HOWEVER this is only if you don't use the tax free childcare account or funded hours 😂 So always read the small print.

ours is just 5% applied only to one child 😅. We have 2 under 2 and struggling with it despite being high earners. Government funding helps significantly as otherwise it would have been a no, no. Savings would be useful if you have any, or family support. I even know people having them at home part time and pretending to work at the same time as its pretty impossible.

We had to wait until my eldest was starting school as despite being good earners we couldn’t afford to send them both to nursery at the same time. It’s sad as I’d love a 3rd but at my age it’s not really doable to wait another 4 years.

I’m pregnant with baby number 2 and my son’s 18mo. When I come back from maternity leave my son will be 3 so public nursery without fees.

My partner will be staying at home again with our second. That’s why I waited a wee bit longer so that my first born would be out of the paid childcare bracket. My son will be 2 years and 3 months when our 2nd is born xx

I’m having my second in July, my little girl is 2 in June. Decided not to go back to work after my first, just doesn’t make sense.
Going to be paying full whack for my eldest to go to preschool from January, will be a lot cheaper the following September when we get 15 free hours. It’s really hard, we want a third in a few years. We’ll only have one in preschool at a time.
It’s not only the money, I can’t imagine working full time, picking up, dropping off, cooking, cleaning, and spending time with the kids. I know some people do it, but I honestly don’t think I could make it work.

Thank you everyone for your response. Seems like the consensus is waiting till the eldest is in school, or one parent stopping or massively reducing their hours. It's annoying because the latter is not an option and the first, again may but be feasible due to my age.
Has anyone used a nanny? i read somewhere that they charge per household and not per child so may work out cheaper, although I don't know if you can use the funding🤔