This topic is a topic I go back and forth with numerous times a week.
When children turn three they get fifteen free hours from the government to go to a nursery, play scheme or child minder. However the way it works is that it's the term after you turn three unless you have circumstantial reasons for your child to go sooner.
| Child’s birthday | When you can claim |
| 1 January to 31 March | the beginning of term on or after 1 April |
| 1 April to 31 August | the beginning of term on or after 1 September |
| 1 September to 31 December | the beginning of term on or after 1 January |
This means that Lily will be a little over 3 and 2 months when she gets her free hours which I'll be honest feels like a long time to wait when I feel like she's ready now. We could of course pay nursery fees until January, and this is something we might still do, but nursery fees are expensive and I have my own reasons for wanting Lily in a Primary School based nursery and they generally don't accept children before they turn three.
Last night I sat down and made a list of all the reasons for and against having Lily go to nursery now.
