Back-up childcare when everything falls over

What to do in the next 20 minutes

A childcare breakdown feels like one giant problem, but it is usually five smaller decisions. Deal with the collection deadline and your child's needs first; work, money and tomorrow's plan become easier once you know who is caring for your child today.

1. 0–3 minutes: Read the message again. Confirm whether collection is needed, the deadline, why care has stopped and the earliest possible return.
2. 3–7 minutes: Contact the safest realistic back-up. Give the child's age, location, hours needed and any relevant allergy, medicine, health or additional-support information.
3. 7–10 minutes: Tell work what happened, that it is an unexpected dependant emergency, your best estimate of how long you will be away and when you will update them.
4. 10–15 minutes: Confirm the authorised collector, any ID or password, the handover point, transport and the correct child restraint if a car journey is involved.
5. 15–20 minutes: Get the return or exclusion rule, fee treatment and next update in writing where possible. If today's cover is only a bridge, choose a time to review tomorrow.

Choose the next safe option, not simply the first available one

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What are your work rights when childcare breaks down?

In Great Britain, time off for dependants is a statutory right for employees. GOV.UK treats ‘worker’ and ‘employee’ as different employment statuses, so if you are not legally classed as an employee, do not assume this particular statutory right applies; check your contract, workplace policy and employment status.

For an employee, the right covers a reasonable amount of time needed for an emergency involving a dependant, including an unexpected disruption or breakdown in care. There is no fixed statutory number of hours or days. Tell your employer as soon as possible why you are absent and how long you expect the absence to last.

The statutory time is not automatically paid. Your contract or workplace policy may offer paid emergency or family leave, so check that before assuming you will lose pay. Northern Ireland has separate legislation, but nidirect likewise states that employees can take reasonable unpaid time off for unexpected dependant emergencies, including a nursery closing or a childminder failing to turn up.

If the problem will last longer, do not assume emergency dependant leave gives an unlimited block of care. Other options can include annual leave, an agreed temporary working arrangement or statutory parental leave if you qualify. In England, Scotland and Wales, unpaid parental leave became a day-one employee right on 6 April 2026 and normally requires 21 days' notice, so it is usually a planning tool rather than the answer to a call from nursery this morning. Northern Ireland did not take that day-one change: nidirect currently says statutory parental leave normally requires employee status and at least one year's continuous service.

How to verify paid back-up childcare in each UK nation

Do not turn one England rule into a UK rule. Registration depends on where you live, the type of care, where it happens, the child's age, the hours and sometimes the relationship between carer and child. A claim such as ‘DBS checked’ or ‘vetted’ can be useful information, but it is not a substitute for checking any official registration the provider says it holds. Some lawful arrangements are exempt from registration, so an official register is a way to verify a claimed status, not a universal directory of every lawful babysitter or nanny.

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The five-minute collection and handover checklist

• Confirm the full name and phone number of the person collecting, and tell the nursery or school how they are authorised. Check whether photo ID, a password or a written message is required.
• Give the carer the child's relevant allergy, medicine, health and additional-support information, including any written instructions already used by the setting.
• Agree where the child will be cared for, how they will travel and which correct child restraint is available if a car journey is involved.
• Pack only what the next few hours need: nappies or spare clothes, food or milk where appropriate, comfort item and any permitted medicine with its instructions.
• Share both parents' or guardians' emergency numbers, who makes decisions if you cannot be reached, and the time the arrangement ends or will be reviewed.
• Tell the back-up carer why normal childcare stopped. Do not hide vomiting, diarrhoea, a high temperature or another reason a setting excluded the child simply to secure a booking.

If the disruption comes while a child is still getting used to nursery, keep the handover as predictable as you can. The live nursery-settling guide covers key-person communication, comfort information and clear goodbyes; this page is for the separate problem of what to do when the childcare itself disappears.

If your child was sent home ill, solve the childcare problem without moving the infection

Keep the health section simple: follow the setting's written exclusion policy and current public-health or NHS advice for the illness involved. For diarrhoea or vomiting, current official guidance in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland uses at least 48 hours after the last episode before returning to school or nursery. Some infections need longer, and outbreak advice can change the return date.

Tell any proposed back-up carer the symptoms before they agree. A child who cannot attend group care may still need one-to-one care at home, but whether a particular nanny, sitter or service will accept that booking is a provider decision and should be confirmed, not assumed. If you are worried about the child's health, use the appropriate NHS route rather than relying on a childcare article to decide medical urgency.

What happens to fees and childcare support?

Do not assume a missed nursery session is refundable, that a provider-closure day must be charged, or that funded hours can simply be moved to a different setting that afternoon. Start with the contract, the reason care was not provided and the rules for any funded entitlement. Current CMA guidance says consumer contract terms must be fair and transparent, but it does not create a universal nursery-refund answer. Ask your provider to state in writing what happens to the missed session, any private fee and any funded entitlement; if the dispute remains, seek independent consumer or legal advice rather than treating this guide as a ruling.

If you already use Tax-Free Childcare, the emergency provider must be an approved childcare provider and signed up to the scheme before you can pay them through the account. For the wider funding and fee picture, use KidsCo's live childcare costs and funding guide rather than trying to solve every scheme during the emergency call.

Build a back-up plan that still works six months from now

A useful plan is not a list of six people who once said “probably”. Keep two layers: at least one familiar person who has explicitly agreed what they can cover, and one paid route you have already checked for your nation and child's age. Add your employer's emergency-leave policy and the collection rules for your nursery or school.

1. Ask each familiar back-up exactly which days, hours, transport and illness situations they can realistically cover.
2. Save the official regulator or childcare-register link for your nation and the details of one or two paid services you would consider using.
3. Authorise likely collectors with the nursery or school before you need them, following the setting's own process.
4. Keep one short handover note with allergies, medicine, emergency contacts, routines and car-seat information; review it whenever something changes.
5. Read your workplace policy while nobody is ill. Know who to contact, whether emergency leave is paid and which longer-term options exist if a breakdown lasts several days.
6. Recheck the plan every few months. Availability, registration, prices, children's needs and grandparents' stamina all change.

Save three things before the next bad morning

Keep one phone note with the people who can collect, your employer's emergency-leave contact or policy, and the official childcare-register link for your nation. Recheck it when your child's needs or your provider changes. For the wider planning questions—costs, settling and home routines—browse the live KidsCo family life guides.

Can I leave work if nursery suddenly closes?

If you are an employee, an unexpected nursery closure or other sudden breakdown in a dependant's care can fall within the right to reasonable emergency time off. In Great Britain this is time off for dependants; Northern Ireland has a parallel right under its own framework. Tell your employer as soon as you can, explain the reason and give your best estimate of how long you need.

Does my employer have to pay me for emergency childcare leave?

Not automatically. The statutory dependant-emergency right is unpaid, but your contract or workplace policy may provide paid emergency, family or special leave. Check the policy or ask which absence code applies.

Can I use any babysitter if childcare falls through?

The legal registration position depends on the nation, the type of care, where it happens, the child's age and the hours. Do not assume an England Ofsted rule applies throughout the UK. If a provider claims official registration, verify it with the relevant regulator or public childcare register, and still check the practical handover and safeguarding information you need.

Can a child go to a different nursery after vomiting?

For diarrhoea or vomiting, current public-health and NHS guidance across the UK uses at least 48 hours after the last episode before returning to school or nursery. Moving an excluded child to another group setting is not a sensible way around that rule. Tell any one-to-one back-up carer the symptoms before booking.

Will I get nursery fees back if the setting closes?

There is no universal answer. Check the contract, why the service was not provided and the rules for any funded entitlement. Current CMA guidance says consumer contract terms must be fair and transparent, but whether a particular fee term is enforceable depends on context. Ask the provider for its fee and funding treatment in writing, and seek independent consumer or legal advice if a dispute remains.