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Coworking spaces with childcare

By Jen Barton Packer on 7/12/2018

For many of us, post-baby life as a parent is a mish-mash, jumble and juggle of negotiating work, life, parenthood and trying to squeeze in 10 minutes for ourselves whenever we can.
Co-working spaces with childcare options, cafes with crèches and flexible childcare services are all essential to know about – they can be a lifeline in terms of allowing you to work when you need to, as well as giving you the opportunity to network. And you can relax as the kiddos will also have a great time.
When you see how gorgeous these London spaces are, neither you nor your mini-mes will want to leave. Now all you need is a good startup idea to justify any membership costs. Self-changing nappies, anyone?

Best for helping the freelance lifestyle: Cuckooz Nest, Clerkenwell

Best pay as you go: Cuckooz Nest, Clerkenwell

The concept of Cuckooz Nest is simple: by creating an Ofsted-rated nursery-meets-beautifully designed workspace, working parents can get what they need to done, without the stress. The best bit? You can book in on a Pay-As-You-Go basis with no minimum time requirement – you just need to book in 24 hours ahead, and the next day you can be tapping away on your laptop while your little one plays on one of those gorgeous Muro activity centres you want to buy but can't quite justify. Drop in is £20 an hour for fewer than 10 hours a week but goes down to just £14 an hour if you're looking to book in for a full work week. There's also desk-only membership (plus crèche) and monthly membership from £12 an hour, whether you need the space for eight hours that week, or 38.

WHERE

24 Ray Street, London, EC1R 3DJ

Best for parents who need a free morning: PlayPen, Mile End

Working on your laptop while sipping an almond latte sounds blissful – and also next-to-impossible once you have a child. Not anymore: East London residents with babies six months and older all need to know about PlayPen Cowork, which runs at St. Pauls Way Community Centre in Mile End. While baby and toddler (they take kids up to age five) get entertained in the crèche, parents work, nibble on cake and make the most of the free WiFi at next door's Bow Brew Cafe. There are two weekly sessions during term times, on Monday and Thursday mornings from 9:30am-12pm. Only eight children are admitted per session so book ahead at playpen.brownpapertickets.com – it's £15 for one child, £20 for two.

WHEN

Mondays, Thursdays, 9:30am-12pm

WHERE

Paper & Cup Café and Crèche, St Pauls Way Centre, 83 St Paul's Way, London E3 4AH

Best for entrepreneurs-in-training: Calthorpe Project, Bloomsbury Beginnings – Kings Cross

For many parents, the inspiration to try out a new career comes after children - as do those game-changing entrepreneurial ideas. Bloomsbury Beginnings at the Calthorpe Project is all about encouraging those big ideas: the crèche-meets-incubator is designed to support parents and those leading sustainable businesses to overcome obstacles and develop and scale their value propositions. The Spring 2019 programme costs £250 for 1:1 training sessions, workshops, access to experts and more, The on-site nursery (for kids under three) includes a lovely outdoor garden space. The next Parent-Cubator course starts 22 January, 2019.

WHERE

Calthorpe Project, 258-274, Grays Inn Road, WC1X 8LH

Best for community spirit: Huckletree West, White City

Warning: this is the kind of enticing workspace that may make it impossible to ever work from home again. Think chill-out zones like a Meditation Yurt, sunken seating, a podcasting booth for creative content makers and a whiteboard 'braindump' room. For parents, there's a Power Parents membership, which includes half-day childcare, either mornings (9am-1:30pm) or afternoons (1:30pm-6pm), Monday-Friday. The space boasts changing facilities, soft play and toys for the little ones and a cool, creative office vibe for the big ones, not to mention industry-leader workshop opportunities and meetups with the likes of Peanut's Michelle Kennedy, Mother Pukka, Mums in Tech and Doing It For the Kids (from £175 a month).

WHEN

Monday-Friday, 9am-1:30pm or 1:30pm-6pm

WHERE

White City Place, 191 Wood Lane, W12 7FP, London

Best for collaborative culture: Second Home, London Fields

A colourful co-working mecca, Second Home's fourth London location opened in Spring 2019, and is known for its collaborative community spirit and nature-focused ambience (think hanging gardens and voids to maximise the light from floor to floor). It brings together a mix of people from diverse worlds, like charity workers, creative freelancers and startup entrepreneurs. Let's add parents to that list: N Family Club Nursery – which embraces concepts like Forest School, foreign language learning and teaching ideas from Maria Montessori and Reggio Emilia – has set up a space in Second Home to provide on-site childcare for working parents. Hurrah! There's even a rooftop garden for the kids, which is a dream come true with water and muddy play stations.

WHERE

Second Home London Fields,125–127 Mare Street, London, E8 3SJ

Best for flexible hours: Third Door, Putney

Dropping your little one in the nursery and running upstairs to your spacious modern desk to work in peace sounds a lot better than your current trying to work from home while cooking, cleaning, doing-laundry and rocking a baby panic, doesn't it? Choose from fixed childcare to accommodate your steady work (from £347 a month for one day a week) or a flexible option for more unpredictable work patterns, which gives you the choice of different days and hours each week (just book 48 hours in advance), from £345 for 30 hours a month – parents appreciate that you only pay for what you're using. Even within the fixed contract, there's some flex to swap days or add extra ones.

WHERE

16 Point Pleasant, Putney, London, SW18 1GG

Best restaurant-meets-creche: Bertie and Boo, Battersea

Best for sneaking in an hour of work: Crèche-taurants

In London there are plenty of restaurants with soft play areas for children; however most require parents to sit and supervise their child, which isn't really going to work when you've got a conference call in 15 minutes. Julie's Restaurant and Champagne Bar in Holland Park has a Sunday crèche option from 1pm-4pm for children aged two through 12, which is fab, while Bertie & Boo's Northcote Road restaurant offers mid-week supervised play options from £3.50 with any meal (and, bonus: their carrot cake is renowned across South London).

WHERE

Bertie and Boo Restaurant and Play, 175-177 Northcote Road, SW11 6QF

Best for an emergency childcare option: Babysitting apps

We're living in the age of the life-saving app, which means a childcare-related emergency (e.g. lack of) is totally preventable – you will be able to make it to Manchester to give that talk you've been paid for in advance, after all. Apps like Bubble, Urban Sitter, Rock My Baby and Sitters can help you find a last-minute sitter or nanny (even in a two-hour window), while Koru Kids is the go-to service for those looking for after-school help.

Coworking spaces with childcare

Best pay as you go: Cuckooz Nest, Clerkenwell

Best for parents who need a free morning: PlayPen, Mile End

Best for entrepreneurs-in-training: Calthorpe Project, Bloomsbury Beginnings – Kings Cross

Best for community spirit: Huckletree West, White City

Best for collaborative culture: Second Home, London Fields

Best for flexible hours: Third Door, Putney

Best for sneaking in an hour of work: Crèche-taurants

Best for an emergency childcare option: Babysitting apps

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Looking forward: Things to do with kids 2019

Coworking spaces with childcare

Best pay as you go: Cuckooz Nest, Clerkenwell

Best for parents who need a free morning: PlayPen, Mile End

Best for entrepreneurs-in-training: Calthorpe Project, Bloomsbury Beginnings – Kings Cross

Best for community spirit: Huckletree West, White City

Best for collaborative culture: Second Home, London Fields

Best for flexible hours: Third Door, Putney

Best for sneaking in an hour of work: Crèche-taurants

Best for an emergency childcare option: Babysitting apps

Kids

Going Out

Best ski clothes for kids

Best hot chocolates in London

London's best mince pies 2018

How to teach kids about money

Child-friendly restaurants in London

Looking forward: Things to do with kids 2019

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