Tax free childcare is now available to around 110,000 families in Dorset and the south west whose youngest child is under six.
Parents, including the selfemployed, can apply online for children who were aged under six on November 24.
It will be gradually rolled out to parents with children aged under 12, with everyone who is eligible able to apply by the end of March 2018.
The money can go towards a whole range of regulated childcare, whether nurseries, childminders, after school clubs or holiday clubs.
Parents can find out what help is available on the Childcare Choices website childcarechoices.gov. uk.
This website includes a childcare calculator that compares all the government’s childcare offers to check what works best for families.
Once eligible parents have opened their new account they can start paying their childcare provider straightaway, using the government contribution.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here