I would love to work from home and have also considered the childminding thing. I work for the NHS and was working up in London when I had my little boy (he's 2 now) when I returned from maternity leave all had changed at work, including my job, and I ended up resigning (long story!). I got a job with the NHS locally but it's full time which is not what I wanted. It's so hard to find part time or home based work though.
I get childcare vouchers which really help with the cost of nursery. The amount is deducted from my salary monthly before tax so I get £150 of vouchers which only costs me about £100, most organisations provide them and it saves quite a bit of money!
P.S re your other post, my Hubby is also a police officer and we have a 2 year old who won't sleep through the night, in fact he wakes 2 or three times. Hubby often sleeps in the spare room just so that we can all get a good nights sleep! I find it really tough, more than he does for sure, but I try to understand as he works 12 hour shifts and most of the time has to leave home at 5am to get to work and I don't need to get up till 7am.
Things are getting better recently though, the little one is sleeping better and the OH is back in bed with me (well, most of the time anyway).
Fingers crossed for you ... I know exactly how you feel! xx