Childminder and holidays

I’m a childminder and I think YANBU. I also do give my holidays long time in advance. I feel for you :(

The child is not quite 1 year old!!

Are there any school schemes available for those half term hols? I used to book my DC into an 8.30-4 camp/club at our local primary school in some of the school holidays. It used to be relatively cheap and was mainly art/craft/sport & mostly seemed yo be run by 18 year olds (which my DC loved).

I'm a childminder and take a similar amount of holidays per year, 5-6 weeks in the school holidays. However I'm upfront about this with all new starters. Also I spend a lot of time with another local childminder, so we generally alternate our weeks off in the summer, and take one alternate week off each in the Easter break so the option is there for our charges to go to a familiar setting for a few days whilst the other is off. We're both closed at the same time for around 3 weeks per year, usually all of Xmas break and a few days here and there in the half terms/other school holidays.

Actually I'd agree that nurseries are better regulated. Yes, a childminder also has an Ofsted inspection - but this can be once every 5 years.

The nursery I work at has internal quality inspections several times a year, as well as daily checks on many things from management to ensure things are running as they should be.

She isn't term time only she's open during the holidays - but if there's only your LO and 1 other going to be there in the school holidays it may well be that the other LO has an older sibling so also won't be going during those dates so she's chosen to close when it means losing the least amount of money.
Unfortunately you're going to have to find a new childminder

@Youcantcallacatspider you personally think nurseries are better monitored by who?

I work at a nursery and we have plenty of term time only children, but also lots of term time only staff, so this isn't really a thing. Also it would be extremely unfair to a child to spend a random week at a nursery they've never been to with staff they don't know.

A club for a 1 year old?

I think you need to find a nursery. I can see lots of advantages in using a child minder but I would be too worried about being reliant on just one person, what if they get ill.

Do you have a teenage niece / nephew / cousin who could do with some extra cash? Our CM care fell through but luckily we had my teenage niece who was always up for some extra quid (and money for a McDs lunch!) to babysit DD. If it wasnt for her, we wouldnt havent coped with the holidays the CM takes.

🙄 I was sharing my experience to emphasise to OP that she shouldn't discount nurseries. Yes they're both regulated by Ofsted but personally I think nurseries are more closely monitored. CM are often individuals or small groups of staff. There's far more chance for them to be able to run a childcare facility badly and for them to cover this up. I've seen it with my own eyes and am entitled to my opinion.

Look for a club she can do
Ask at school, I would absolutely help in this situation, especially February.
Find a teenager who is studying childcare.

@Youcantcallacatspider

Also, both Nurseries and Childminders are Ofsted registered (most anyway, those who aren't are registered with an agency instead) and have graded inspections. In what way do you think nurseries are better regulated?

You need to start looking for a nanny sharpish OP

well, she won't be running a childminding business for long.

I would look for a different childminder or even nursery (when you don't have this issue at all). You are also entitled to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave. You can take this until your DC is 18, max 4 weeks per annum. It's a legal entitlement. Maybe look into that if everything else fails.

Most of your post has nothing to do with the issue the OP is having with holidays.

There are obviously good and bad Childminders, the same as nurseries.

I never used a childminder, and actually had difficulty going to term time only!
It was a nursery though.
In your situation you could speak to her again and see if she can compromise but I don't think she's going to. Simply because the vast majority of her childminding is term time anyway. As you say she's been in the industry a while and can see quite clearly that she is taking holidays for the majority of the school holidays. The amount of holidays does seem excessive, anyone wanting all year round would find it impossible!.

The only thing I can think of is you don't state you work locally but perhaps look for a child minder local to wear you work?.
Even if that doesn't work perhaps a bit further from where you live may work?

Unfortunately she's really mislead you when you signed up. Closing between christmas and new year is rather different from shutting the entire school christmas holidays, which she said she wasn't going to do. I hope you find an alternative. What about childcare.com?

@FandyRenoli I'm a childminder. Go back to yours and say you're going to really struggle and does she have any suggestions? Also ask if she knows of any other local Childminders who could have your LO in the school holidays when she's away? You won't be paying her when she's away so can use this money to hopefully pay another. I have some children who are TTO but I'm not, so have other children who come in the holidays only. You may need to amend your contract with her to TTO and take up a new one with another Childminder for holidays only? Could save you future trouble.

I would also advertise on Childcare for cover for those dates. And if you know of any children in schools ask their parents to ask in any class WhatsApp groups if they have a Childminder with holiday spaces. Also, if you have a local Facebook group, put a post up asking on there too.

Hope you get sorted.

I’m an ex-Childminder and I’m usually very Team Childminder in posts relating to disputes with childcare providers. However I’m totally on your side with this one. She has been unreasonable here. I don’t think you get use of the words “a few days here and there” could be misunderstood, it definitely doesn’t mean half of all school holidays.

Do you have a written and signed contract? I had very clear notes on holiday that I and my clients took. What does yours say?

She’s allowed to take as much holiday as she likes, she’s a private business. But she must make that absolutely clear when people sign up and it should be included in the contract, signed by both parties.

I would put your child’s name down on every waiting list locally for childcare. I would beg the Childminder to reconsider for February, explaining your reasons - even if it’s just for a few days of the week. Look on childcare.co.uk to see if you can find a temp Nanny for the week. Can you find anyone with a Nanny already, that might consider sharing her for a week? Ask on local Facebook groups etc if anyone knows a TA or a childcare student that might be available for the next few half-terms (do this asap so you give yourself time to check their references, DBS etc).

I have this issue OP yanbu mine is also taking on average 38 days a year plus bank holidays also si gle parent no support. Its rubbish but as they are essentially self employed they can take any amount of a/leave they want although I am starting to think financially how that works as we pay them when on annual leave surely we would pay what would be considered as standard annual leave allowance for example if full time isn't that 28 days. Its sh*t to be in this situation but I dont think much we can do. Mine is also taking time off in February luckily not on school holidays but taking more days off than my annual leave allows and the same prolonged Xmas dates. Wondering if same person does the name begin with c?

My daughter went to a lovely childminders but we have the same issue - long holidays and not flexible. We also had to pay 50% fees whilst they were off. Also if they are off sick or their children are off they have to take additional time off. It was just a logistical nightmare.
Whilst our childminders were wonderful, for this reason I would always recommend a nursery.
I don't think there's anything you can about the leave I would get your DC down on as many waiting lists as possible and explore other options for feb half term - I.e nanny's and holidays clubs.

OP when my dd was a baby I initially had it in my head that we needed a childminder. I thought they'd be warmer with my dd and have a more 'home from home' feel. I thought the cm I chose was lovely at first. However, when my dd started settling in sessions it became obvious that she was really jaded and uninterested. She and other members of staff rolling their eyes at my perfectly fine baby because heaven forbid she was a bit upset on her first couple of days. Telling me I'd 'have trouble with her as a teenager' because they couldn't deal with even a bit of fussiness. In addition to this there were constant messages on the family app that clearly showed she was fed up of doing this eg 'I'm fed up of toys being broken. I won't be replacing broken toys any more' and 'If you want your child not to be in a nappy they need to be able to go to the toilet independently and pull their clothes up or down. We won't be assisting them' After I turned up to my daughter waiting at their door packed up ready to go and bored (even though I was 15 minutes early) and absolutely howling after just her 3rd settling in session and the cm rolling her eyes at me and making zero effort to comfort her I knew it wasn't right and removed her. I put her in a nursery instead. They were lovely. My dd settled in there very quickly and came on leaps and bounds. Btw the childminder only a year later was graded as inadequate by Ofsted

It sounds like your cm has been very disingenuous about her annual leave and is taking a disproportionate amount of a/l. I'd personally take this a red flag that your cm's heart isn't really in this any more and make alternative arrangements before other standards start to slip. I wouldn't discount a good nursery though. I found our's to be very warm and affectionate towards my dd, much more engaged with the early years curriculum and overall much more professional. In addition to my experience above I've gotten to know a few of the cm's in my area. They're a very cliquey bunch and one cm especially is good on paper but literally hires all her mates to work for her, none of who I'd trust to look after my plants never mind my kid. Nurseries are much more regulated and the right ones should provide excellent and reliable care.

Can you take the baby to work? what a ridiculous question. No employer is going to be OK with that!!