What to ask a prospective childminder

As a childminder Iam also interviewing the families, how comfortable I feel around them and any new child has to fit in with the existing children. I have had parents come round and have been rude to me, let there children run round trashing the place and did not like it when I told the children to stop! 😡So unsurprising no space offered to them. My tips would be, be relaxed ask questions but not like you are interrogating her. Ask about fees, what’s include. What you need to provide, if you have to pay for your holidays, her holidays. Most childminders I know will provide a list of all holidays each year so you know when you need to arrange alternative care .

I use to give my parents a list in Jan for the year for holidays
I would ask if they have a backstop for dc (another -friend- childminder & I use to back each other up if either needed emergency time off) if the cant work
I use to do full first aid course every 3 years (& got my dc to do this when they were 14 - always useful)
Ask if anyone smokes in household (in immediate family)
what schools/playgroups et al do they "do"
how do other dc she has there react to her
what does she do about food/early on weaning she may ask you but later on
do they do outings?
& do you feel comfortable there - is it homely

I'm accessible to parents during the day - lots of them (especially with babies/first babies!) like to message asking how they are or suddenly remembering about the spare dummy/hat. If it's during a school run or nappy change obviously I can't read or reply, but in quieter moments I will read and respond to messages.

Another thing worth mentioning, I met with four childminders when my daughter was around 4 months and only one of them asked to hold her!

Everything above. Please also keep in mind the childminders will also be interviewing you to make sure you will be the right fit for their setting.

References? I got a childminder in a rush once literally got a job on the Thursday I started monday she picked the kids up on the monday luckily she was recommended by my friends and it worked out great the kids loved her

I agree with all the above. My decision was made after the childminder only had eyes for DD1 at 6 months and barely noticed me!

You definitely need to have it set out in stone how many holidays a year they take and whether they take their holidays paid or not. Same with sick days - do you have to pay them if they ring in sick or not? I've used two childminders in the past - one took five weeks paid holiday a year and got sick pay but we still had to pay if we didn't send our child on an agreed day (sick or holiday). The other (and better) childminder didn't have sick or holiday pay.

I can't stress enough how big of a deal the holidays thing is. We didn't factor in that we would have to use all our holidays at the same time as the childminder. If the childminder has 2 weeks off in Jan, you need 2 weeks of in Jan for example, too. If they take school holidays off, it means you can only go away in school holidays which is obviously expensive!

Think about what's important to you, at the moment and later - TV? Organic whole foods? Rear facing car seats? Pets?

You can have a look at the FAQs on my website if you like. They might give you some ideas. You will probably know when you've found the right one though. www.3mxchildcare.co.uk

You need to ask:
What they charge
What is included in charge and what is extra
What hours they work/offer
Notice period
Do they offer settling in sessions
Ask to see their policies/qualifications/Ofsted report/insurance
What routine/activities they have for your baby
Where will baby sleep
How many other kids they have

However, a lot of it comes down to your gut feeling and whether you prefer one over another. It's great you are seeing 5 as you will be able to compare.