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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Original poster

Unsocial hours and childminders...

77 replies

solo · 23/11/2008 14:38

I've never employed a CM before but if I'm forced to return to work at the end of January I will need to.
I've looked at some CM's details online just to get an idea about them really, but there have been none at all that mention unsocial hours. My working hours mean that I would need to drop my Dc's off at 05:45 and not collect until around 8pm. Ds is of school age(10)and could probably walk himself to and from school so not so many hours in CM's care for him, but Dd would be all the time as she would only be 2 years old. I also will be working every other weekend, so for example over 2 weeks, I might work M,T,W, off Th&Fr, work SAT,SUN,MON, off Tues/Weds, work Thurs/Fri, off Sat/Sun...
I wouldn't know what to expect with regard to cost either. Can anyone shed some light on this for me please?
Sorry, I hope that all makes sense.

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Original poster
solo · 23/11/2008 14:54

Well like I said, I've never had anything to do with a CM before, so employ was what I assumed I'd be doing since I'd be paying her
.
I wouldn't want to pay for days I wasn't using them, so I'm wondering if you meant the CM is likely to want paying for the days I don't need them?
CIS website had no CM's that specified that they did unsocial hours.

Thanks for your info KM.

OP posts:
KatyMac · 23/11/2008 14:45

You don't 'employ' a childminder - you contract to use her services

You DS walking to school might be a issue because of 'who would be responsible for him while he was walking to school' iyswim

Some childminders work weekends & some don't

But tbh the problem will be that the childminder is unlikely to want paying (either in full or a retainer) for the days you don't need them

Cost is complicated - the best idea is to look on the CIS website for your area to get an idea of price - some childminders charge more outside of 'normal' hours (eg I charge about 50% more before 7am or after 6pm)

Good luck