uncomfortable with childminder driving my dd about

Mollynp - you are certainly right to worry about how your DD is transported. I feel that you need to discuss it with your CM.

You can't ask that your DD isn't taken out in the car - you are the service user, not the Childminders sole employer. So I do not feel you are able to dictate the terms.
But if you aren't happy with the service being provided, you can certainly terminate the contract (by providing notice under the notice period clause of the contract) and using another childcare provider.

OP I'm with you on the car seat safety issue - I think every mum has a few "THINGS" which are not negotiable and car seats is definatley one of mine.

I don't know what seat you are currently using in your car, but woud this be a suitable alternative to buy to put in her car?

this one

I completely understand how you feel op. I am neurotic about car safety and with ds1 I found it really difficult to let him travel in the car with anyone other than myself driving. (which is madness as I am probably the worst driver!!!) After three children I have completely relaxed and as long as they have car seats that I have checked are fitted correctly I am fairly easy going. Not much help to you but just wanted to say you are not the only one worry.

Nannynick- Then that must surely be our advice. Talk to the childminder,ask for some reassurance and any relevant information needed, and then if necessary, try and find a compromise and make alternative arrangement in relation to the car seat, perhaps.

I think this was the line where i assumed car trips might not be an option: 'Is it acceptable to ask her not to take her out in the car?'.

Anyway, i hope i haven't rubbed anyone up the wrong way. I am a nice person, honest

Walking distance - how far is that? Walking distance with one child I would say is different to walking distance with say 6 children. Also all children will be able to walk different distances - a 4 year old I care for will walk 6 miles... whereas I suspect many 4 year old children would not do that distance.

Tethers - are those only used on ISOFIX seats? If so, there is no guarantee that the childminder's car will have ISOFIX seat anchors.

i know when i was a childminder i drove everyday. The car has to be MOT and Taxed and also you have to have buisness insurance although i think there is also a specific car insurance for childminders if she chooses that options. I agree you need to tell the childminder you dont want her to drive with your child and i suspect she will terminate contracts unless she has no other children and all activities are within walking distance.
Would you be happy with your child being in pushchair in the snow and rain though if she has to do school runs etc?????
OFSTED also check MOT and Tax and Isurance on childminder cars and you will have to sign a permission slip which should list possible trips etc.

cross-posted.

The CM doesn't need to drive, but she wants to and it's up to her! If she's in a village then she and the children probably get bored doing the same things every day. With several children driving is likely a lot easier than walking too.

If driving is a big issue for you then you really should have discussed it sooner.

What KitKat said is useful information, i'm not a mother (you might have guessed). Putting in place a new car seat might be the best option, either way finding an alternative solution would be less restrictive. Keeping trips in the car to minimum and only where it's unavoidable might make you feel better, i guess.

Hey little - I don't think the OP mentioned banning trips (unless I've missed something)- she wanted some reassurance, asked if it'd be reasonable to provide her own carseat and was worried about the obvious damage to the CMs car. None of which seems overly precious to me.

There is a big debate about children being in rearfacing seats til they're 4, so if she's made the decision to have a rearfacing seat for longer then it makes sense to not have them forward facing with a different driver.

molly - you can get them cheaper than that - i'm in norfolk. check the britax website.

How old is your dd?

I think that if you are uncomfortable with dd being driven about then it would be ok to chose an infrequent/non driving cm over a daily driving one but tbh you cant ban your cm from driving that is a stage too far

How big an issue is it? Would you prefer a nursery?

blimey terrible spelling - sorry

I agree little123 - at present it seems as though mollynp doesn't have sufficient information to make a judgement as to if the CM is suitable for transporting her DD around.

mollynp - You seem to know some info about the car that your to-be CM drives, so did you discuss how your DD would be transported to activities when you met the CM?

little123, most people think its ok to forward face a child from 6mnths / 9 kg, however if you actualy ask someone in the carseat trade they haven't done that with their own children because the risk of neck injury is quite high. Most carseat fitters/ people in the trade that I know keep their kids rear facing until a minimum of 18mnths. It has to do with the ratio of head weight to neck strength ratio or something. Several countries have increased the length of time a child should go rear-facing above the 6 mnbths mark.

I don't know how old the ops child is but I do thin its a reasonable precaution.

If you go on the which? website you can watch a free video of some of their crash tests on the bigger seats - its a bit of an eyeopener tbh.

Leeloo- The point is, the OP is jumping to conclusions and putting in place car bans without even clarifying the car arrangements with the childminder or verifying her details.

She comes across as irrational, but i can understand that leaving your child with a new person is a big deal.

i never even thought that the car might not be roadworthy! surely a childminder wouldn't take kids out in her car if it wasn't, as she couldn't get insurance?!

----

oh for heavens sake. Stop jumping to conclusions. The chances are the childminder is fully insured.

Oh dear god, if this is what having children does to an otherwise perfectly sane woman i'd rather not, thank you.

(Sorry, there was meant to be some humour in that last sentence, honest ;) )

If you tell the CM that you don't want her to drive your DD, then she may well decide not to take you as clients. It would also be very unfair on the other children she cares for if they couldn't go to activities or places because you don't want your DD driven.

You're well within your rights to ask the CM about her driving record, the MOT etc, and to buy her a new seat for your DD if you want to. Otherwise it might be better to find a CM who doesn't drive.

PS- You also state that you are unhappy about your child being facing foward in a car seat. Is this is a precarious position to put a child in, or is this just your own personal preference?

If it's not dangerous for the child, learn to relax a little.

Talk to the childminder and let her reaasure you, as opposed to banning trips in the car altogether, which is, quite frankly an overreaction.

It's also normal to feel nervous about leaving your small child with a non relative, but try and relax for your child's sake.

Just read some of the other posts and I think people are being a bit harsh - driving can be dangerous and just cos you're good/trustworthy with children it doesn't necessarily mean you're a safe driver! Its soooo not being 'ridiculously paranoid' to worry about someone being safe to drive your child, its being a concerned parent and to my mind a childminder's job is to care for children - not to drive them places.

Take a look at the britax website. They do a fab rear facing fitted carseat for much less money than that with full side impact protection, they are also on offer atm in toys r us. hth

If you don't feel comfortable with it then its better to say now and she can reassure you or you can reach a compromise. Could you ask if she's ever had an accident?

btw, well done for finding a rear-facing stage 1 carseat - I'm still looking for a good one.

What are you afraid of? an accident occuring?. Have you any reason to suspect your childminder is a dangerous/wreckless driver?

A adult or a child could hurt themselves in a number of situations- even crossing the road is dangerous, therefore would you rather your child didn't cross the road, just in case he/she was knocked over?

Stop being ridiculously paranoid and let your chilminder do their job.