Registered childminder looking after 12 kids - ask me anything.

[ChairyPoppins]

Hi, I look after lots of children of different ages and have done for many years. If anyone’s interested, ask me about it. Childminder numbers are falling as less people want to do this for a living but I love my job (not so much in this heat).

Do you earn a decent amount?
Do you ever wish you worked alongside someone else? I think I’d always be anxious in case something happened.

Do you feel appreciated by the parents and how do you cope with discipling other people's children? BTW, anyone who chooses childminding as a career because they want to look after children is an absolute star. Sadly it's not viewed by many as a career which is wrong as you have to combine so many skills.

Do you make the parents pay you for your holidays?

Do you have your own children? & if so, how do they feel about their home being like a nursery?

Sounds very rewarding.
A couple of questions.

Do you work alone, if so. What do you do about cooking, as. You can't leave them unsupervised to prepare meals. Also what if some want to play inside and some in the garden. How do you get around that.
How do you ensure your activities are stimulating and suitable enough for each age group.

Do you earn a decent amount?
Do you ever wish you worked alongside someone else? I think I’d always be anxious in case something happened.

I don’t do badly but I know some who earn more because they take on more children - staggered throughout the week. I’m not sure I could support my family on this if I didn’t have a partner who works. We have to pay out a lot too.

I work alone but I’m lucky to have a group of very supportive childminder friends, we look out for each other and tend to do a lot of activities as a group which is lovely for the children too. It’s opened my eyes to how supportive women can be of each other which wasn’t the case in previous jobs.

Thanks op. I used to use a child minder and I was always grateful to her. She said many of her relatives asked when she was going to get a proper job. I’m sure if they tried it for a day they’d be begging to go back to their ‘proper jobs’. Have you ever had this from people? So rude and ridiculous!

Do you feel appreciated by the parents and how do you cope with discipling other people's children? BTW, anyone who chooses childminding as a career because they want to look after children is an absolute star. Sadly it's not viewed by many as a career which is wrong as you have to combine so many skills

Oh, not all of them no! Some who will drop children off while the parent is attached to their phone, parents who take the piss with late collection and “forget” to pay you. But there are some absolutely lovely ones who are very appreciative and thoughtful.

Discipline - I make it clear from the first interview what behaviour is and is not acceptable in my setting and if the parent isn’t prepared to support me it’s not going to work out. I will always speak to parents on the same day of any incidents and talk about how we can move forward.

And thank you so much! I love kids, mostly!

Do you make the parents pay you for your holidays?

I choose to work during school term times and take my holidays during school holidays of the school I’m linked to. But my policy has always been if I’m off work (for an appointment etc) I don’t charge the parent, I credit the half day or whatever to the following invoice.

How do you juggle the 12 kids with your ratio?

Do you have your own children? & if so, how do they feel about their home being like a nursery?

I do. They are 16 and 17 now and the minded children love to see them and look up to them a bit. That bit is lovely. My house and shed are full of toys which can take over a bit but I’ve always made sure my kids have “their” things which the minded children can’t use. No going into my childrens bedrooms is allowed. And I don’t work during the holidays so that has always been family time. I did think of working elsewhere at one point when work was very quiet years ago and both my kids said they’d rather have me here in the mornings and after school and they liked the little ones. It’s easier now they’re older tbh.

Do you work alone, if so. What do you do about cooking, as. You can't leave them unsupervised to prepare meals. Also what if some want to play inside and some in the garden. How do you get around that.
How do you ensure your activities are stimulating and suitable enough for each age group

Cooking - I prepare in advance, use the slow cooker, put the baby in the high chair with toys to watch me in the kitchen at the big table and have the older ones within earshot and check on them. It can be done. They also like making their own food like wraps, pizzas etc.

Playing - my outdoor area is very safe and risk assessed, gates can only be opened by me. I will allow older ones to play in the garden if I can see them through the window and hear them at all times, I don’t let little ones outside without me. Generally the little ones want to be with the big ones! I can set up a craft table outside while some are playing, or have books on the sofa. Again, it can be done, you just have to be very very aware of any risks and judge the children you have.

Activities - I have a huge box full of tried and tested planned activities, themes, outdoor play ideas and loads more for all ages from EYFS to KS2. I roughly plan a few months - just making notes- and write the activities which will be suitable for the ages in a particular theme. I really enjoy this bit.

(Sorry my bold text keeps going wrong!)

How do you juggle the 12 kids with your ratio?
I never have more than 3-4 at a time. I work some funny hours so one child will be leaving as another arrives several times a day. My USP here is that I will work around shift workers etc and actually prefer to have lots of children who come for a few hours to ones who do 7-5 or similar.

hmmwhatatodo yes, at the start I was asked a lot when I was going to pack in the babysitting and get a proper job. Less so now.

Can you leave them alone to go to the loo?

Do you give wine/chocolate/earplugs/delete as applicable to your NDNDs?

Used to live next to 2 C/M , now just one ( one moved) and it's well noisy

Actually, joking apart, it's the parents doing drop off that are more of a ballsache I'll just be 5 minutes...... , yeah right.

One blocked me for 15 minutes when I was waiting to get off my drive , tutted and rolled her eyes. She was lucky I didn't poke her eyes , that'd stop them rolling !

Can you leave them alone to go to the loo?
Mostly but depends on child. I have plonked a baby in the (empty) bath before in the bathroom if they need me close by when I’m desperate. But can usually manage it. Older kids yes but they will all need to tell me something urgently as soon as I shut the bathroom door.

Do you give wine/chocolate/earplugs/delete as applicable to your NDNDs?
I mind for one side The other side is an elderly lady who genuinely seems to love to hear the children playing out. No one has complained about noise or parking yet but there’s room to pull up outside and not block anyone.

Do the children talk about thier parents much when they are with you? My DS talks about his childminder and her 2 children non-stop to me do wondered if it worked both ways!
All the time!! I wonder if they do it about me? I hear all about when daddy had too much beer and was silly and mummy got cross, lots about pets and cousins and family. It’s nice. Children all like to talk about themselves as babies when we have a baby in the house. They love to talk, I assume teachers must hear it all too bit with much more of them.

Any more?

Have you ever had a child or baby who you have had to tell the parents you can’t look after anymore ? My baby is 6 months and I am looking into a child minder when I return to work when she turns one. She really is a handful very grumpy and doesn’t like to nap ha I am worried no childminder will have her haha

Do you ever have favourite children or families?
What do you think of the free 15/30 hours?
Do you think childminders are better than nurseries?!

Yes I am very partial to the quirky, odd, shy ones who blossom and open up to me when I get to know them. But I hope I never show favouritism, I try not to.

15/30 hours is great for parents but I really don’t think it benefits all childminders. The hourly rate our LA pays is less than most of us charge. The paperwork is time consuming and we didn’t get paid in time for Christmas due to an admin error their end which was awful. I’ve seen nurseries close and childminders decide to leave the job because they can’t make it work.

This depends on the child and the nursery or childminder I think! Some children do not flourish at nursery, they get lost in the bigger group and they’re still too young for it. But nurseries have more staff - if I’m off sick I have to close or find back up and they don’t. Some of my children come to me and nursery too and get the best of both.

Have you ever had a child or baby who you have had to tell the parents you can’t look after anymore ? My baby is 6 months and I am looking into a child minder when I return to work when she turns one. She really is a handful very grumpy and doesn’t like to nap ha I am worried no childminder will have her haha

The longest it ever took me was a month to settle children who were not keen on being left but it worked out very well both times thankfully. Distractions with toys and pets helps and gradually building up the length of the sessions.

I have given two children notice in this job - one was when I felt I couldn’t effectively safeguard the other children from a child’s behaviour/anger issues and had to put them first. The other was a child who assaulted me. Thankfully this is very rare! Both times I gave the parents information on how to get the help I felt the children needed.