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).

What happens in an emergency situation? Say you're minding 4 young children and one has an accident and you have to call an ambulance. Would you take all 4 to the hospital or make the injured child to go alone? This worry is what puts me off using a CM.

What happens in an emergency situation? Say you're minding 4 young children and one has an accident and you have to call an ambulance. Would you take all 4 to the hospital or make the injured child to go alone? This worry is what puts me off using a CM.

Good question! It hasn’t happened to me yet (thankfully) but the parents agree to my policy which is that I have a back up of trusted friends and fellow childminders one of whom who would come to my house and stay with the others while I would go with the injured child. Everyone will have their own policy. I don’t drive but have lots of people locally I could call on in an emergency.
I have used my first aid training in more serious situations twice but neither of those was with a minded child, just incidents I saw with other children while I was out.

Thank you :)

Any more? Nearly end of term for me 😀

How much does the LA pay per hour for the 15/30 free hours?

What's the youngest child you've looked after?

This thread is making me wish I had organised a childminder rather than nursery for my daughter who is starting next week . It sounds lovely!

How much does the LA pay per hour for the 15/30 free hours?
It varies hugely across the country. There is no set rate. For here, it’s nearly £1 less than my hourly rate.

What's the youngest child you've looked after?
I have a six month old at the moment who is the youngest. I’d forgotten just how hard it is to feed a reluctant baby! She is very sweet and loves to be propped up with cushions and I give her a “treasure basket” full of safe things to look at/chew. She likes being read to and cuddles and loves splashing her hands in water.

This thread is making me wish I had organised a childminder rather than nursery for my daughter who is starting next week sad. It sounds lovely!
Hopefully you’ll have a lovely nursery! Some of my parents use me for some days and nursery for others.

What do you appreciate parents doing for you? Like a Christmas present, birthday? Our childminder is going on holidays next week so was thinking should we get her something ?

This thread has made me feel so much better about going back to work next week. My 9 month old will be with a childminder one day a week. She’s had 3 settling in sessions so far (including one full day) and so far so good. It’s just so alien to leave your baby with someone you don’t know. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Do you earn at least NMW all year around?

What do you appreciate parents doing for you?
I’m always delighted to get a really thoughtful thank you card, I’m lucky enough to have a corkboard full of them. I seem to get gifts when the teachers do - I’ve had some lovely things this week for end of term and I get Christmas presents too. I would say write her a card thanking her for all she does. I’ve had a lot of booze related presents this week 😂

Cheerio99 I’m really glad to hear that! I thought it might be a bit boring compared to some of the AMA’s. It is so hard to leave your baby of any age, the children usually get used to it more quickly than the parents. Once you’re in a routine you’ll be fine and hopefully have a good relationship with your childminder. I do daily WhatsApp diaries with photos for the under 5’s so the parents can see they’re happy.

Do you earn at least NMW all year around?
Nope. But many others do. I earn NMW when I’m working but I’m mainly term time only working with parents who have care sorted in holidays. I want that time with my family and I’m lucky we can just about manage it. My hourly rate is below nmw but I can have 3 or 4 at a time. If you work more hours you can do well out of it but there’s a lot of outgoings too.

What are the outgoing if you don’t mind me asking?

What are the outgoing if you don’t mind me asking?
Not applicable now to me obv but for new childminders there’s a lot of set up costs. Now it’s paying for training courses that we have to attend, fees to ofsted, insurance costs, and obviously paying out for resources that we need. I have to get my carpets cleaned regularly because there’s so many people in and out. Replacing toys that get damaged, stationery, a decent printer (I’m mostly online paperwork based but still need to print stuff). I subscribe to Twinkl and Activity Village for fantastic printables. I spend a lot on food but have had to start charging a little more for this as prices have gone up again. I can provide all meals or parents can bring a packed lunch etc.

Thanks! My daughter started at her childminder at 6 months and she was the youngest they'd ever had. Luckily she loves it there

It varies hugely across the country. There is no set rate. For here, it’s nearly £1 less than my hourly rate.

Can childminders ask parents to pay extra for food/consumables to make up the shortfall? Would parents agree to this? Have any ever offered (I was thinking of doing this for our childminder as I don't want her to be down financially just so we can save a fortune through the 15/30 hours free)

Can childminders ask parents to pay extra for food/consumables to make up the shortfall? Would parents agree to this?
It would be brilliant if parents would offer this. I can’t tell you how much we would appreciate it. Our hands are tied by the LA - we’re not allowed to add a charge, it has to be optional. But more and more of us are having to charge for extras or we just couldn’t do it. If all my children were funded and I lost around £5 a day for each of them I’d have to give the job up. Some of us have started explaining this to parents and it’s up to them how they proceed. Some of us only offer the funded hours during certain hours of the day and charge for other hours. It’s great that parents can afford childcare but I know of 9 childminders who have had to give up beciase if this.