Childminder worries

[RainInJuly]

She has two under 18 months (this will include my son) and 3 older kids. My little boy will be 9 months when he starts with her. I just don't understand how she's going to have the time to do his bottles, his solids, the other babies bottles/solids, play with him, comfort him etc, look after the other kids? I can barely put him down in the day!! I just don't understand how it's going to work and I feel sick to my stomach. Can anyone give me any reassurance? Any childminders here who can put my mind at ease?

My DD started with her childminder whenever she was 8 months. I wrote down her routine (times for bottles, food she likes etc.) and that was it. Have you had settling in sessions yet?

The first day I dropped my (then) 6 month old at our childminder, I asked her chirpily "how many have you got today then?" She replied with "oh, only 8 this morning"

8?
EIGHT?!

I was terrified but I needn't have been, most of those were dropped at school anyway. Usually they only have 1 under 1, and the older ones tend to be helpful towards the babies.

My daughter is 22 months now and she has 7 very good friends at the childminder - 2 others are a similar age, a 3 year old and then school ages.

I trust my childminder implicitly and it's like my daughter is going to her grandma's house every day. She is truly wonderful and I'm not sure what I'd do without her!

No settling in sessions next.. have a couple next month but I'm not there for them. I might ask if I can go and watch for a few hours to see how he is there. He still doesn't have much routine in the day (not for lack of trying) so would find it hard to write a list. He's quite needy, he's stuck to me all day and it's hard to get anything done. I just can't see how he'll cope. I hope I'm wrong!

Will she have all 5 of them all day? That seems too much to me. My childminder has no more than 4 a day and only 1 under 12 months at any one time. Very occasionally she will have 5, but only in certain circumstances. This seems to be the general rule with all my local childminders. Some childminders have an extra child or 2, but only drop off/pick up from school so don’t have them all day. Could this be the case with your childminder?

Exactly the same way that people who have more than one child do it. If you had another baby would you just ignore your oldest or would you deal with both of them?

Have you ever considered asking how she manages the children's needs? Did you really not do that before picking her?

I would just drop him off for the sessions, that’s the whole point of them. To get him used to being there without you and you being there will be artificial and may confuse him.

Yes we obviously went through how the days would look when we booked her months ago. It's just when we signed contracts he was only 2 months old and it was to start when he was 12 months. I'm going back a few months early, so he'll only be 9 months. I guess I imagined him being older. He still seems so little, needs to be held for naps, needs lots of cuddles and reassurance. As time goes on I'm just getting worried. I'm sure it's fine for lots of babies I'm just worried he's maybe too high needs for that sort of setting.

I used to be a childminder, I'd have 2 under 18 months plus one over preschooler and 3-5 more before and after school.

It's very normal to have those kinds of numbers. She'll manage by being organised , food and activities all sorted and prepped ahead of time. I used a sling for clingy babies. Even ones with no routine at home soon settled into a routine with us - and that was with no trauma, just gentle encouragement. He will be completely different with a childminder than with you - babies are little traitors like that! He likely won't be as clingy. There'll be loads going on to distract him.

If you're concerned about anything though visit her again for a chat and plan plenty of settling in sessions. I was always happy to take as much time as necessary to reassure worried parents.