Would this put you off a childminder?

[njmummy]

We have been to visit a lovely childminder who has a space for our daughter when she will be 10 months old.

They have a lovely huge space, nice safe outdoor area, separate children’s toilet and lots of resources. Between the childminder and her assistant they have over 40 years childcare experience and both of them seem so lovely and are very passionate about what they do. They regularly go on trips and offer home cooked meals. They have also maintained Ofsted Outstanding for 15 years. We can use our funded hours so cost to us will be minimal for the part time place.

Between them they have 6 under 4s in the day and also collect up to 10 primary aged children after school. They collect from 2 different schools, so they take 3 of their early years children each - two in a buggy and one walking.

The after school provision is what concerns me. I can’t imagine how two adults can be responsible for so many children of different ages and stages and meet all their needs but appreciate it’s maybe standard for a childminder.

What do you think? It’s considerably cheaper than a nursery and seems a fantastic setting for every reason other than this.

In short yes, it would put me off.
Our childminder for my first born used to do that, the school was only 2 minutes walk from her house but I still felt like it was messing up the day for the younger ones. Also in bad weather I used to feel bad for my son being dragged outside and I often used to drop him off later.
What if children have a nap, would they wake them up? And as you mention the safety concerns as well.
We also have a childminder for our daughter now but this one does not offer school runs and I feel much more comfortable this way.

Yes and no.

I’ll add the caveat here that I’m not hugely keen on the childminder model of care for precisely those reasons. But if I was and wanted a childminder rather than nursery or nanny then that would be something I’d have to accept or indeed want.

Some childminders don’t do school runs but then one of the big advantages to a childminder that’s always pushed on here is the continuity of care if you need wraparound when they do start school.

So one childminder and one assistant would have up to 16 young kids? Yes I absolutely wouldn't want my 10 month old in that situation there's no way they can adequately supervise her alongside so many school aged children.

I thought that they weren't legally allowed to have this many (I live in England, not sure where you are).

A quick google suggests "Childminders can care for no more than 6 children under 8 years old. These numbers include a childminders own children and any children they are responsible for (such as foster children). Of the six only three can be younger than 5* and only one can be under a year old."

So with two of them, the maximum should be 12 children in total.

https://childmindinguk.com/becoming-a-childminder#:~:text=How%20many%20children%20can%20a,be%20under%20a%20year%20old.

There is a big difference between doing a school run at the end of the road or a 15 min walk each way

That being said getting an Ofsted outstanding rating is important

In a nursery setting once she moved out of the baby room your child would be with a similar number of other kids ....

Depends how far the school is, and what kind of walk it is (traffic, road-crossings etc). Our childminder used to do this, but it was in a village, the walk to school was ten minutes, tops, even at a pre-schooler walking pace, along quiet roads, and our childminder was ace and had them all well in hand.

(Well, before she had an affair with one of the kids’ dads and quit childminding for a lovenest in a neighbouring village, which threw a bit of a spanner in the works.)

The mix of ages is a good social outlet for all children, but I do understand your concerns regarding the amount of children. I would be worried more about my child's nap times being interrupted. If your child is going to go to the school that they collect from it could safe you a lot of hassle down the road trying to find a minder though too.

When you have more than one child you end up doing this anyway🤷‍♀️
At one point I had one full time school, one part time pre school and newborn, back and forth to school all day long!

If they were walking I think this would be fine but would bother me if driving as not as enjoyable for baby. Babies love watching and interacting with older children so sure it would be entertaining for her. They sound like a very experienced set up.

I have no issue with the school run - most 2nd children deal with this.

What are the actual max number they look after? By age.

I know two sisters that run a childminding business like this and would definitely use it, they provide a really great home-like but busier environment, quite strict and orderly, well fed etc.

Primary could be up to 11 though so some of the primary children may not count towards numbers. Personally I wouldn't have an issue, my own dd went to a childminder like this and the older children were really good with the younger ones

Yes, definitely. Some Childminders are our children’s school have a few babies / toddlers in the day and then a massive group in the mornjng and afternoon. Often they get to school very early (about 7.45am) until after dropoff and then they are at pickup early (2.30 ish onwards), I think to reduce the time they are wt home and cover all pickups but this means the little babies and toddlers are stuck in a pushchair or buggy board for hours. They also have their nap schedule disrupted by the school schedule

Also, check how many children they have in the school holidays and inset days!

In your position I would go for a childminder that only does early years care and no school runs. Also, check their holiday policy and when they usually take it / how much as you’ll need to cover this yourself when they are away

Did you mean to write this here? Not sure I understand..

Yes most second children go on a school run with normally one adult and a sibling or two to pick up, not one adult and 8 or so children!

Look at the username, it’s a particularly nasty troll. Ignore, or report. Don’t feed it.

I’ve just made the difficult decision to take my son out of his lovely CM’s after 2.5 years because she has taken on a new school run which is 1 mile there and 1 mile back and some afternoons they have to walk. He is the eldest out of the little ones she has so is expected to walk the most, they take it in turns in the buggy and on the buggy board.

he’s already done 3 winters on the old school run when the school was less than half the distance away, so I’ve decided enough is enough.

Nursery is more expensive but I won’t have to worry about him being wet and freezing every afternoon as he will be warm dry and safe in one place.

we will miss her though. And I do rate what a good CM can offer for under 2’s.

OP said each adult takes 3 children on the school run so it's not that unusual.

Yes but then they pick up lots more and bring them all home and need to cook / feed them all and deal with multiple parents pickups etc, so from 3pm onwards there are way more than x3. Whereas a mum would just bring home their child and sibling /s without all the extra children (who are tired and hungry at this point!)

If I understood the OP correctly there are x16 (!!) children after school and only x2 adults

School run (as long as it isn’t really far) is a bonus for me - it means

• your child will be getting familiar with the school they may attend later on
• as your child gets to school age, they can stay with the same CM for wraparound care - this is a huge plus if you like them. Makes holidays far easier
• If you have more than one child, they can stay in the same setting when one starts school - I loved that my preschooler and my reception child could be dropped off and collected together, and they’d spend mornings before school and afternoons after school together. As well as holidays.

The numbers do seem large, but it may be more in and out than that. Ask to talk to one or two of the parents that are already there. Mine went to a CM like this when they were little (we moved house and had to leave the cm and it was v sad cos they were great). The babies love the older kids and vice versa. My 14 year old is still brilliant with children because of the years spent with little ones at the CM - he’s helping out with Beavers now and knows one of them from CM days and it’s lovely.

So potentially they will be walking back from the school pick up with 3 under 4 and possibly 5 aged 5-11 , that is an awful lot of children to manage on a pavement ? My main concern however would be the school holidays as there will be literally loads of kids aged 0-11 to entertain .

So 16 kids total meaning 8 kids each!?! 🥴

our cm prob has 5 or 6 total ie 3 under 3 and 2-3 kids after school which I’m fine with tbh

on one hand it’s a lot but they sound like pros as having been doing it for decades and it’s 2 hours where the older kids are eating a snack and watching some tv…. My Dd LOVES playing with the older children after school it’s really cute

If the rest of the set up is almost perfect maybe that’s the compromise?

it’s prob worth a conversation with the CMs and reconfirming If it is really that many children every day…

Aside from the number of kids of different ages. I don’t want my 10 month old baby getting dragged out in a buggy in the rain, snow and cold all through winter to do a school run for kids I don’t know.

I wouldn't be worried about safety as the school age children shouldn't need much supervision - just the odd reminder to stay away from the edge of the pavement. I'd imagine with that much experience your childminder will have rock solid safety strategies in place.

It ssems to defeat the purpose of using a childminder though? I thought the main benefit was a quieter atmosphere with a single caregiver. With that many children it will have the busy feel of a nursery by teatime.

To be honest, if they've maintained an outstanding rating for 15 years, I would assume they are beyond experts and well aware of their own capabilities.
I personally think it's good for kids to be out and about lots, and socialising with kids of different ages. But if you're not comfortable with it, there will be childminders who don't do wraparound or who have fewer children.

I think the age of the child is so important here. Massive difference taking a 2/2.5 year old on a school run with so many extra children to pick up vs a 10 month old baby. I just don’t understand how x2 adults can look after so many children at once including a very small baby!