Baby childcare advice!

[teekay88]

Hi all. After going through some initial pre stage 1 assessmrnt and info eves in winter my partner and i are takinf about 6ms to do some preparation before making a formal application in may/june. One thing we're focusong on is getting childcare experience and are lucky that we have quite a few friends anf family in our network who have offered to help us out.

My friend has kindly put me in touch with a friend who has offered us some experience of childminding her 10 month old baby which is great (we'll be also getting experience of a wide range as have kids aged between 3 and 10 who we can look after). Im just freaking out a bit!! I have had quite a bit of experience with babies from a family point of view so feel happy with basic care, and sure feeding and changing wouldnt be a problem. I know it sounds silly but im a bit worried about how to soothe her when she cries and anything else i might need to know. Also morbid irrational fear of somehow accidentally hurting her and the parents hating me!!

We'll be meeting up with the couple for dinner a week or so before to meet them n the baby n sure theyll be plenty of time to ask qs etc but does anyone have any tips for us? Any advice for soothing crying or just generally helping to make her feel safe seeing as she wont know us? All good practice for the future i feel!

Any other stories of childcare experience while you were preparing also very welcome! Thank you xxx

Good luck!
I would meet up several times before you have her alone, just so baby gets to know you.
10moths can be a funny age where they only want mum/dad etc x

Months*

I am not sure this is the ideal way of getting experience. It is of no benefit at all for the 10 mth old and may make the baby anxious. I would recommend you hang out with mothers and children and watch how they interact. You could go to a good baby/toddler group, chat with the person who runs it and watch how the mothers interact with their babies. You could also read books which cover not only physical care but also emotional development and brain development at this age. Also read about the sort of playing and activity and interaction which is good for babies at this age. Separation from primary care giver can cause anxiety in a baby before the age of 3 a which point a child has more comprehension about the concept of time and parents returning. People who need to leave their children will usually try to ensure that the baby has a long term relationship with the other carers. Handing over a 10 month old to someone who just wants a bit of experience is unusual in my experience. I hope that this helps.

What age are you hoping to adopt? That is the age you need to try to get experience with. Other than that I am so out of date I don't know what they expect these days.

I think the best advice you will get will be from the parents. They know what works for their baby. When you adopt you will get such info from the FC.

We had no experience with children and weren’t asked to get any which was just as well as we didn’t have anyone we could borrow a child from. However, I read a huge amount about child development and lots of baby ‘manuals’. Now that LO is here, I’ve benefitted enormously from this and my DH is often surprised at the things I know (despite never having been around kids). This sounds like a boast - it’s not meant to be as I’m clueless about so many things, but the reading has made me slightly less clueless!