To be put off using a childminder for this?

[appleharvest]

I am being completely unreasonable and I suppose I'm wondering why.

Shopping around for childcare at the moment for DDs (2 and 5 months.) I need full time places for them both.

I visited a childminder who was telling me about her rule that, when out of the house, all her mindees wore a luminous vest with her childminding company name and phone number on it.

I understand why this is a good idea from a safety perspective but I hated it. It seemed too much like an orphanage or something!

I know I am BU but I hate the thought of DD1 sitting at the dentists or walking through the shopping centre or to a school with a luminous vest on saying she is looked after by someone who isn't her parent.

mascsra a great cm does both.

I just don't see it as childminder is better than a nursery is better than a nanny ... to me, it's more personalities I suppose.

I haven't written off the 'vest' lady completely No qualms, girls would be safe and well looked after I have no doubts; but there is no denying it was a business and if I were to choose a childminder I'd prefer one that wasn't, even though I recognise it has to be.

One of the nurseries was gorgeous and it's just dd2 being in the baby room that makes me a bit

Both what?

Learning and fun?

I make mine wear hi-vis jackets when it is twilight and after dusk. (own children) i do tend to put them in bright things if possible for goingto the play park too.

I think a lot of childminders have said that ofsted are looking for children in hi-viz jackets now so that is going to be standard for childminders.

As a childminder, I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, I always feel a little sad when I see the children from our local nursery after school club being walked back from school in their fluorescent jackets, or other childminders walking their charges in a neat institutional crocodile.

On the other hand, walking through areas full of children or hanging out in playgrounds is rather exhausting. Keeping a constant mental count of my 'team' of half a dozen 4-9 year olds is easy in quiet areas but much harder when they're mixed with other children. I keep them close when it's busy, but I would probably have more attention to spare for our conversations if I could pick them out more easily in a crowd.

I'm one of those fluffy childminders - a junior client called it 'our childminding family' recently, one mum has become one of my best friends and several others were friends before their children started coming. My son asked me the other day why other people never seem to be having as much fun when he sees them walking around.

I think professionalism and warmth is what Thebody is saying. Which I agree with. Of course there's a middle ground but I think it is more of a spectrum, with the extreme ends being money driven, corporate, child is just a number vs total laissez faire, lord of the flies type environment with no boundaries. Any CM at the extreme ends would be rare (and probably shut down!), of course, but I think it's also rare to find somebody who is exactly slap bang in the middle with the perfect blend of professionalism, business sense, warmth, relaxed-ness. I'd fall on the side of preferring the slightly chaotic, relaxed, less professional childminder myself although I don't doubt that the ones on the more professional and polished side are also good.

Soon all children will be wearing hi-vis jackets and then we'll have to find another way of picking them out from the crowd. Special hats maybe?

So much of it is about personalities. Our childminder is a fabulous cuddler and such a lovely person. She and I were in tears recently saying goodbye to another mindee who was leaving her. It's a wonderful family environment and she and I have a very similar approach to most things child related so I know we're all on the same page.

When I was pregnant with DD1 I was certain I would go the nursery route but it would have been completely wrong for her which is why I started looking at CMs. DD1 can be a shy character and I wanted her to have one person with whom she could build a lovely relationship. Dd2 is 13mos and would, frankly, be running the nursery by now had we sent her there!! But she loves the cm too and adores her big sister so it's worked out.

If you think that the vests are a symptom of a more institutionalised environment than you would want, maybe that's why they bother you?

Good luck, I know you said up thread you're just trying to find the best solution for your family and I know full well that's no easy task.

Having the children wear hi viz vests doesn't stop me having cuddles nearly all day long and I certainly don't do it for Ofsted's benefit.

Yanbu to feel like that, but if you loved her otherwise YWBU to let it put you off.

I'm a CM. I have five, counting my own, three days a week, so part time basically.

I treat mine like my own DC. We play, read, bake, run to the shops, do puzzles, tea parties, crafts.

I worked in a large daycare center but didn't like it. The DC couldn't just do whatever...couldn't play outside except for at certain times, couldn't all do an activity if there wasn't room, etc.

Here, my DS and my mindee have been playing outside (swordfighting with sticks and jumping on the trampoline, though not at the same time :o) for two hours because that's what they felt like doing.

I think she sounds great and very safe, but if something else about her puts you off, go with your gut.

I am a childminder and I have never used Hi vis vests. Nor have I ever been asked if I do or not by an Ofsted inspector, even at my last inspection a few weeks ago.

Anyway, there are so many children in the vests at our school (collected by nursery, childminder or parents), you would be hard pushed to find the child you are looking for amongst them all

As for policies and procedures (the few that need to be in writing)... My parents don't sign them, most barely even look at them and wouldn't know whats in them anyway!

I noticed that several groups of holiday care children had these or similar (t-shirts etc) last school holidays whilst we were out and about. I thought it was a great idea. It's always pretty clear whether they are in care or not even if they don't have them (e.g a childminder with four preschoolers who look nothing like each other) so YABU if you object based on that reason. Why would you feel bad that it looks like they are in care? She sounds really sensible ... I have a feeling the spot will be snapped up.

Yabu.

I would have absolutely no issue with this.

Funnily enough I have only seen this once a few weeks ago - they didn't have high viz on just sweatshirts with the CM's name and number on.

My first thought was 'what a bloody good idea'.

Seriously the thought they they weren't with their parents never entered my head.

i have only read the frst 3 pages but have seen your concerns about your dds being separated at nursery. i'm a cm and before I was one my kids went to two different nurseries, a cm and before and after school clubs. my dds were two years apart and when dd2 went into the baby room it extended both their social lives and was lovely as a result. I was really glad that dd2 had completely different care as the care for the older one wasn't appropriate for a younger child. It didn't affect their closeness at all. it is no different to separating them at school.

As far as bibs go. if you feel like that then you feel like that. I used a cm who I already knew as a parent at school for my ds (dc3). I struggled to find one when the girls were smaller as I had no experience of them out and about, I couldn't choose from a name on a list and small things that didn't gel were therefore more magnified.