To be surprised no one I know is using a childminder

[Aftermidnightstrikes]

Or a nanny, actually. They seem commonplace here but in RL everyone opts for nurseries. Has anyone else found this?

I dont think theres that many childminders

I used a childminder because I found a lovely experienced high quality CM. I was a single mum and in return for me signing up for full time, 5 days a week, she proved to be flexible and hugely supportive.

I always paid her up front and supported her in any additional way I could. In return, on one occasion when I got stuck in London after a terror alert, she put DS to bed in her house and kept him until 11pm. Didn't bat an eyelid. I was very very lucky.

A nursery can't offer that sort of support.

My mum was a childminder for YEARS, so for me it was an obvious choice when I was looking for childcare. I found out the hard way that most of the CMs locally were not like my mum and her peers...we got through two before I sadly admitted defeat and put DD into an overpriced nursery.

yes but it isn’t either or

Kids get ill at CM or nursery … but if the nursery workers are ill the nursery is still open.

There's a total lack of childcare right now due to funding and covid was a crucial blow. I'm a childminder and in the last 4 weeks I've been inundated with requests for childcare.
Nurseries are much stricter with hours / sessions whereas childminders offer greater flexibility.
If you think two childminders are bad for talking about parents you'd be very naive to think nurseries wouldn't be the same.

@Aftermidnightstrikes sure, but my point was they’re more likely to get ill at nursery as they’re exposed to so many more kids and adults.

I would have preferred a childminder for a more homely environment but went for a nursery as I was worried what would happen if CM was ill etc

We have a wonderful childminder but she has quite a big operation, with several staff. She has never yet had to close due to illness, even during the worst of Covid last year. We are very very lucky as despite having a five year age gap between our DC she means that both children can attend the same setting. She does school wraparound for the eldest and early years for the youngest. I understand pp's reservations about using a CM who is a sole operator.

@glitterelf

There's a total lack of childcare right now due to funding and covid was a crucial blow. I'm a childminder and in the last 4 weeks I've been inundated with requests for childcare. Nurseries are much stricter with hours / sessions whereas childminders offer greater flexibility. If you think two childminders are bad for talking about parents you'd be very naive to think nurseries wouldn't be the same.

Yes - a large nursery in our town has just gone under and the childminders are inundated.

We have two lovely childminders who bring their young charges to toddler group at work, I certainly would use them (way too old) I personally wasn't comfortable with a nursery or childminder under 3 though, I took the slight income hit and stayed home, it wasn't much different to get honest with 2 under 3

I found a childminder on the baby group circuit, plenty I wouldn’t have used but couldn’t have been happier with ours. M was for [insert Childminder’s name that coincidentally began with M] rather than mummy but I was’t bothered as Dd was so attached. She did have to take 3 months off at a day's notice once but we dealt with it (found another childminder also known previously who became our summer holiday care for years). I will admit that I wouldn’t have sent a baby had I not previously sent a verbal child to her so I did have a few advantages when choosing.

Basically I was a SAHM for the first, very part time for the second and very very full time for the third child.

YABU it completely depends on where you live.

In my part of London there are plenty of childcare options so you see and meet people using CMs and nurseries between 4.30-5.30pm

There as in other parts of London there aren't any CMs or there aren't any nurseries.

@lllllllllll

I think the poster means illness for the childminder.

@Aftermidnightstrikes yes I got that, but whether your childminder is ill or your child is ill at nursery, the end result is still the same - one parent has to take a day off work.

I meant whether the childminder or her children or wider family had any type of illness or family crisis that would mean care was not available. A much greater chance if you are placing all your reliance on one adult. As indeed it would be if she dropped dead, had a Shirley Valentine moment and jiggered off to Greece, or found her vocation and got her to a nunnery. Or AW. Whatever.

In my household back then there was only me to respond to The Call. OH could hardly teletransport from another country.

I used a childminder for my older daughter and now also my baby twins - full time

I think it's just a lack of awareness - most of my friends just assumed nurseries were "it" and were surprised when I told them about my childminders (and how much less I pay!)

I think a lot of first time mums also worry that their child will come to bond with a single caregiver more than in a nursery situation and so can be a bit wary of using childminders for that reason

I do think it's about affordability too - we just can't afford a nursery at £58/day per child but my twins are at a lovely childminder run by two sisters with assistants at £36/day.

Yes I've had bad experiences with a previous childminder - eg refused to sign up to tax free childcare account because she "didn't want the HMRC knowing her business" 🤔. Was really inflexible and if I'm honest a bit unprofessional
(Regularly had to get her out of bed for a 730am drop off) but my twins childminders are absolutely brilliant - not plonked infront of tv, montissori teaching, trips out (not just left to it at the park), home cooked lunches, lots of activities

I know loads of childminders and few nannies. Probably depends where you live.

The nurseries in my area are really good, hence I opted for them.

I have a friend who uses a childminder. She had to take two weeks holiday in the summer at the same time as the childminder. The childminder fell ill, so she also had to miss three days of work. At least at the nursery they have cover.

I also don't understand how one single person can give enough care and attention to all those children of different ages at one time.

Also a lot misconceptions about childminders.

The ratios are actually the same for a childminder as it is for a nursery. Only difference being that a childminders has the children all together rather than having a separate baby room and childminder can also have before/after school children

@glitterelf I have a nursery on my doorstep which I refuse to use. Over the years I've overseen some really unprofessional behaviour by their young staff who turn over yearly.

I don’t know anyone IRL who uses a childminder. Some of the ones round here seem a bit crap (from what I’ve seen at groups and the playground) so maybe there’s not a great choice in my area.

@Aftermidnightstrikes

yes but it isn’t either or

Kids get ill at CM or nursery … but if the nursery workers are ill the nursery is still open.

Not if a large proportion of their staff are ill.

It does happen.

I live next to a a few nurseries....

I'm a childminder of 21 years, and have also worked in a nursery. And nursery workers are very good at slagging off parents, believe me!! They had a high turnover of staff too.You may see childminders at the park having a chat, but its a very isolating job,and we don't have a staff room or other colleagues to sound off to or rant to. Maybe they have good reason to moan about parents- for some reason we seem to get treated as lowly babysitters who are just trying to earn a bit of pocket money. That is just a small snapshot of their day-we don't get lunch breaks, or tea breaks,we can't leave work for an hour to get away from it,and we follow exactly the same Early years curriculam as a nursery.I care for 3 small children during the day,and manage to meet their needs very well- I know exactly where they are developmentally, and know them better than a nursery worker would who could have a group of 6 children assigned to them.
As with everything, there are good and bad.

Peppapigforlife the ratios for childminders are no higher than nurseries.

In a day nursery, if the manager or any one person has a level 6 qualification, the other staff can have eight three year olds each.

We've always had a nanny because we need more flexibility than a nursery or a childminder can provide.

So, I know lots of families with nannies.

I expect if I used childminder or a nursery, I would know more of them.

Some people don't use either