To ask to reduce childminder hours

[Mummyongin]

My 2 yr old attends the childminder 2 days a week. I asked to reduce hrs to just mornings as we currently have £300 per month more going out than coming in. Her charges recently went up too. She is not ok with it as she can’t make up the hours and will lose income. If he drops a day it will be taken by another child and when he gets his funding at 3 I won’t be able to increase days again. Also it is easier to work with him around in the afternoons as he will either nap or have quiet time. I don’t know what to do.

Switch to a nursery? They may be more able to accommodate morning only sessions.

Also, as your DC gets older they'll benefit from being in a bigger group ready for school.

Bear in mind that nap will soon disappear. She can set her availability as she chooses. Full days may work better all round .

You can ask but she's under no obligation to agree. She's a business and needs to make money at the end of the day.

The cm can't fill the hours she will lose if you drop to mornings only. You are asking her to take the financial hit because you committed to more than you could afford and that's unfair.
Maybe she can fill a whole day if you drop one. But just dropping afternoons is too big an ask.

You need to find a childminder with that availability.

Almost all I know have a minimum booking period simply because kids settle better with a min of two days and because they need reasonable income.

Filling two afternoons would be nearly impossible for many.

Do you earn more than the cost of childcare?

You are setting WFH up to fail. You can't rely on a child that young to self entertain. Currently where I am there significant fewer child minders than mindees so you may lose your place altogether. Is there any other options within travel distance?

Will your work even be okay with you doing your job while simultaneously looking after a toddler?!

It's not necessarily the case she can just fill a day though, and it is additional work to settle another child, have another set of records to maintain etc. They are running a business at the end of the day and whilst it isn't unreasonable for you to need to drop hours, it isn't unreasonable for them to say it no longer works for them. If they did find someone else it's unlikely you would be able to just go back up to more hours anyway.

You absolutely won't be able to WFH with a toddler.

Take that out of the equation and then work out what's possible.

Nursery sounds like a better option for you. It’s not the CM’s fault that you can’t afford it, she shouldn’t lose out financially. Nursery tends to be more flexible so I would look into that.

I’m concerned about moving him as he struggles with change - he is waiting for an autism assessment.

My work is flexible so I can make up time in the evenings, but my mental health is better when I have dedicated time. He currently sleeps 1-3pm and then I finish work to do sch pick up anyway. I wouldn’t ever expect him to self entertain.

But he won't sleep 1-3pm forever. What happens as he gets older and is awake all afternoon until 7-8pm?

Of course I understand this, and I don’t expect to have him home afternoons for ever. It is possible though that he will keep his nap until his funded hours start.

He won't sleep 1-3pm for much longer. What happens then?

Looking after him and working as a one off is OK. Long term it isn't sustainable.

It is possible though that he will keep his nap until his funded hours start.

And if he doesn't?

I agree with other posters that you would be better looking at nurseries. You say he doesn't like change, but reducing his hours and keeping him at home is already a change.

Know dozens of 3 and 4 year olds and literally only 1 was still napping at 3 - for the majority it was hit and miss by 2 and a half. Funded hours might not be until they are 3 and a few months depending on when their birthday is.

a) what happens if he doesn't?
b) where will you send him once his funded hours start if you don't want to change settings? The childminder may not want you back if you keep changing your hours around.

Are you using tax free childcare? Have you checked if you are entitled to any additional support such as 2 year funding?

You need to find another childminder who can accommodate the hours your want or switch to a nursery.

Why should your childminder miss out on much-needed income because your requirements have changed?

Your DS will cope with it.

I feel there are a lot of assumptions going on about my ability to balance caring for my child with work commitments. I wouldn’t have considered this if I wasn’t sure I could do it. I have my partners support with this too as he also works from home and is able to share the childcare. I know the timeframes involved and when his funding starts.

Its up to you. But I can see why the childminder said no as hardly anyone is going to want the afternoon slots. They need to make money too. I'd try a nursery but even they prefer whole days and may have a waiting list.

In response to your initial question, you can of course ask to reduce hours, which you did, but the answer was no, so that's really?

I'm sure you'll know from speaking to your childminder, who is running her own business, that she can only offer a certain number of spaces per day. A full day space is obviously going to bring in more money for her than just a morning space, and it's very unlikely that she would quickly, if at all, find another child to fill in the void your child would leave if they switched to just mornings. It's fair enough she said no.

Nursery?

As a childminder, this is the reason I moved to a day rate (either a school day- 9-3 or full day 8-5.30, the school day has a higher hourly rate than than the full day too). I can not fill part day places and can’t afford to not be working at capacity by having children on such part time hours. So if I was your childminder, i would be declining the changes you are requesting and asking if you wanted to give me notice or keep your hours as they are.

I would be surprised if your company would accept you WFH whilst also taking care of your child and I think you're being unrealistic to rely on your child sleeping for two hours every aftermoon.

I don’t work for a company