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.

For what it's worth, I moved my children to nursery at 3 as they'd outgrown their childminder and were ready for what preschool could offer. That won't necessarily apply to all childminders of course, and predated (just) the increased requirements placed on childminders. Their first childminder was utterly brilliant with the under 2s.

You don’t have to have a diagnosis to apply for DLA but it is useful to have evidence from professionals. So health visitor, gp, paediatrician, , school, occupational therapist, speech therapist etc. Best thing to do is to phone DWP and request the forms, then you can see the questions. You need to be giving at least an hours extra care to your child compared to a typical child. Start keeping a diary of the extra things you do and how long it takes.

Sounds like you want to have your cake and eat it too- you don’t want to pay for a full day but you want the spot to remain open for when your free funding kicks in. It’s hard but I totally see why the childminder can’t accommodate

All we had was support from the childcare setting and a report from speech therapist. I'm sure evidence that you're on a diagnostic pathway would also work?

I can totally see it from that perspective, and have already told the childminder we will continue his hours as is, based on the previous comments here. But to be fair the childminder is already over numbers with 4 children so she would still have 3 in the afternoon which is technically full capacity. From a different perspective we we’re only asking to pay less for a lesser service.

Someone I know does. She puts her almost two year old in a playpen and leaves him to it. Recipe for disaster.

You can’t use her being over as a slight when you are happy with this previously.

With regards to your original query… imagine your employer asked you to only work mornings because work was slow/ costs too high etc. Only paying you less for a lesser service. However, they also don’t want you to go work elsewhere because they will have funding for your salary in a year so you. An suck it up… right?
I know I wouldn’t.

That's not really fair though is it. You were happy enough with her looking after your child and being over capacity when it suited you.

My only choice would have been to move him after he had settled in. It’s not the case that I had any say or knowledge beforehand that she was increasing above capacity. But yes I accepted it as I didn’t want to move him.

Yes, your choice. Others would have decided it wasn't safe and moved their child. You didn't so it's harsh to complain about that now.

OP are you expecting it to suddenly get easier to wfh with a child as he gets older? Because I have a 7 and 4 year old and they are in childcare/school whilst I work even though I wfh. Only when they are old enough to walk home from school by themselves would I consider dropping their wraparound places. So we're talking 5 years away

From a different perspective we we’re only asking to pay less for a lesser service.

You can't play that card now OP if you didn't raise it at the time, when the arrangement suited you.

The childminder has her terms. Take them or leave them. Very simple.

She isn't over capacity with 4 children by the way - that's within Ofsted limits Depending on certain factors

@Mummyongin it's very hard to have more outgoings than incoming. By keeping childminder is there more chance you could earn more without distractions? I can understand wanting to decrease your bill, but also see the childminders point, the reality is she needs to earn a wage.

I'm a bit confused about being over the limit though. Is there a reason you were okay with this? Those limits are for safety and surely she could be risking her license?

If you mean do I understand the needs of older children then I have a 6 year old. She doesn’t have wraparound care as between my DH and I we are lucky enough to have the flexibility to be around before and after school. Although I appreciate that for many families it doesn’t work like that.

You're able to go over your ratios in some circumstances. You do need to be able to prove you can manage it tho when ofsted come knocking. As I said earlier it would benefit the op if she went to one full day as the cm could then still take the child back on the other day as continuity of care when the time comes

From a different perspective we we’re only asking to pay less for a lesser service.

Yes, but if she agrees to doing so, she is losing out on income!

www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2015/03/Childminder_Ratios_FAQ.pdf

This is quite interesting re. capacity. She's not necessarily breaking any regulations by having four younger children in her care at the same time.

I have every sympathy with your financial position and that you need to find a way to work this out, but surely you can understand (even more so as you are self employed) that the ChildMinder won't be able to afford a drop in income either ?
It's not going to be easy for her to fill afternoon only slots. Surely it can't come as a surprise she isn't able to afford to drop her income and then hold the place for you until it suits your budget ?

Do you have any preschool sessions where he could go 9-12? Potentially when he gets his funded hours he could do more mornings?

FWIW my eldest napped until 4 and my youngest still naps at 3. Whilst many don't, it's not that unusual!