Childminder wants to close at 1pm for the rest of the week

[SweatySpider321]

Woke to a text from my childminder, announcing due to the weather we need to try to collect our children at 1pm for the rest of the week -530pm is the usual finish time. I’m not even a week into a new job and my husband has no leave left (mainly due to covering her annual leave). It’s not in our contract and it’s funded hours we use with her

Exactly, if she lives in a glass house, or has some reason her house is worse than the average parent's, she should have informed you before committing to childcare. It's not like a school where she has 30 kids in a building that is (in many cases) uncomfortable and crowded at the best of times.

My dsis has epilepsy which can be triggered by hot weather. She would not be safe to have children in her care in temperatures like the ones we are expecting this week. She can keep herself cool to avoid triggers but couldn’t do that if she was running around after small children.

But she isn’t closing. She asked if they could try to collect at 1pm. And they can’t, so that’s that. They can say no.

I really do feel like the country has lost its mind. Yes it is hot but that is not a reason for everything to grind to a halt.

I am wfh. My husband is in the office. My child is at school. Basically we are carrying on as normal in lighter clothes with plenty of water.

Good thing your sister isn’t OP’s childminder then, isn’t it? And someone with your sister’s condition would have air conditioning unless they’re an idiot.

'Sorry this doesn't work for us as we are still working. We will endeavour to be there as soon as we can'.

If the Op is saying it's predicted to be 32 tomorrow it's likely she's not in an area with a red warning.

Look for a new childminder...

There is a huge disparity in the temperatures expected over the next few days where I am, depending on which website / app you look at. I am talking about a 6c swing! Could she just be preparing for the "worst"?

You mention a new job @SweatySpider321 but is this a new childminder? I assume not as you mention your DH's annual leave has covered her holidays - so how is she as a CM overall? If she is generally amazing then suck it up. If you already have reservations I'd be looking elsewhere.

But it's 32c where OP is. I dont think she falls under the red risk.

Presumably your Dsis isn’t a childminder with no back up?

Okay great.....but Op's childminder isnt closing for that reason is she!

What a joke. A childminder provides care in a home environment. If she wants the children to go home then it is exactly the same! She just can’t be arsed. I can’t either but can’t just sack off work because it’s hot.

This is ridiculous....it is for reasons like this that we moved our DD to a nursery setting. Endless annual leave aswell. I would really consider a nursery, especially if you have public facing roles (myself and DH both NHS employees).

Not a new childminder no. She’s good with the children -they are clearly happy there. But she is flaky at times. Especially the time we caught her lying that our child was ill so we didn’t send either child and it was actually her child who was ill
We are looking elsewhere but some of the childminders here have 18 months wait list and all are full

Well you don’t have much choice really, if she decides to close then she decides to close. We aren’t in the hottest parts of the country but our nursery has closed for the rest of the week, lots of the local nurseries have done the same, so either you or your husband will have to figure it out.

The area I am living is also 32 degrees and schools are beginning to shut/ close early.
Our school will see how the kids are but it’s 32degrees tomorrow also so I hope they don’t shut. One of the secondary/primary school trust has just announced all school closures.

That's shit. Yes there is a weather warning but like others have said, why is there more threat at her house than yours? Why can't she just get out the water play for a handful of children? Does she have some outdoor space with some shade?

Well that's what all the school's are doing round here. Originally it was shut at 12 tomorrow and Thursday, now they've just sent a text saying closed all day. Are they also daft and incompetent?
I would not want to be responsible for someone else's child in this heat (in fact I find it worrying enough looking after my own). Children get ill very quickly and don't always recognise the signs or are able to tell their care giver the issue. I mean I'm sure none of you saying it's unreasonable would be too thrilled if your child came home sick/with heatstroke/dehydrated.
She can probably avoid that happening if she's only got one child to care for but she can't really make exceptions for one parent otherwise they'll all just say they can't pick up early.

I would ask the childminder to clarify what she expects .

You can’t work because you have childcare issues. It’s unfortunate but it’s unprecedented heat and you won’t be the only one having to l cancel appointments. Work will have to
suck it up.

You don't have much choice then.

Because childminders have a legal duty of care for multiple children and they are not their own children. They have to carry out risk assessments and decide whether they can provide care safely, if the answer is no, they have to close. It’s not that the heat is different at her house vs parents house, the difference is that parents can accept risks for their own children and can better monitor safety measures like suncream, water safety, shade, drinking water etc for their own children better than a childminder can for multiple children at once. A childminder is professionally responsible and has to stick to what they can do safely.

But that doesn't seem to be the case here? Wouldn't the child minder explain this, and also totally close for the day rather than half day?
Actually, I don't think I'd want to use a childminder with epilepsy who worked on their own, at any time. The risk of her being incapacitated is just too great. I don't think a person would be able to work as childminder in these circumstances.

That's naughty!!! Make sure you ask for a refund for any monies already paid and when you can use your funded hours that your LO isn't able to use now.......

Again, so what? Lots of people haven't and will cope just fine.