To be worried about filthy childminders house?

[tennispros]

Signed up in the summer and all seemed fine. Today had a settling in session and was really shocked at the state of the house. Not just kids mess but tbh really dirty

I don’t really have a choice re childcare and she’s only there a couple of hours a day so part of me thinks leave it another part thinks I’m being really neglectful sending her there!

I don’t have the best sense of smell but I didn’t notice anything specific @Bluebeast tbf.

Mine went to childminders and all the houses were always spotless. Much better than my own to be blunt

Some people have that ability and also some houses weirdly don’t seem to get dirty … old houses are terrible for storing dust and dirt. But it was bad, if I’m honest, for a house with very young children in it. Sigh, life is never straightforward.

I’m not sure what you want people to say, only you saw the condition of the house and how clean it appeared to be. If it’s as bad as you say then you would be very unreasonable to leave your child there. Even if it’s only for a few hours twice a week. Would you want to be crawling/sitting/playing/eating in a ‘filthy’ house?

If it's that bad then you can't leave your child there.

If it's bad enough for you to be so worried about it you don't really have a choice. You can't leave your little girl there, you need to make other arrangements.

A pile of plates in the kitchen wouldn't bother me, food trodden into the floor and dirty handprints on the walls would.

I know but what … that’s the problem, there aren’t alternatives. I’m trying to tell myself that what matters is how well she’s treated not the state of the house but ugh

Do the children have regular acess to the area?
Where all work surfaces covered.

Did she have clients children while you visited.

What about the rest of the house?

The answers to these questions would be important to me.

The environment matters, if it's filthy and unsafe for young children she will get sick.

What did her OFSTED report say? We once had a childminder and when we first visited did not like the house at all, compared to the nursery it didn't feel clean, so we didn't send our child there. However, lots of local mums used that childminder and raved about her and one said that her child obviously liked it more than nursery, and said 'when you first go there you think what is this?!'.

So I sent my child there for one day a week and she made more friends there and was happy to go there, whereas nursery she looked miserable and never made friends. There was an incident at the nursery where I witnessed neglect of another child so pulled her out and put her in with the childminder, best decision I made. She was so attentive to the children and my child loved it, we still see her. Her house was an old Victorian one and so some of the elements she could not change like a grotty bathroom in need of an update. But my child was happy.

If you are worried ask the childminder for references or if there are other parents you can speak to and listen to what they have to say.

How old is your child? Would a baby or toddler be in danger of choking on something?

If it were that dirty, you'd smell it alright. Vicks under nose at second visit (because you need to fully experience what is going on first time)

This may not be you ideal childcare setting but I do feel you are grubbing around trying to find things to justify your position. Piles of toys are not necessarily 'filthy' unless you can describe how they were.

Ultimately, you don't feel happy, find another setting.

Dishes on the side, not too bad, but was the floor dirty / carpets filthy?

@Uricon2 it wasn’t just that. I guess it was a general sense of well, filth, which can be hard to put into words really.

I’ve actually been trying to find her OFSTED report but can’t, although she is OFSTED registered.

I am sure DD will be fine, just doesn’t really fill you with confidence !

Maybe she'd tidy up then! Childminders can have a cleaner as a business expense. If it really was dirty and not just dishes then I'd be looking for a new one.

You said her house is filthy why is it hard to explain?

Because people seem to want very specific examples. I’ve tried to reply and said the kitchen was pretty disgusting, the main area the children was in was in a state of complete chaos but I am finding it hard to explain. I have a friend with a house very similar - lovely people but just like someone has bulldozed a charity shop and dumped the contents in their home, you know? Toys and bric a brac all over the kitchen and bathroom, duvets on the stairs, dishes in the bathroom and plates in the lounge. Unclean because no one can actually get to it to clean. I sound like a right cow now and I don’t mean to, lovely people but just so chaotic and it doesn’t bother them. But it’s different when it’s childcare.

That is what I was worrying about. If her house is that dirty ‘with a pile of toys dumped in the middle of the room’ I would be worrying about her safety.

I have ADHD and my house is cluttered. But it’s clean - I literally move doom piles to clean behind and under them and then put them back etc.

is it possible it’s a one off? Surely if the house was always grimy then she wouldn’t have any mindees.

Would you prefer a clean house and kids on own in front of TV...

But hard to say without seeing what dirty it compares with. Is she hight recommended? How did you choose her?

"dirty, not clean" as in dirty plates and dishes because she isn't leaving the children to go and do washing up is dirty but absolutely fine because they won't hurt anyone at all.

"dirty, not clean" because she wasn't putting dirty nappies in a secure bin and the kids might put their hands in another child's faeces while she wasn't looking. Or "dirty, not clean" because she was leaving broken, sharp glass or plastic on the floor until the end of the day. Is children get hurt or sick or both dirty, and is wholly not ok.

People are frustrated as you’re not being clear on the details. All we know is there are dirty dishes on the sides. I currently have the same as the dishwasher is already on and they’ll be next. Doesn’t mean my house is dirty.
if you’d have said skirting boards thick with dust, or dried up food/ drink mess all over the sides etc, people would understand your concern more.

😂😂😂

OP can’t elaborate as it would be „outing“. Drip feeding and then getting all snippy if people ask for more background info.

Just send your child to the childminder - it’s only 2 days per week or whatever your excuse was. Why start a thread and ask but then fail to elaborate and get shirty with other posters asking more questions.

Most of what you describe is mess not dirt. I do tend to find that chaotic, messy houses are also filthy, but it's not always the case.

Toys (and even junk) tipped all over the floor can be cleared up in minutes to get a vac around. Plates on the side in the kitchen can be swept into the sink in seconds to wipe down the sides (and later the plates can be put in the dishwasher). Footprints all over a tiled floor can be wiped up in a flash if the dirt isn't ground in from months of not being mopped.

Were the shelves covered in dust? Cobwebs hanging from the lights? Food smeared on surfaces? Stains on soft furnishings withvarious degrees of fade, etc.