Minding 3 under 2 yr olds?

[Supercakes]

Hello, I'm new to the world of forums - here we go!

I'm a recently registered childminder and along with my own 18 month old daughter, I look after a 15 month old girl 3 days a week. I've had an enquiry about taking on another little one (8 months) on those same days. That means 3 under two year olds at the same time! Is this even possible, d'you think?

I have a designated soft play area in the house which is perfectly equipped for an 8 month old, along with the 2 toddlers. I would get additional equipment, such as highchair, travel cot etc etc.

But. How do I transport them to the CCs / around the park. I have a maclaren twin stroller and a backpack contraption. Would this finish me off though?! Is there any other way of getting them all around? My daughter is just starting to walk and the other little girl is just toddling a little.

Has anyone any experience of looking after such similar ages? Does anyone think this is just not a good idea and why? Your thoughts / experiences / pros & cons would be SO gratefully accepted.

Thanks!

what does your registration allow for?

3 under 5s is fine, 3 under 2s is great fun BUT you are right to be concerned about how you would transport them

does your CM toy library have equipment to borrow - a triple buggy? you could of course invest in one

what about transporting them in the car - do you have a big enough car?

You also need to think about things like how would you get out of the house in an emergency, how would you be able to manage nappy changes/meal times etc etc

If you go down the triple buggy route, think about whether you want one that folds easily (Mclaren umbrella fold) or an inline pushchair which you may have to source abroad (Peg Perego triplette). My favourite type being the latter.

Hiya. I'm in a bit of a rush but I had the following a couple of years ago: 10 week old (ds2), 8 month old, 17 month old and 18 month old.

Someone sent me a message the other day askinf for advice so I replied with quite a detailed lot of info. To save me going into it again, I've just copied and pasted a bit of what I sent back to her, hopefully something in there will help (sorry some is a little rambly and not applicable to you but I've just not time to pick bits out) :):

Right logistics......I drive around a lot (have a 7 seater) due to where I live. Luckily my front garden is set back from the drive with a gate so I could get the 2 baby car seats on the path and get the toddlers to stand there whilst I opened the car. I'd then put the 17 month old in followed by 18 month old then I'd put the babies in. At the other end I was lucky that the set up of the car park made it ok to get them in safely. On the school run we have to park in local side roads and then walk to the school (it's in a different village). I used a triple buggy (O'baby side by side) and a sling. As they got a bit older (nearer 2) I switched to a double buggy for the smaller ones and had the older 2 walking with little backpacks with straps. The straps would be wrapped around the pram handles 'just in case'. Means walking slowly but it helped them learn to be more independant and get excercise. I'll not lie.....sometimes they were right little monkies as we'd need to leave the playground for school and they'd hide and refuse to come out - a sort of game but got a bit boring after a while but we got past that! Bit by bit we changed combos of what prams/straps etc. and now I can happily walk all 4 of them (and now have some more mindees - different days, different mindees but 4 toddlers every day now), some holding hands, some can walk by my side without holding. You have to judge by each child and see what you can trust them to do.

You could use your sling and a double and then either move to a triple or maybe stick with the double with one walking but maybe (as you say it's a long walk) swap the children over so they get a rest? But if the walk is dangerous and you really need them strapped in, I'd invest in a triple buggy. My buggy wasn't expensive and although pretty heavy, I really liked it for what I had (plus loads of space for school bags and stuff!!) Just make sure that the triple can fit on the paths and through the school gate (I checked first with a tape measure before I ordered!)

Another thing I was going to say is about needing lots of highchairs (think I used 3 at a time) BUT I moved my older ones to toddler table before they were 2 so you may not have that problem? (I used a bumbo seat for mine whilst the other 3 were in highchairs then by the time he needed a high chair, they were at a toddler table).

Another tip - be more organised than me!! hehe What didn't help me is that from ds2 being 15 weeks old, he fed every 2 hours, day and night for 4 months. I was a knackered wreck and it turned out that he was hungry as my milk wasn't up to scratch as i was exhausted and not eating/drinking as well as i should (as was so busy I forgot). I wouldn't wish that on anyone!! Errmmm, what else....have you enough travel cots or whatever for sleeping?

I'm sure it'll be fine. I think the worst part for me was the fact I started back to work on 1st Sept 2008 and this was the day EYFS went live and it was so hard to just get back into work, I fell behind with paperwork and stuff which added to my stress. So be as organised as you can be

Any other questions just shout!

haha I agree with what boys said I do it but god its hard work. I have a triple buggy and a 7 seater car, and I get alot of support from the other network childminders, we run a playgroup and are together every morning, this means that if I need to nip for a wee, or have a cuppa, there is always more than one set of eyes iykwim. I dont think I would attempt it if I didnt have that support and certainly not if I was going to be in the house all day.

hth

I've done it. As long as you can resolve your transport issues, then you have similar age children for toys, activities etc. It can be much easier to have similar ages than a wide spread. Also, they will grow fast.

Thanks so much for the advice ladies - its great to hear your experiences. I think I like forums!

Maybe I'm being a tad ambitious given I've just started so may wait until my own daughter is slightly more independent - and that's not far off given tonight display over dinner!