could some lovely childminders put my mind at rest...please!

[mogwai]

I have a lovely four month old daughter and I'm due to go back to work after christmas. She will be six months old, and although I'm very happy with the childminders I've chosen (a man and woman team who are married and both registered childminders), I am already worrying about some of the practicalities.

The couple look after five children every day, I think. My little girl will make it six, but she will be the only child under 12 months. I'm probably worrying unneccesarily, but how do childminders make sure that toddlers don't give babies small objects/food when they aren't looking? My friend's 16 month old daughter almost stepped onto my daughter's head while she was lying on her mat last week. Since then I keep having horrible thoughts about what will happen when I'm not there.

I'm aware I'm being hormonal and over protective, but could someone just humour me and put my mind at rest?

I can so understand how your mind must work overtime thinking of all the what-ifs. I felt the same when my tiny premature 4mth old son went to his childminder.(He?s now one of the toddlers) Childminders do have to be very aware of safety and carry out very regular risk assessments. Ofsted take the safety and protection of children as paramount. If you were a mum who wanted to chat about safety I would show you my risk assessments and explain how one of my rules is that food is eaten in the kitchen only and whilst sat to the table (although sometimes we may have picnics in the garden or role play in the playroom and this rule may be broken!). All small toys e.g. geomags, lego are kept inaccessible to toddlers and are only played with in strict supervision and in a separate area from small children. I sweep up daily and train all the younger children on how very small things can be dangerous for babies. My own son and his little friend who comes here regularly often pick up little specks of hair/fluff for example and give it to me with serious faces saying ?such and such might put it in their mouth? and they are always praised and often given a sticker for being so careful.

You are not in Essex are you Mogwai?

I do not mind any babes atm but I do have 2 under 2's and I am like goosey, any 'small' toys like lego etc (which are only played with by the after schoolers and my kids anyway so they are old enough to know not to let little ones have them) are only allowed to be played with upstairs or at the dining table.
We always eat at the table and any bits on the floor are swept up straight away.
My 'older' mindees (4-10 years) too are very protective of the little ones and are very careful not to leave anything about they know may be dangerous.
We all have rules too such as no running in the house, no stepping over baby when they are on the floor etc which the children soon learn and stick to. Personally I am so much more protective of my mindees than I was with my own kids (and I thought I was over protective with them at the time), as their parents have given me such a huge responsibility in looking after something so precious and I would hate to let them down.
Good luck.

I agree with FeelingOld and Goosey...

Our over fives have a completely different room to play in so no lego etc can come into contact with babies.

We are a husband and wife team and between the two of us are allowed 6 under 5's but we are choosing to only have 2 under 5's for this very reason, to ensure we have one pair of eyes on the babies, and one backing the other up!

I work with my DH and 2 registered friends

We intended to have 6 under 5's but OFSTED persuaded us to have 9 (with 3 adults)

We are doing 9 between now and christmas (as 4 children are leaving then) - but we feel that 6 is an ideal number for 2 adults (3 at mealtimes)

We have under 2's the whole time as the nurseries near us are very good and we are registered for up to 3 under 1's. It is hard keeping the under 1's safe but we have managed (so far) - we tend to only have 1 or 2 under 1's so that we can concentrate properly.

OFSTED check us really carefully, honest the safety of the child is paramount

I think I am far more aware of safety issues and am more over-protective with my minded children than ever I was when my own were little! I am lucky enough to have the space where I can separate children and/or activities if needs be.

Babies don't ever get left unattended, particularly if there are other children around (if I need to go into the kitchen, then baby comes with me!)

Stepping over babies is also a big "no no" in this house - my other mindees are totally indoctrinated with this rule, so wouldn't dare risk it! And it is also written in stone that "no minded child will ever pick up another minded child."

thanks for your response. (no, I'm not in Essex ).

Feel better already. I'll discuss it with the childminders when I see them...I'll probably just make a joke of how silly I feel even bringing it up, it's just such a big step, leaving her with people when I've been with her for virtually all of the past four months.

Theprisoner - good idea about no minded child to pick up another. I had one that insisted she picked my ds and other mindee up as she was old enough, used to doing it etc. They just didn't understand why one mindee was saying no when she even suggested it. This was a big issue - she wanted to pick them out of their car seat after every school run and just wouldn't understand why she shouldn't.

Will add this to my policies!!

"only adults may pick up babies and small children" is my rule, lots of the children (especially dd) want to help lift them out of the buggy/car but I let them help take shoes/coats off instead (if they want too!).

Another good one! Am looking at my policies this weekend (she says ) as I've got some great tips from mumsnet and now need to update!

mogwai - sorry to hijack your thread! Good luck with everything and don't feel bad for asking your childminder, I wouldn't minde being asked by one of my parents!

Hi Mogwai, I am in the exact same position to you and have the same fears. I thought I was being over protective! Feel alot better having read this thread! Thanks everyone.

TBH I thik you are being a little over-protective. It's not much different to babies with older siblings and something that we have to be aware of. I think you should discuss this with your childminders - since you seem so happy with your choice it sounds as though you would be able to voice your concerns.

If you feel happy with your choice of childminder, then you should feel happy about asking them anything. So just raise your concerns with them. I have an under 1, who can't yet crawl, but like many on here, i never let the others play with lego, geomag etc while the baby or the 18month old are around.