Should I give the childminder the required one month's notice or more?

[reddaisy]

We can't afford to keep sending DD to the childminder when I go on ML. Should I tell her now (3 months notice) so she can plan/line up another child or should I just give her a month's notice as stipulated in the contract?

We are happy with her and we would send DD back to her in future if she has a space.

Have you told her you are pregnant... if not, perhaps that's the first step. It also prewarns her that in the future you are likely to be reconsidering your childcare needs.

She knows I am pregnant, we told her at 12 weeks. Neither of us have mentioned what happens when the baby arrives childcare wise. We were hoping to keep DD with the CM a bit but we just can't afford to.

If i were you I would just tell her. She will know there will be changes regarding contract as soon as you told her you were pregnant - she will be probably be wondering what your plans are? You will put her mind at ease if you tell her now.

I was planning to do that AmyJ1234 until a colleague said the CM could take another child and give us notice early ifyswim? But I wondered whether that would actually happen.

But I am conscious that she will be losing our income every month and with one month's notice, that isn't long to plan financially.

As a CM I would be pleased if you gave early notice - very thoughtful of you, IMO

I agree it would be considerate to tell her now, especially if you have previously said/hinted that you hoped to keep your elder child on during your maternity. I get a lot of enquiries for two or more months ahead and she may well be able to line up a replacement family if you give her the information, whereas with only four weeks that could be harder.

A bad CM could give you notice, you are right, but if you are happy that she is caring and professional, then she almost certainly won't. She will also be more willing to help if you need her care in the future.

I had a parent give me 3 months notice of leaving and I simply advertised that the space was available from that date. As it turns out, I have filled the space, with a 6 week gap in between, which is not ideal, but I like the family who are leaving and I liked the family who came to see about the space.

(Disclaimer - If you are an annoying parent, who is always late collecting and never pays on time, you might have more to worry about )

Im with Boys,
Not much work round here at the mo, so i would use that time prehaps to put out flyers and posters etc

Oh as early as possible - and would you want her to have the new baby when you go back to work?
and would cutting the days rather than stopping them all together be an option? Just thinking that with a new baby it can be very helpful to have some other child care
I think a childminder is very unlikely to line up someone else and give you notice

This is the perfect opportunity to find out how good she is then, isn't it??!!! If she gives you early notice, then you know that you shouldn't consider going back to her when you return to work because any half decent CM just wouldn't do that.

If you like her, and you want to go back to her, then give her as much notice as possible. Trust is a 2 way street. If you leave giving notice until the last moment when you have known for a long time that you have to give notice, why would she trust you in the future?

Knowing that you would like to use her when you go back to work gives her the opportunity of perhaps taking a temporary contract that wouldn't necessarily be ideal under normal circumstances. If you are taking a full year's maternity leave, she would be able to take a child that is due to start school in September 2012.

It just gobbled my post! How annoying. Thanks for all the views, I think I will tell her soon as I feel she deserves to know as we have made our minds up. So you all think that chances are this wouldn't happen? I know I started looking for childcare several months before I needed it so I was hoping she wouldn't lose our income for long.

Unfortunately we can't send her for fewer days as she only goes for two as it is but I would definitely consider using her again for DD and the new baby after my ML so I do want to end on a good note and we have been very happy with her. Also if she ever had any space I would't mind sending DD for ad hoc sessions during my ML when I want some time with the baby so it is important to keep things friendly.

ChitChattingagain - that is true about trust, if it had been the other way around I would have preferred more notice that is stipulated in the contract so I could make alternative plans.

Out of interest, why do CMs have just a one month notice period? DDs nursery has a two month notice period so we will be letting them know shortly too.

You are right that this could cause problems if she gave notice to you early, and I have heard of this happening. There was a case like this with a nanny on here fairly recently.

And I don't think it is as simple as 'only a bad CM would do this'. I can see a situation where a CM for financial reasons would feel she had to give notice on a 2 day a week contract that was soon to end in order to secure (for example) a set of full time siblings.

But IMO if you are hoping to maintain a good relationship with her for the future then you should do the 'right thing' and forwarn her of what is likely to happen. I did this when I was expecting DS2 and tbh it didn't cross my mind not to tell her what I was planning.

There is a middle ground here. You speak to the CM and say that you're worried that you won't be able to afford to send your LO once you are on ML and ask here whether she needs to know for definite now. This will give you a sense of how desparate she would be to fill the place.

It is a tricky one, and it depends in part on how much of a disaster it would be if she did give notice early.

i would be pleased with the forward notice as in 3 months time its september and as a cm you tend to have changes to children during that month ie pre-school and school etc