Childminders - advice please? 3 quick (?) questions....

[DribblersMum]

Hello

I have a PFB son who's currently 6 months old. I am lucky enough not to have to start work til Sept 2012 - when I'll be (hopefully) trained as a teacher. I'm hoping no one minds giving me a bit of advice as I have so many other things on my mind at the moment, getting this sorted would make me feel better

1. If I'm going to need a child minder in Sept 2012 - when would i need to start looking?

1. Will I be able to find a child-minder who will take my son just for term time (and I pay for just term time) - or if not, will I be able to get a reduced rate?

1. Roughly, how much does it cost for a child minder. I'll be living in Aldershot, Hampshire. Not sure if anyone can give me a vague idea of costs - so I can start budgetting/praying for a lottery win.

Thank you so much! :)

Hi, well I would start looking now. It may sound like madness, but as a childminder I can tell you that I have a minded child starting school in Sep 2012 so I know I will have a space.

As for finding a term time only childminder who will only charge when you need the space, then your need to ring them and ask. As we are self employed we all work differently. However, for me, you would be the ideal client! I like to have less children in the school holidays so that I can spend time with my own children!

Good luck on your hunt, shame you don't live closer to me!

I'm term time only, so it's possible.

I also have a child already booked in for September 2012 so worth looking now.

Unfortunately, I'm not near you so can't help with costs.

Great. Thanks for the advice. have found a website called Childcare.co.k - so I have sent messages to some childminders near me.

At least I don't feel mad for organising so far in advance! :)

Unfortunately childcare website doesn't have a full list of childminders. I think you'd be better off ringing FIS (Family Information Service) for a free full list.
Another thing I would say ... be open minded about paying for childcare the whole year. Most childminders will charge you some sort of retainer in holidays or have a higher hourly fee for term time only contracts. So instead of intending only to pay in term time try looking at a bigger picture and working out what you will pay over a year. Good luck

I second what Apotomak said - look at the total annual cost of the package you are offered, not the hourly rate. Some will charge term time only, others year round, some by the hour, some by the session or by the day. Of course it's not all about money anyway, but it does help to have a proper meaningful comparison of the costs.

Do bear in mind that children don't just start school full time but often begin with part time sessions to begin with. Until they are actually full time they won't come off the Childminder's under 5s numbers. My DS doesn't actually come off the numbers until Sep 20!

There should be a list of child minders/nurseries etc on your local council website. You might also find info about current costs there, and whether they offer term time only etc.

I agree re looking as soon as possible. I'm not too far from you, and have a friend who has a term time only childminder, so they are around.
Also, to answer your question re cost, we pay £4 an hour for a brilliant childminder - I think most are £4 or £4.50 an hour around here.

I got mine a couple of weeks before DS due to start! Lucky I suppose. £4 an hour here too, that includes trips (though they never do anything that expensive), food and nappies.

Thanks everyone!

And I hadn't thought about the under-5s coming off the register for a few weeks.

I've managed to find a couple of ones already from this website www.childcare.co.uk - although I have had to pay to register with them - but if I can get one sorted out now, it'll be one thing off my exploding mind!

Ooh ooh ooh! I'm not far from Aldershot so can give youpretty accurate prices. My CMer is £5 an hour but I think she is at the higher end.

1. Probably May/June 2012 as the CMer will know which of her kids will be going off to school in September but it won't be too eary either.

2. Possibly. I have one teacher friend who only sends her son in term time and pays accordingly but pays every week of the year- just a reduced rate, that way the CMer still has a reliable income.

3. £4.50-£5 p/h