CMs do I pay more for same hours, spread over more days?

[jamsandwich]

I'm starting to think about what hours would best suit me/ my family should I ever be able to find myself a suitable job. I think I could offer 15 hours and would want to find a CM for my 1yo. CMs all advertise an hourly rate, but would I have to pay more for, say 3 x 5 hour days rather than 2 x 7.5 hour days? I'm expecting I would as I'd be taking up a whole day's space - how would you charge for each option?

My head is spinning just thinking what would work best for us - I haven't even had to consider what the employer will want yet, let along what space the CM will have

My cm charges per hour, my ds gets lunch included in that.

Depends on the cm.
No point thinking too hard about hypotheticals IMO.

I think perhaps you could contact a few local CMs and ask what they would do in both situations. I regularly get phone calls from parents asking hypothetical questions and don't forget it may take some time to find the right CM anyway.

Agree it really depends on the CM. I personally charge a higher hourly rate for less than 8 hours care. We're all different so some may charge the same, some may charge more, best to ask around :)

Depends. Some would just charge their normal hourly rate. I charge a daily rate, so you would pay for a whole day each time you came.

Thanks for responding. It's really helpful to hear that it's such an individual thing, it has stopped me making assumptions. I prefer the idea of spreading shorter amounts of work over more days, but obviously not if it's going to cost me a lot more!

I'm applying for a job and have a good chance of getting an interview - I just want to be ready for the inevitable availability question. It seems there's no point sorting a CM until I know if I've got a job, but I don't want to promise I can manage the hours if I later can't get adequate childcare. It's such a bore

Probably depends on the local market - if there're lots of child minders in the area and they're quiet they may offer lower rates. Where I used to live in London most CMs would charge for full days because the demand for childcare was so high.