dp wants a baby.. im a cm and not to sure

[MaryPoppinsMagic]

Hello lovelies!

I seem to be taking up this board at the minute! I am newly registered and have just taken on 3 mindees, have finally clicked with parents and they are all lovely.

Now the conundrum, dp really wants us to have another baby. We have a dd who is 19 months, originally we had planned to wait till she was nearly 3 to try for another but everyone around us seems to be having babies .

I am in two minds as to what we should do, do I get it out the way early so I don't effect children when they are settled or do we wait till she is older? I will have to let one of my under 5's go if we have another which means we will loose that income

How would mat leave work? As parents wouldn't pay while I'm off

Mat leave you get maternity allowance and go back ASAP whilst trying to arrange cover with others for your time off.

You might be able to apply for a variation to cover your little one without losing existing mindees.

fraktious do you know how long I need to be self employed before I can get mat allowance?

I could maybe speak to other cm's in my area to see if they could cover.

I don't think there is a set length although I could be wrong. Direct.gov is hit best bet to confirm.

It's income based and it's also what you get if you're employed but don't qualify for SMP so it would be odd if there was a time limit.

MaryPoppinsMagic - I would have thought that for continuity of care you would be given permission for a variation, at least until the eldest of your mindees became school age.

Will have to look into it if we decide to go ahead, I'm not sure it would be fair on the children I look after or the parents so soon!

Remember you need to be paying your NI to get the Full maternity allowance :) Otherwise you only get £30 a week.

Out of a 26 week test period you have to have been earning. You can chose any 26 weeks from the test period. So you should get it no probs as you probably won't be applying for it until you are 36+ weeks, of course you might want to go off earlier, earliest you can get it from is 29 weeks

Sorry that shouldn't have said 'out of a 26 week test period' meant put of the test period you can pick 26 weeks (think the test period was like the last year and a half but don't quote me lol)

You have to have been employed/self-employed for 26 out of the 66 weeks leading up to your due date; you then get 90% of your average earnings over a 13 week period (choose the 13 weeks where you were earning most) or £126, whichever is the lower, for 39 weeks.

I am in a similar position. My daughter was 19 months old yesterday and we are trying for another, having had my mirena coil out last Tuesday (I'd only had it in a month!). We are in a slightly different position, though, as my husband has to start a life-long treatment (if it works for him) that is going to mean it is unwise to ttc while he is on it.

I have been a childminder for about 2 months, having worked for nearly 6 months part time directly before that and mat leave for a year before that. If I get pregnant first month like I did last time (highly unlikely), I'd be due around the end of August, and I'd want to start mat leave as late as possible - so say in 9 months' time, so would have had the children for close to a year. I don't intend to take anymore on (I have a toddler and older school-aged sibling, and a possible school aged child for overnights, but that is in the air). The toddler is probably starting pre-school at the same time as my daughter - next September - so will only need wrap-around care like the older sibling.

I said from the outset when starting registration (14 months ago!), I would not be dictated to (either properly or by my conscience) over when to have another baby; I am the type to get easily steam-rolled and to feel sorry for people and not want to leave them in the lurch. That's fine - it comes with being a nice person - but there are lots of other childminders and childcare options, and no-one is indespensible!! There will be other mindees eventually. Personally, I want to take the full mat leave if I can because I want to give the same time to my new baby that I gave to my first baby, including doing things like baby massage and baby groups - I need that time for me as much as for the baby, and I will be breastfeeding again.

You will definitely be entitled to the MA; it's just up to you what you want to do in regards to mat leave.

Thank you all for your responses.

carrie

I really am in two minds, if i was just doing an office job then i would not think twice about getting pregnant but i think the fact that my mat leave / pregnancy would effect the families of children i look after and cause such a disruption to their lives is making me think about it more.

I do really really want another baby as i feel ready, plus i want to have another one then loose all my weight not loose weight then get the size of a whale again.

Have you told the parents you are trying for a baby? how will you tell them if not?

It depends how you look at it, Mary Poppins, as at some point I imagine you will try for another, so in this job it is always going to affect a family in your care at some point.

We don't really have a choice but to try now (we, too, were going to wait until our first baby turned 3) because the methotrexate can cause birth defects (theoretically) so as soon as he starts it we probably won't be able to sadly.

I only have one family (possibly a second, but as I said it is up in the air and I've an inkling she's using me for my reg number!), and I get on with her quite well, have been very flexible for mum and it is a good arrangement all round. However, no I haven't told them I am trying and probably won't; however, if and when I do become pregnant, I will have a face-to-face meeting with her to tell her, and may then explain why it has happened so soon after starting minding, but I may not.

Whatever job you do, your pregnancy will always have an impact. If you work in a huge company, it's less likely to matter on the whole, but in a small company it can be felt financially as well as in other ways. So I'd treat this as you would a job - I know how it is: we get close to our families and we feel bound to not let them down; but this is about the future of you and your family and while they may feel let down, there will always be another minder, and it really depends how much leave you want to take whether they will come back to you. I know I said I will take the full leave (hopefully), but many minders only take a few weeks as they rely on the income.

I suppose you have to weigh everything up and if it works for you to have one now, have one now but don't feel beholden. :)