Childminder charges for DD whilst at nursery

[Boboli]

DD1 starts nursery in September. I'm just about to return to work after maternity leave for DD2.
We have a great cm for DD1 and DD2 will also be going to her when I return to work. My husband is a teacher and she doesn't charge us for school holidays which is a big bonus for us.

Perhaps naively I assumed that we would have the pain of full time childcare costs for both DDs for 1 term only until DD1 went to nursery in Sept. However, I've found out my cm will be charging me whilst my DD is at nursery.

Fully understand why this is and certainly don't begrudge paying her but the fact is that we are really going to be struggling with this. Before and after care for DD1 at the nursery works out £10 cheaper a day if I went down this route but it seems mad to have both DDs a few doors away from eachother at different places plus, then I'd be taking money out of my childminder's pocket which I really don't want to do.

My husband works down the road from the nursery and I am home based in my job so in an emergency, I'd be pretty confident that either one of us could cover it. Would it be unreasonable for me to negotiate a different financial arrangement with my cm?

I'm so rubbish at talking money with anyone...

I have had a couple of little ones do a full day at nursery to take advantage of the free place and come to me as before the rest of the week. I don't mind reducing hours if it gives me a free day to offer, but as others have said, a three hour slot in the middle of the day is no use to anyone - more like two and a half by the time you add in the journey time, and the drop off & pick up eat into the time available to the rest to attend playgroups etc.

Talk to your CM. I agreed with my (lovely) CM that on 1 morning a week I would pay her while DD2 was at pre-school, and that in turn, she would be the contact for that session and deal with any issues that arose. However on another morning I wanted her to pick up DD2 from pre-school at lunchtime, but deliberately NOT be the emergency contact, on the understanding that I would deal with any issues / take time off if nursery closed etc. She was happy to make that arrangement.

If dd1 did afternoons at the nursery in addition to the free hours they msy well charge during the holidays, they are not allowed to charge for the free 15 hours during holidays but can do for these additional hours. So CM may still be cheaper even if you pay full rate.

My CM doesn't charge for the hours DD1 is at preschool, have been v lucky. I think though that even if she did it'd still be worth dd1 staying with her as it's nice for her to relax in a home in the afternoons.

I told a potential customer I wasn't accredited and she thought I wasn't registered so turned me down - I found out later - because she thought she wouldn't be able to claim child tax credits when using my services. I guess it's tricky to understand the difference, I don't know what she thought the Ofsted certificate of registration displayed by the front door was for. Even if I was accredited it wouldn't be worth doing the 15 free hours