Just found lovely childminder, dilemmas with sibling!

[perrinelli]

I've been looking for a cm to collect my dd1 (4) from school when I go back to work 2 dys pw in October. I was recommended a lady who is just staing, she has a 7yo DD of her own who goes to the same school. We met her and she was lovely, dd loved her too!

I have a ds who will be 16months in October. Now I'm thinking whether I should ask the cm to take him as well instead of nursery. But the cm is also taking on a 10m old in September. Do you think it will be too much for her to have the two babies in the day, then my dd and her ds after school when she's just starting out?

If ds does go to her, I'd really like him to go to a playgroup/nursery in the mornings. Is it reasonable for me to ask her to collect him at midday and not charge for the morning? Do other cms do this? Would appreciate your thoughts!

Also - forgot to ask, is it reasonable to ask about a sibling discount or is that just cheeky?

Also - I meant that i'd like ds to go to a playgroup/nursery in the mornings when he is 2, so next September.

I did, cm has ds after school and I did exactly te same - asked if she would have dd whi was about 2. Dd was prev booked into nursery but we cancelled that and haven't regretted it. It would have been 2 journeys and 2 hours after school where they could have been together and weren't.
Cm will tell you if she thinks its too much I'm sure.
Not sure about playgroup. You could ask I suppose...

Childminders normally charge for the time they're at Playgroup, as you're taking up one of their under 5 places - and presumably you'd need her to look after your dd and ds all day in the holidays?

our CM is term time only - it works really well

My CM used to take my dd to playgroup.

i go out to playgroups most mornings.
if you were collecting at midday I'd probably charge 2/3 daily rate.
" little ones so close in age is lovely for us CM's to look after. Ready made best playmates!
Afterschoolers tend to look after themselves so really wouldn't be too much.
be nice for your 2 to spend time together after school too.

IMHO, I think it's a bit cheeky when parents ask for ' sibling discount'. After all, a place is a place, & CMs are losing income when this happens.

I only have after schoolers now, but do have siblings.
They dont get a discount.
Next september I will possibly have another sibling joining us for afternoons only, I wont be offering a discount.

A few of the childminders I know do give a discount for siblings, unsure as to how much tho, and of course it is down to the individual childminder, we all charge differently as we're self employed.

That sounds like a great set up. Fantastic for your baby to have 1:2 ratio rather than 1:3 (which still could happen if cm takes on another mindee). Also much easier for you and nicer for your dc to be in the same place.

Like another poster above said, as a cm it is lovely having two similar aged babies as it is easier to do activities and visits which interest both of them.

Have you considered starting him with the cm and delaying nursery/playgroup until he is a bit older? If you wait until he is 3 then he would get his free hours so if the cm does decide to charge for the morning you wouldn't be paying twice. It might also be easier to settle him in at the cm first then nursery a bit later rather than a lot of change at once, especially with your dd starting school.

I would see if she is able to take him as well :) She's an adult, she can decide for herself whether she feels up for it or not. As for playgroup/nursery/whatever later on, I'd deal with that when you think he needs it. He might get enough of that kind of thing with her and then go more formally when he's 3?!

Thanks everyone, I've decides to go for it & ask if she can take the little one too & I could put him down to start morning nursery at 2 and then delay it til 3 if I don't feel it's needed. Will have to see what she says about if she'd charge while he was at nursery in the morning but don't think it's a deal breaker.

Still not sure about if I should ask for sibling discount! Don't want to annoy her/take advantage/put her in a tricky position & can see it from the cm point of view but then if some DO offer a discount it would obviously help a lot as i'm not going to be left with much salary after childcare.