New CM: how to get around lack of experience, references etc

[lechatnoir]

I'm mid way through registration & hoping to be ready to advertise places within the next month,but wondered how best to respond to & deal with a parent's hesitation at my lack of formal childcare experience & not being able to provide references. As a parent I'm not sure how I'd feel about using a newly registered CM . I'm sure once I've got one it will all fall into place but presumably you've all been in this situation at some point so any guidance much appreciated.
LCN

I am newly registered and haven't found it to be a problem. Do you have children of your own? - that seems to have been reassuring in its own right. Can you do some babysitting etc in the meantime to have someone who would give you a childcare related reference? Can you get something in writing from the people who are providing your references to Ofsted? Even character references not related directly to childcare could be helpful.

When I first registered I found that a lot of 'my new parents' knew people who knew me, if you see what I mean.

Not all parents will want that sort of experience.

We were our CM's first family, and knowing that never put us off. She just seemed absolutely brilliant, and she has since proved to be just that.

I'm not a childminder, just a mum, but I've recently started my DD with a newly registered childminder. TBH, formal experience wasn't on the list of things I was concerned with, it was more a gut feeling about whether I liked the person and thought they'd suit my DD. It helped that our childminder has a toddler of her own, so I did get to see their interaction when I visited. But I turned down childminders with more experience based on a gut feeling, and I don't think I'm alone in doing so!

When I first registered I was worried about this too. I didn't have any sort of childcare experience either. I told all the parents that I was newly registered before they came to visit and it didn't seem to put anyone off. The second family that came to visit signed up straight away. Since then I have never actually had a single parent ask me to provide a reference!