Is there a child care solutiOn to this one?

[Surrealistrhinoceros]

Hi. Am wondering if there is a viable solution to our problem. We have DS 6 with SN and Dd 4, who starts school in September.

Generally me and DH both work part time - 2.5 days a week each - and try and juggle the weeks between us. DH job is often very flexible, lots of working at home, but he also has periods of weeks when he has to be involved in court cases at varying distances. He also often has to spend a day/two working at the weekends in order to be free in the week.

So sometimes he's free but there are times when he really isn't. We have managed with very helpful grandparents to now but I am trying to anticipate a time when they may be less willing or able to help as much.

Any paid child care that would help with this? The obvious after school club solution is not one I think DS would cope with. A nanny or experienced childminder would be ideal for dS needs (borderline ASD and quite tricky behaviour), but I don't see how we would coPe with the irregularity of our needs.

Any help much appreciated!

What about your job, is that fixed hours/days? Could matching a nannies hours to your job work, then if DH is around he can work from home without having to care for the children at the same time and it may free up his weekends.

Hi

Yes, mine is mainly fixed hours and days so that would be the obvious thing to do. Thing is there are many weeks where DH can take the kids and wants to do so - then others when he isn't free at all.

We'd be willing to pay a retainer, but would any nanny/childminder be happy to have weeks when it was very much sole charge and others when it was very much either time off work or a mothers help type role?

Ps when I say a retainer I mean we'd basically expect to pay for three days child care whether or not we used it: which is a rather expensive option!

Have you thought about having an au pair? They are usually young, but a couple of the girls we had were very mature (mid 20s) with loads of childcare experience. And if one or other of you is around quite a bit then the ap wouldn't be alone with kids too often. They'll both be in school soon anyway.
You have to have a free bedroom to spare, and not mind sharing your house with someone, but in our experience, it's a fantastic solution to flexible childcare.

I would disagree with SchmaltzingMatilda as although both your dc will be at school a childminder is still restricted with their numbers, until the children turn 8 years old, to three children who attend full time school between 4/5 years and 7 years old. However if you were to find a childminder with two before & after school spaces on fixed days per week who would be willing to care for your dc knowing that some weeks they might not be coming but you were still paying that would be the best option.

I currently care for a boy with Asperger's Syndrome and he fits in really well in my setting. At present only see him once a week after school as his mother is on maternity leave, but I know that when she returns to work in a couple of months that he will be going to before school instead of after school on a rolling shift basis plus I will be caring for his sibling . Also are you going to need care in the school holidays or would it be term time only, as that could be a deciding factor for a childminder. Worth finding out who your local childminders are and talking to them to see what they think about your proposals and if they will have the space in September.

Thank you very much all! I think an au pair probably wouldn't be an option as the turnover would be a bit difficult for DS and also we don't have. Spare room.

Very interesting to hear that CMs have that level of flexibility though, it might well be worth a conversation. Would not wanting school holidays be better or worse? We probably wouldn't.

Only thing to do is talk to some CM or nannies and see what they can do. Eg put something out on childcare.co.uk, much as you have set out here, and see who contacts you as being interested?

Apologies for the late comeback. Really helpful advice and many thanks. There is an after school club attached to DS school but it's not great and my feeling is he wouldn't cope too well - struggles with unfamiliar situations, social skills, unstructured time etc.

I think we need to speak to local CMs or nannies.

A friend of mine is a nanny - ofsted registered, nanny insurance etc She now works 'randomly' :) She also has her own small (arty) business which she can do as and when she wants to (no clients until the product is complete - so no one else to work around iyswim) she loves things like what you would need because it gives her a bit of an income, some time with the kids and still time to work on her business. She doesn't mind if it's regular or as and when. Obviously, there's either committment on both sides or there isn't - so you'd have to decide whether to pay her a retainer to keep x days free OR to work on her 'first come first basis' arrangement. It seems to work well for all concerned.

I have recently stopped childminding (with the intention to start again after we moved house) but I used to do a lot of 'on-call' childcare. Of course I am in the luxury position that my partner provides the steady income, so I can afford to have fluctuation innings.

The downside for the parents is of course that I could not guarantee that I would always be available when they needed childcare. Most times I was, but they would still need a backup. (Grandparents?)
In my area I was the only childminder who provided this service, but you can always ask childminders if they are interested.