Can you answer any of these questions please ( C M asking)

[MUM2BLESS]

To save time and to avoid starting several threads I'm asking the questions together

1. Where do your babies and younger kids sleep (upstairs/down stairs) and what do they sleep in ?
2. What type of activities do you do with your babies? (looking for some more ideas)
3. Some parents may have specific request regarding their own child who comes to you. ie sleep at certain time etc. I know that at home parents have their own routine which is a lot different from the cms. How do you balance what your ask you to do and ensure you take the other children needs into consideration?
4. Does anyone deal with children who are still having accidents (wetting during sleep)? I can understand this as some of my own kids did this when younger. what if parent does not want to use pull ups do I honour their request or ask if they can be used during sleep?

Thanks

All my mindees are under 2 & sleep in a travel cot upstairs (I have 2 at once so goes 1 in spare room & 1 in ds1's bedroom). Monitor on the landing & doors left ajar, no nightclothes or blankets. Wrt routines it depends how often they are with me & how reasonable the request is as to whether I will adapt to their routine or not! If they're with me 3 or more days I'll try & get them into the same routine as existing mindees (morning activity out, sleep, late lunch, at home activity until school run) but for 1 or 2 days I'd try & for in with their sleep times where possible.

When I had under 1's I would do some of the quieter toddler groups, sensory session at the sure start centre, swimming if I only had 1, walks in the park/woods otherwise at home musical instruments, treasure baskets, board books, water play, messy play (cooked pasta, jelly etc) sing nursery rhyme etc then much of the time seemed to be spent feeding, milk or asleep

HTH

Babies here sleep in travel cots in bedrooms upstairs. Once they start getting to big for the travel cots, at around two, I let them nap on the sofa downstairs. If they still wet while napping, I would be asking for nappy/pull ups for them to wear. It's not fair on child or my furniture to be soaked with wee while they are asleep each day.

The routines, I tend to have my routine that works for all the children. School run, outing/shops/group, nursery run, lunch, play, quiet/nap time, school run, free play/activity. It seems to work for us and I try to get children into our routine if I can. Parents have never said they don't like it, but if they had a massive problem I would try and work with them to sort it.

Thanks for the replies sorry for the reply delay

PhoebeMcPeePee - I childmind downstairs as I have a toilet downstairs. I do however have a spare room downstairs which i use for sleeping when needed. Regarding routine I like what you do regarding the routine of those children who are with you for a longer period. I think i need to be more forthcoming if am not able to carry out the wishes of a parent I can understand that parents have their routine but when you are dealing with quiet a few children it may not always be possible to carry out what is being asked. Yes that certainly helps!!

Lucylouby - thanks for your comments. I will take a look at how much a travel cot costs. Not too keen on children napping on my sofa though (this is the main room where the phone may ring and interrupt sleep, the door bell can be heard in my main room, plus not too keen on any spillages on my sofa)

My daily routine can be quiet busy as I have children coming at different times. One of my little ones will only sleep in a quiet and darkish room, whilst the other one will only really sleep in transit.

Its a tricky one regarding pull ups as its like taking a step backwards once out of them, to put them back again. Your thoughts please.

for you Lucylouby

I'll happily support a parent potty training but if bedtime accidents happen regularly then I'd either insist on using nappy/pull-ups or suggest parent provides spare sheet(s) & mattress protector/pads for your cot and send home for washing with child's clothes.

Ditto daytime training - happy to support, frequent toilet trips/asking etc and expect a few accidents but I'll not be rendered housebound or spend my days changing child/clearing up accidents because mindee isn't really ready. In this instance I would tell parent it's not working & either they need to book time off work to have a proper crack at it or try again in a few months.