being let down by childminders?

[McPrice]

does anyone else have difficulty keeping childminders?
my ds is only 14 months old and has already had 2 childminders since being 5 months old.
its such a shame as he gets attached and learns to love them and then they give notice.
hes not the demon child from hell infact everyone says hes an angel so is it just a run of bad luck or is it just the norm? if so a nursery maybe better.

Not usual I would have thought. Most keep the same children until childcare no longer needed. Same with nannies, most start with child as baby and stay min until school age, often until teens when no longer need childcare.

It's unusual. I have children from birth to secondary school.

At nursery, the building may stay the same, but staff can still change.

Depends on if you're full or part time. I have friends who only use a childminder 3 days a week in term time, and they keep getting notice as the childminders need full time payment. Unfortunate, but understandable.

Definitely unusual. I've had the same CM for 9 years
What reasons have they given?

the first gave it up. the second says shes taking on anothers childs sibling so will be overstreching herself. looks like im just unlucky. will try nurserys i think.

Not unusual in our experience.

Ds1 was with his first CM from 3.2 until 4.8 - that CM decided that she was no longer going to drop off/pick up from his school so gave us a months notice.

We found another one, but our first choice didn't have space so we put his name down on her waiting list and he started with our 2nd choice. He was there for about 6 months when first choice had a space so we swapped him and put ds2's name down with the first choice CM as he was due to start school in about 10 months time. All good, everyone was happy. Went to take ds2 round for his first settling in session (about 4 weeks before he was due to start school) when she asked to have a word. This was to inform me that she was going to retire and not renew her registration, insurance etc and that her insurance ran out the next week .

We found another lovely CM who could have both ds's so we started them with her - managed a couple of settling in sessions with ds2 and all was going well until one night she sent me a text saying that she'd been inspected and was told that she was over her numbers so could only have 1 of our 2 ds's from then on. I'm not sure that that was entirely true. She had very little experience with boys, and ds2's behaviour could be rather testing at times at that age so I think that she'd had enough of him. Needless to say we removed both of them and found a 5th CM who could look after them both, and who had boys of her own. At the same time, I approached work to ask if any more flexible jobs came up, could I be considered for them. After about 10 months, I swapped to a new job at a lower grade and doing slightly less hours but with flexible hours so we no longer needed a CM! Ironically the one that we left was the best of the lot!

Until our ds's started school they'd been at a nursery where he hadn't had a single problem. I am not a great advocate of using CM's following our experiences.

Very unusual. I, ve never givennotice to a child

I think it can happen. All the good reliable childminders are full up and have a waiting list. Some people think it's easy money and they don't last long. It's just luck if you find a good one. I preferred a nursery. At least I knew where I stood.

Wow this is a big surprise! My Dm Is a CM and she doesnt even take days off sick

Every child she has had since baby, she has had until they (1) moved away or (2) outgrew childcare.

She would also not cancel your contract to mind a sibling of another mindee. First come first served.

I had one child from 11 weeks till he started full time school. I just think you have been unlucky and wish you the best in your search.

I think you've just been unlucky. Both of those reasons indicate it isn't your son but either the nature of the job or regulations is the reason you've lost the cm. I have only given notice once and that was because I was offered the baby sibling of an existing child. It was full time hours for the baby, or four hours a week for the school age child I had to lose. I didn't do it lightly but, needs must.

I hope you have better luck in the future with your childcare.

My mum did childminding for about seven years when I was in my teens. She had most children until they started school (and then after school). Occasionally she did give notice but that was usually because she had some problems with a parent, not the child. This was often habitually turning up late or late/non-payment of fees. If a parent paid late 3 times they were given notice. Her waiting lists were so long ( we lived right next door to the school), she had no problems doing this.

I gave notice once when I started maternity leave. It's possible I may have to give notice to another family in the autumn because they are very part-time and I will need to increase my hours then. I will of course give them the option to increase their hours with me if they want to, but a childminding arrangement is one that has to work for both parties.

I think framing this as 'being let down' by a CM is unfair - they are running a business and as long as they are professional (give the contracted amount of notice etc) then I wouldn't call it letting you down. Letting you down is when they ring you at 7 in the morning to tell you they can't have your child that day because something's come up. If they can no longer care for your child then that's all there is to it - it is a downside of using a CM but it's a question for you as to whether you prefer the type of care available at a CM to that of a nursery.

Have the mentioned your son's behaviour? I know one cm who has given notice for a difficult child but given different reasons.

I'm not happy that this is described as "letting a parent down" either. Giving notice professionally is not letting someone down.

I can also tell you that it's by no means exclusive to childminding, although the Op does seem to have been unlucky.
I have looked after children whose nurseries gave notice for various reasons. One child's parents were told they would be happier with a childminder (they had additional needs and the other parents were complaining about their behaviour) and another was told their child wasn't ready for childcare yet (after 5 months, but very part time, so I guess blocking a place needed for another child). There have been others.

So don't naively think that nurseries never give notice - they most certainly do, as do nannies and au pairs as well. They're not letting you down, either - they're simply finishing a professional arrangement, as they're entitled to do.

I took dd out of a nursery and moved her with CM. She promised me she'd been wanting to do this for years. She quit after 5 months giving only two weeks notice. She also texts me every so often saying her dd is missing mine and we should meet up at the w/e. I then never hear from her. Maybe that's just the type of person she is...

Next CM has been doing it years so I feel secure.