How the heck do I find a childminder with space???

[ellie3009]

I am currently on maternity leave, returning to work mid-December.
I am looking for a childminder in South Bristol, and I have contacted every single one on the council's list for that area, as well as childcare.co.uk(about 50 in total!!) and not one has come back with a vacancy for Mon-Fri full time. How is this possible???

Anyone got any tips on how I can find a childminder with a space? I am starting to panic!
Is there anywhere else I should be looking to find adverts?
Help gratefully received!

p.s. I guess people will tell me that I have left it too late, but I honestly thought that 3.5 months would be enough time !!

I found mine at a sure start centre. They had a childminders group and a list of childminders in the local area

Have you tried the council's Family Information Service? Sometimes they do a brokerage service where they look for childcare for you.

Prob is too late. Many can only take 2/3 children under 5, so need to book up early. Any child leaving will have given notice in June/ July before starting school

Have you looked at a nanny share (2 families share nanny so lower costs)

Have you joined local Facebook groups for mothers and children? I'm part of one for buying and selling and there are regularly advertisements for CM spaces on my group.

I filled most of my spaces in September, when the older children went off to school. Maybe contact the Local Authority (via the Family Information Service) and find out if there are some new minders registering now?

Ask everyone to put you on their waiting list anyway.

Thanks for suggestions so far. I realise that most people will have filled spaces from Sept, but since my mat leave is until December there was not much I could do about that. Most that I have spoken to said they would have held a place if we paid 50% fees, but we couldn't have done that for so long, it would have amounted to more than a grand.

I have contacted the council. I have already contacted everyone they suggested. I have posted on local facebook groups for mums. No joy.

I am not against the idea of a nanny share, but haven't the foggiest how to go about finding one! Is there a good place to look for this?

I will look for the nearest surestart centre to here and see if they have a childminder group. I can picket the gates and give out "childminder wanted" leaflets!

I don't think you have left it too late, you may actually be looking too far in advance. Most childminders have a 4 week notice period and will not know more than 4 weeks in advance if and when children are leaving. Vacancies come up all the time because families move, mum's go on maternity leave, children leave to go to preschool, etc. The turnover can be quite high at times. When a childminder does get given notice they will most likely take the next enquiry that happens to come along so you just need to make sure that you are that person by contacting them regularly. Even if they say they will keep your details on a waiting list it is still best to stay in touch. I get enquiries all the time and my typical response is "Sorry I don't have space, I'll let you know if anything becomes available" but when I say that I am usually juggling several children, feeding a baby or in the middle of a nappy change, I don't have a pen to hand and don't make note of their details. Even when I do have a space, if I get an enquiry that is 3 months in the future I will often say I don't have space because I prefer to hold out for someone with an earlier start date. I am sure out of 50 childminders there will be at least one who loses a fulltimer between now and December so just keep contacting them regularly.