Would the following things affect someone becoming a childminder.......

[HRHQueenOfQuotes]

first one - they live in a flat...so no 'immidiate' outdoor space (ie a garden).

1. Have a history of depression (but are now recovered).

1. Don't drive (although would consider learning if other 'factors' were right)??

And ;astly - are there many male childminders, and are parents 'put off' by the childminder being male???

don't think a flat is ideal .. although many daily outings will compensate

history of depression will really be down to gp to decide and depend on what kind of depression

you don't need to drive to be a childminder

think male childminders will easily find a niche amongst those wanting a male carer

Hi, I have suffered from depression for many years, and am still on anti depressants due to low self esteem, but have just become a registered child minder. Depends on who inspects you and your doctors report. In some cases you may be referred to a psychiatrist for an evaluation (very informal I have been told) but I wasn't referred at all. Discussed it with the inspector when they came to my home and everything was fine!

1. Doesn't matter if you don't have a garden, so long as you have access to outdoor space of some kind, such as a park.

1. History of depression not a problem so long as it is dealt with or has been dealt with satisfactorily.

1. Doesn't matter if you don't drive - I know lots of childminders who don't drive (or maybe just don't have access to car). They walk, use public transport etc.

1. I also know a couple of male childminders - parents have a choice of who they want to mind their children. Some may be put off, but others won't be.

1. My cm has only a very small back yard, but goes to the park etc regularly. Flat wouldn't bother me now that my dds are at school (full- or part-time) and a baby would be OK, but might be more of an issue at the boisterous toddler stage.

1. Wouldn't think to ask. If now recovered it's irrelevant. I wouldn't ask if they once had chicken pox or a verruca....

1. My cm doesn't drive. I think it's a positive advantage as it means my dds get plenty of exercise and learn that a bit of rain never did anyone any harm! (But I do drive them round to the cm's house if it's raining, lol )

1. We considered a husband and wife team when looking for a cm for my dds. Didn't go with them only because they had quite a small house and because they were both registered they could have had up to 6 under-5s in there and any number of over-5s and it all seemed a bit much. But the male-ness didn't bother me,no. Would be good for boys, perhaps...

(Reading this, perhaps I am just ultra laid-back! But the most important thing in choosing a cm for me was how they were with my dds and just if they 'felt right'.)

ive also suffered with depression including pnd in the past and that did not affect my becoming a childminder atall.
i know a a cm who lives in a flat and again did not acceft registration. she takes them out every day.
i dont think it matters if you drive or not so long as you are not out in the sticks and would need to walk miles to get to a bus stop!!

Is it your DP that wants to be a childmeinder or is it the two of you together?

TBH I wouldn't be keen on a single male childminder especially for younger kids, mind you I haven't fancied any childminder while kids were young but thats me .

A couple or a male childminder with a family and partner more appealing.

I know of a single dad who is a childminder, he lives in the Medway area, as far as I know he keeps busy & makes a reasonable living out of it. I know he has been featured on some TV programmes about childcare.
If you feel that it is something you want to do ,then go for it,

I would be completely happy with a male childminder, and in fact it would have made me more likely to go down that route with ds. The nursery he went to had a man working there and it was a real selling point for me.

The lack of a garden would be more of an issue for me.

Actually it's my brother I was thinking of. He's a singleman, but heavily involved in kids stuff (runs the Cubs, and Sunday School at his church, and has also just been 'nominated' to be a helper at the creche at the church too). He's been staying for 3 1/2 weeks and helping look after the DS's - infact he's probably done most of the childcare for them since he's been here. He's currently unemployed but is hoping to find work in childcare (he resigned from his last job in the Post Office as he was being bullied and he had terrible depression). A lot of the time he's had 'sole' care of the DS's and has been absolutely amazing - infact I feel rather ashamed of my parenting skills ATM as he's done so much with them - especially with DS1.

He's done his spellings, reads with him everyday, has taught him to tie his shoelaces (in just 3 days!), been practising 'numbers' everyway he can, including multiple games of Junior Monopoly, and really has been amazing.

Just wondered how him being a single, childless, man living in a flat would affect his chances of making it as a childminder - or whether he should look into working in another setting (Nursery, Schools, Youth Work etc etc).

single, childless, man living in a flat

Hmm, that fits my profile

What childcare training has he had?
If none, then perhaps he could look at doing CACHE Diploma in Childcare and Education while working at the same time, in a nursery. Pay won't be great, but he could get the training done while also being employed. With the training in place, I feel he could then be a nanny.

What age range does he feel he works best with? If he feels he's better with over 8's (such as Cubs) then going into Youth Work of some kind may be good a move. Has he ever worked with children with special needs? Perhaps thats something to look at, as he could train to become a carer.

He sounds fantastic, I am probably just as wary of female childminders too, with young kids that can't tell you what goes on. As I said that is me, I worked as a nanny but I still haven't been able to hand my kids over to a solitray childcarer, paranoia (?) on my part. I know there are lots of wonderful male and female childminders and they are much better regulated now.