CM - numbers and own children

[stressed2007]

I am trying to finalise a childminder. This woman has various children but she has her own daughter that is 6 months old. I want my daughter looked after by her - she is 1 in April but I need care from end March. Does her own child fill the under 1 place and therefore my daughter cannot be accommodated until she turns 1 or does her child not count? If her child does count how easy is it to get an ofsted exemption for say 4 weeks and how long do you think it would take to obtain?

Thanks.

normally yes her child counts but if her cert says she is allow 1 child under 1 then thats fine as your own children dont apper on your cert

for example:
if i had a 6 mth old and a 3 yr old myself
normal reg is 3 children under 5 and no more than one of these are to be under 1 yr old. so my cert would just say no more than one child aged 1 to 5 yrs old

hope this makes sence

anyway cm must know her limits has she not said your dd can only start when she turns 1?

her 6 month old will count as her under 1 i would think, it is very unusual for a CM to have two under ones except in exceptional circumstances ie twins

i am dense

just to clarify

if she has a certficate that says 1 under 1 -then her child does n't count? is that correct?

I did tell her when I wanted cover from but I am not sure it all registered as we have n't yet discussed actual start dates - it is just a thought that just occurred to me that as she has a baby she might not be able to care for mine until she was over 1.

your not dence
i think (but could be corrected) that if her cerf says she can have a child under 1 then her own child is extra but like shoshalee said its only normally in exceptional circumstances that you are allowed to care for 2 children under 1.
i would phone back and talk to cm again

could grandparents not have your child for a couple of weeks till she is one?

my own boys were in school when i started cm but it did affect my numbers for aged 5-8 yr olds
my cert used to say i could have 2 children aged 5-8 yr old now its 4 as my boys are over 8

She is allowed up to six, 1 under 1, 2 between 1-5 and 3 5-8 (if she has maximum numbers) including her own

Could be that she had her inspection before her baby was born and hasnt told ofsted look uo her report here

it could be ofsted haven't updated her certificate

I have a 6mo dd, and mine still says one under one, as they said I have to post them her birth certificate and I refused as the bank already lost a copy.

I haven't looked after an under 1 since though, (or an under 5 for that matter) as I know that would be breaking registration even though they havne't changed it.

Pity as I've been offered seven babies since September... -sigh-

if her certificate actually says she is allowed one under one they have not taken her own child into that ratio , so i assume she would be able to have one under one AND her dd

I had a similar situation. I was looking after an 11month old then asked to have a 2 month old for 1 day per week. I wrote to ofsted to request a temp variation (til 1st mindee turned 1). They wrote back asking for loads more info and told me it'd take up to 3 months to make a decision!

My certificate was changed for to allow me to have 2 under 1s'.
I wanted it for 4 weeks, to allow continuity of care for someone who wanted to come back after a temporary contract but I had filled the spece. Both babies were 11 mths at that point.

It took ages to get (about 2 mths I think) and by the time I got it one of them had turned one anyway.

BUT my certificate now allows me to look after 2 "under 5's" (DD is 4 so is my third under 5) with no restrictions. It depends very much on the person at OFSTED who deals with the enquiry I think.

1 under 1 includes the childminders own children, therefore till your child turns one, she wont be able to offer care, if cm would like to care for 2 under 1's then she needs to demonstrate in a letter to ofsted how she would be able to care for both children, which sometimes isnt worth it, by the time letter is written and they have replied the child would have turned 1!

alison222- wouldn't your variation only be valid for the particular arrangement you just described or would you be forever allowed to have 2 under 1?

my certificate say 2 under 5, when i rang panicking saying i have dd(3) so what can i do, they told me that '2' was 2 mindees and once dd was over 5, it would change to 3 under five, meaning they didnt include her in my 2.

on my certificate it says i can have 5 children under 8 of which 3 maybe under 5 of that 3 one can be under 1 . . . .(my son is 2.3 & i have been reg. for 1 year ). . . whatever it says on cert. applies to minded children your own children are taken into account when they[ofsted] make their decision I THINK IT'S A SILLY WAY TO WORD IT & IT CAUSES CONFUSSION ALL ROUND !!!!

how can you have 3 under 5 when your own child is under 5?

I have a 3.10yr old and a 11mth old and my certificate say I can mind 1 under 5yrs and 3 over 5.

thats right thats what i would think it would say

Hi all, Sorry I am being dense but I'm newly registered, just got my certificate through and it says I can mind 3 kids, no more than 2 under 5. I thought my daughter would take up one of these, does she not??

ooh sorry i got that wrong you're right dmo i can have 2 under 5 because of my son being under 5 feel silly now BUT it is confusing isn't it!!!!

It is very confusing with the way they word it! (see recent thread about when going to the toilet - it turned into big discussion re ofsted certs!)

Sounds like the cm hasn't had her cert changed since having dd 6 months ago. I think the 'how easy is to get an ofsted variation' question is how long is a piece of string! I'd say 'if you don't ask you don't get' so it might be worth asking?

Re your question FooFoo, is dd under 5? The maximum for childminders is 6 children, of which 3 under 5 of which 1 under 1. So if your cert says 2 under 5 then they are allowing for your dd if she's under 5.

her children DO count ..she is allowed 1 under 1 .. but it sounds like you're talking about a couple of weeks .. think you shouldn't sweat it if you like her