Worried childminder will quit :(

[primaryboodle]

Argh - dd was such an easy child until about 8 months when her teeth came through and now shes sooooo clingy. Due to go back to work in 1 week (dd now 9 months) and both 2 hour settling in sessions dd has screamed apparently. Has taken milk from a bottle fine (is ebf by me) but will only settle if cm is cuddling her - and even then shes still cried for most of it. Childminder has 3 under 1.5years on the days where dd is there... im terrified dd wont settle and cm will quit then ill be up shit creek! What can i do to stop her being so clingy?!

Hi op, please try not to worry too much. It is really really normal for your baby to be like this. It's the age they tend to have separation anxiety. She's only had 2 settling in sessions so once she's going there more she should settle just fine. Any professional childminder will have lots of techniques to help her settle. 3 under 1.5 is a lot though... is your baby the only under 1?

3 under 1.5? Fairly certain that's not legal

Try not to worry too much like PP said. Nearly all babies, especially at that age will be the same. Most childminders know what's coming & have strategies in place to help little ones settle.

As for 3 under 1.5 that shouldn't make a difference unless your child is upsetting the others with the crying etc. But little ones generally adapt in time & it will be nice to have little ones of a similar age .

As long as your child is the only under 1 & the others are both over it's fine. This was my normal day for a year from my son being 5 weeks & having one 14 month old & one 15 month old.

I think it's a really stressful time for parents going back to work & their children starting childcare & babies can sense this. All I will say is try & be as calm & happy when dropping & picking up your child. I had one parent who used to apologise to her child at drop off saying "I'm sorry baby, mummy be back soon. Sorry love you sorry" & it made me feel like a witch! so baby would be clung onto her mum. Not too helpful.

Goodluck OP. Really hope your little one settles soon. It's very early days & they have been only 2 hours. Once things are in full swing & your baby is having busy days & getting tired from all the new routine I'm sure they'll settle just fine. X

Dd is the only under 1 - she has 2 different 14 month old babies on two days and always has her 15mth son.. i apologised profusely to both dd and cm on pick up! She seemed really stressed hence the panic that she will quit but argh

I guess im just looking for reasurrance that it'll all be fine but only time will tell

An experienced CM will expect this. It's quite nice that they're all close in age and can grow up together.

Try not to worry. This is perfectly normal. We all prepare ourselves at the childminder drop in for when one of the childminders brings their newest addition under 1 as they are very often like you describe!
3 children under 1.5 is legal, as long as your little one is the only child under 1

3 under 1.5? Fairly certain that's not legal

Perfectly legal. Are you a childminder?

That's good then op. mombie 3 under 1.5 is perfectly legal. You can only have 1 under 1. But 3 pre schoolers in total.

If it doesn't work then a good nursery might suit you better. My DD2 would only nap at nursery when sitting on a lap in the rocking chair at nursery. Because they have more than 1 member of staff they were able to work with this, until they could get her to move into a cot or buggy for naps. I never got the impression that it was a problem.

The crying at 2 visits is normal and im sure she is used to rocking to sleep an experienced child-minder will know how to work with this and in time move onto sleeping in a cot. The best thing is to have a good chat about how its going and maybe have more settling in time

mombie I suggest only commenting when you have at least the teeniest tiniest clue what you're talking about

The crying wouldn't concern me, little ones tend to settle into new routines quite nicely (actually of course it would concern me as I hate to see DD upset, but I wouldn't consider it abnormal). I would be more concerned that the cm seemed stressed by it, after all, it's literally her job to manage children, even through the difficult settling-in phase.

What is stated in your contract re: notice period, could she just cancel at a day's notice?

It might be worth having a conversation with cm, asking her opinion on how she anticipates DC settling-in and what will happen if she doesn't. From there you can come up with a plan and take away the 'not knowing' aspect which is plainly stressful when you're already having a stressful time going back to work.

Gah I just realised you posted a while ago, if you've moved to Stockwell in the meantime, I'm sorry to have worried you!

Wrong thread!!