How do I go about finding a childminder?

[piscis]

Hi! My LO is 11 months and I will be returning to work in July.
We are now living in north London but buying a house at the moment in Sutton and we are planning to be settled there in June. We'll need a childminder for a couple of days a week. Do you know what is the best way about finding a good childminder? we don't know anyone in that area yet, so we have no recommendations. Is there any website to browse all the childminders close to you? Are they all ofsted registered? do they all take childcare vouchers? Thanks for your help! I am really lost...

I'm a childminder and I have found lots of lovely families via childcare.co.uk

You can search by postcode and have a look at all the profiles. You will need to pay £10 or so to be a member and contact them. Or you can message for free if they are a member.

Once you contact them you can ask for Ofsted details etc

I'm a childminder living in Cheam, so close to Sutton.

You can contact Sutton Family Information Service on 020 8770 6000 and they can give you a list of childminders close to you. The website is fis.sutton.gov.uk/PublicEnquiry/SynergyEnglishHome.aspx

Or as the previous poster said childcare.co.uk is a good place too, but not all local childminders are on there.

Thanks! I know the childcare.co.uk website, but there aren't so many options there close to our house...I have created a profile and contacted a couple of them, but when I tried to contact a third one it is asking me to pay £25 (monthly!!)
I have followed the link above and there is a list of childminders, however it is a very short list and none of them are close to our house, do you think that by calling I will get a more extensive list from them or is it going to be what I can already see on the screen?
I guess I can also go to a children centre nearby??

I think you’re only allowed to send a certain amount of free messages a day if you’re not a member. You can send messages if the other person is a member.
Not everyone on the council list keeps their vacancy details uptodate so if you ticked the immediate vacancies box you might not get a long list.
You could also try extending the mike radius to see if there are more.

Go on the local authority website, they'll very probably have a list of childminders.

Not everyone is on childcare, so get a list from the local council too. Also the neighbouring council if you're close to a border.

I've no idea of the distance between North London and Sutton, but if it's not too far, can you go to a few baby groups near your new house over next few weeks?

Hi,

I live in Cheltenham and I am looking for a breakfast childminder for my 4 year old son who is starting at St James C of E Primary School in Sept 2018.

I need a breakfast childminder who can:

have my son from 7.40am (depending where you are based?)
drop him off at St James' at 8.30am Mon to Fri

If anyone can recommend someone that would be greatly appreciated?

You could also try joining a local mums facebook group and searching or posting on there.
Our one is quite active with plenty of people offering and asking for childcare.

Thanks for your comments, I will try all the options you are suggesting.

Hi Everyone,
Are you looking for childcare? contact me. I am based in Sydenham, SE26. Thank you

That's quite far, we are looking at childminders within a 1 mile around our house.
The council has been quite helpful sending a list, I have a couple of viewings next week and I will be going to a playgroup as well, so hopefully we will get something, is not looking so bad! we only need to find one that we like.
What questions should I ask them? Apart from having a good first impression of the person and the house, obviously. I know I need to check if they've got public liability insurance up to date, ofsted registration, if they are smokers, have pets, anyone else living in the house...what do you think are the questions I should be asking apart from that?

Feel free to look at my FAQs for ideas www.3mxchildcare.co.uk/

When I was looking for a childminder and trying to decide between one and a nursery, I just read through the information held by the council. All the childminders were Ofsted registered (and air could end their rating) so I understood that meant the legalities were covered.

I tried to get a feel for who they were by what they had chosen to write in their biographies and just went with the one who seemed a good fit. You could have a think about if you want them to do anything that might not be considered standard and it will probably be useful to know if they have a plan for backup when they are sick/on holiday/if one child in their care needs urgent medical attention. I think gut instinct is useful in these situations!

Hi Ladies, does anyone here do pick ups from Audley Primary school (3pm) been trying to find someone for a awhile now but no luck so far if anyone can help please get in touch thanks