Parents opinions please. Would you go for this childminder?

[1Mumwhowingsit]

Hi, I’m in the process of becoming a childminder and very nearly completed registration.
I am a nanny at the moment and love being able to give one to one attention to the baby and babywear and cook for him etc but I need to become a childminder so I can fit in work around my 2 young school aged children.

I’m wondering, as a parent you’d go for a childminder that only minded your child? I would offer home cooked food, would welcome cloth nappies and baby wearing etc. Would you pay extra for a childminder that didn’t have other mindees? obviously i would take baby to classes and meet with other childminders etc too.
Please let me know your thoughts. This is my first post, hoping I have made sense! Thank you

Hi OP, I would happily send my child to a CM where he was the only mindee. My DS is on is own with his CM 1 day a week and he loves the 1-1 time.

However if I was in a position to pay 'extra' than the going rate for a CM then I would probably pay for an actual nanny (hope that makes sense!) and the additional convenience that brings.

I suppose it depends on how much extra though? Childminders where I live charge from around £6. Nannies start at £10 net. If a CM told me she was going to charge e.g. £9 to have my DS on his own then I'd just as soon get a nanny and pay a few quid extra. Some parents would rather avoid the perceived hassle of becoming a employer though so might happily go down the CM route.

Best of luck!

Exactly what the Poster above said really!

Yes agree, happy in principle but depends on cost

How much extra are you proposing in comparison to your local going rate?

Thank you for your responses.
Where I live average rate for childminder is £7.50 but some do charge upto £10. I was hoping I could charge £11 and offer a very one to one service and be very flexible, as il only have one child meaning my day can revolve around just them/their parents rather than a few other mindees too.
I suppose I’m trying to market myself as something a bit more than a childminder ... maybe childminder/mothershelp type business.
Just brainstorming ideas at the moment! Thanks

Would you collect the child from my house? I quite like the idea of not having to employ a nanny with the added complications.

Where are your school aged children going to be after school? And school holidays? Presumably with you, in which case it's not one to one. So you can't charge the premium

One query - wouldn't you still have to be an employee of the parents legally? You will be working for them pretty much full time and being paid like an employee. Or is there a carve out if you are registered as a child minder?

No I wouldn’t pay £11 ph for a childminder sorry.
I think you may struggle with tax implications of only having one mindee and therefore only one person paying you too.

£11ph for a Childminder?! Ours is £4.50ph for the youngest child, with older siblings £3ph. All food included.

Also, wouldnt most cloth nappy/babywearing mums take the full year off? And possibly go back pt?

I’m not sure really - one of the things we’ve loved about the childminders we’ve used is the chance for DS to mix with lots of other local children of different ages! Him being the only mindee prob would put me off a bit to be honest.

I think it sounds fantastic. I think a potential snag would be that I know parents often see a nanny as good value if you have siblings.

£11 is pretty high. I'm a nanny and I'm on less than that for single family rate. Apologies.
Why don't you still keep it small but with 2 babies/ toddlers? You could still do all the babywearing stuff.
I work some nanny shares and am totally pro babywearing and the families split the cost.

Ok well I wouldn't pay £11 since that is only £1 less than the gross hourly rate for a Nanny where I live. If, as you suggest, you position yourself as something slightly different than just a CM with an added useful service then perhaps. However what do you plan to do about your DC after school and during holidays, INSET days etc?

I wouldn't pay that much. Our cm is £4.10 ph and usually only has 3 or 4 kids. I couldn't afford that hourly rate even if I wanted to! I'd imagine you could get a nanny for that who would be at your house and do other chores.

Around here childminders are £4.50ph. So that would be a big price differential. I think you would be better off limiting to two families. That way you can charge less than nanny rates and parents get the advantage of not having to be the employer (which few would choose given the option). I would pay a bit more for 1:2 care say from £4.50 to £5.50 which with two children would be an hourly rate of £11.
Remember you will need to cover you business costs - professional memberships, insurance, first aid, possibly an accountant.

I think it’s a good idea though.

It wouldn’t necessarily just be one family full time. It could be parents who only work part time/parents who want a few hours to them selves. I don’t think I’m explaining myself very well, sorry!
It all sounds great in my head 😅
Thanks for all your comments

Ah okay. I know someone doing ad hoc care, people book her in for a few hours or a day. It’s term time only, school day only.
She works as a self employed nanny though. So doesn’t have as many overheads. She mostly takes the children out but isn’t based at her home (if that makes sense).
Usually nannies have to be employed but if you are working for lots of families then you don’t.

And what happens when they change hours at work? Need to swap days? Have a sibling?

Sorry I’m not answering everyone’s questions, I’m not being rude .. really appreciate everyone’s input. I’m on my phone and it’s not easy to remember all the posts, is there a way to reply to individual comments on the post?

I understand £11 an hour is a lot but where I live the average childminders rate is £7.50 not around £4 and nanny around £13/£15 per hour. Thank you 😊

It might be a fraction expensive as you have to factor in that you are caring for two of your own as well. This child is one third.

However I wouldn't mind the extra children as long as mine was the youngest. As you'll know, as a nanny, it can be good for them to have older children around.

I like that my DC get to meet other children at the childminders. I went to a childminder myself from age 3-11, and I made good friends there. I called the other children who were there every day my "other family". DD2 especially does also get plenty of 1:1 time from the childminder.

When DD started going to the CM at 8 months old, I was a bit worried about her being surrounded by older kids who might be boisterous or leave small toys on the floor. I may have been willing to pay more for 1:1 care at that point, but I couldn't have afforded to pay £11/hour for more than the first few months.

DD1 (school age) and DD2 (toddler) go to different childminders because we couldn't find one locally with space for both. So around our way, you'd probably get business from people desperate for childcare even if they didn't care too much about your USP.

Well slightly going against the grain here, I would say it sounds like you live in the sort of area that this more bespoke service might work and I've seen it work.
Average price round me for cm is £5.50-6.50 and a friend of mine childminds and charges £8ph. She offers an ad-hoc/bespoke service on a PT basis. Her children are at private school and most of her minded children are siblings whose mum does gym/lunch etc for 3/4 hours during school hours much as you would at a crèche or pre-school.