How often is your childminder sick?

[SlB09]

Just that really, I'm trying to decide if mines actually I'll alot, generally flaky or if it's just usual??!!!!

Used her for six years and she had a week off when her Mum died, a couple of days off for D&V which she probably caught from my kid as they started being sick when at hers and recently she had a month off following a hospital admission for a serious illness. That last one was hard to manage but she has such a good relationship with the kids that I'm glad we found her.

drogosnextwife could you get your smear done at your local sexual health clinic (they tend to be really good at it too)? Most are open at some point over the weekend. Sorry I dont have anything useful to the thread, but smears are so important.

@SlB09

I would take them to other appointments, just feel a bit uncomfortable with a smear.

Actually @Lost5stone that's really helpful thanks. I hadn't though of that. Think there is one near my mils house.

Mine was only I'll for one stretch in the 4/5 years I used her. She also didn't charge was unavailable for work!

As a former teacher I think she had constitution made of steel though.

The home-from-home environment and care was a big steer for me in choosing a CM and so of course there were a lot of occasions she was perhaps under the weather with a cold or whatever, and they did appropriate activities at home those days instead of out and about, but I wanted the ‘normal life’ rhythm so was totally fine with that. Anecdotally, in my experience, childminders are reluctant to go off sick at short notice and so that perceived issue of being less reliable than a nursery isn’t valid. So if you think there’s something up with your CM i think you might have to mention it...

Been childminding 7 years. I've had 1 day off when my son had to stay overnight in hospital & I wouldn't be home by 7.30am. I've never felt guilt like it. I know other childminders who can step in in an emergency but I'd rather just work! Same after having baby. Back to business a few weeks later. I would hate for my parents to feel I'm flaky.

My childminder has never been sick in one year.
Apparently she was once during this time (I know because she told me), but my DD was not attending on that day, so I was not affected by it, I just happen to know that one day she had to call parents to pick the kids up as she was not feeling well.

My CM has never been sick. A few hospital appointments and a minor operation but I've always had notice and she's very flexible.

"This is why I use a nursery."

I see this point made a lot on mumsnet: CMs go sick and leave you in the lurch, so use a nursery because they’re uber-reliable. Whilst I can sort of see the logic, I find the reality to be quite the opposite.

Where I live, most the CMs provide emergency back up for one another. If a CM goes sick, the other CMs can easily take in the handful of children needing care.

OTOH when a nursery closes without notice, we have dozens of parents calling round for alternative care. Other nurseries can’t fill the gap because they’re all working to capacity, and CMs can’t take in 30-odd toddlers when their nursery leaves parents up the creek.

In terms of frequency, this year we’ve had one occasion of needing to provide back-up for a local CM due to sudden bereavement of an immediate relative. That compare with eighteen days-worth of closures for a wide range of different reasons by local nurseries in the same period.

Why are nurseries closing for 18 days? And how do you know that?

The nursery we used (incidentally) before we used a childminder never ever shut.

I've had a childminder for 3 years and she's never been sick. Takes 2-3 full weeks holiday a year which I have to pay for plus quite a few long weekends Fri-Mon type of thing.
She's very dependable otherwise

Why are nurseries closing for 18 days? And how do you know that?

The nursery we used (incidentally) before we used a childminder never ever shut.

In four years no more than 4 days and her mum, who was also a childminder, would have them if she could. They went with her to hospital appointments etc and waited outside with her grandmother who was registered as an assistant but didn’t normally work. She used to take two weeks holiday in the summer holidays and then just work the rest around child absences. Bliss!

I’ve used a childminder for over a year and never had a day off sick. I plan my annual leave around hers but then I don’t pay when she’s on leave so that’s the benefit compared to a nursery.
My childminder has someone to cover if she’s sick apparently but I have no idea how that works and if I’d want that although nice to know there’s back up

Thanks all. I get nurseries might be more reliable but for my son's temperament and our personal preference CM is definitely the best option for us ATM. I don't want to be nosey and ask exactly what's wrong but I suspect there's maybe some anxiety issues at the crux of things and if it's going to be longer term then we literally couldnt manage taking the time off work we have had to. Difficult difficult lemon difficult...

"Why are nurseries closing for 18 days? And how do you know that?"

Quite simply: I’ve had eighteen mornings this year when my 'phone has been ringing off the hook with panicky, often irate parents requesting (in some cases rudely demanding) childcare because their nursery has closed. Usually it’s the whole nursery closed, though sometimes it’s just a particular room/age group, presumably to stay in ratio when short staffed. The other CMs in my village get rung up too.

The reasons stated included:
Staff shortage due to illness.
Snow days; either staff can’t get it or, in the case of one nursery on school premises the entire premises haven’t been allowed to open.
Plumbing problems.
No electricity.
Chemical spillage from a tanker on the main road outside.

That’s not including the parents who call me because their nursery closes for Christmas or Easter week or bank holidays, etc.

It seems to happen much more frequently of late. One of my clients is a nursery deputy manager, and she says the combination of rising business costs coupled with stagnant low fees and even lower funding rates means nurseries can struggle to keep up with maintenance issues and staff costs. So they run close to capacity with very little slack in the system if a few staff are sick or can’t get in, and they certainly can’t afford agency staff as readily as they used to.

That must be very area dependent.

There seems to be no pressure to keep fees low round here and they can certainly afford cover!

Hello
Childminder here.
I have had about 4 days off for sickness in 7yrs.
I’m pregnant now so have had to do a bit of juggling with scans and midwife appointments, but we are having a home birth so from now on all appointments will be at home.

I don’t think this should be turned into a CM v Nursery debate.
When I managed nurseries in East London, we have some members of staff who were constantly off and it was a nightmare. Some people are just like that. It’s no easier to manage within a nursery setting. Often we would have to pay through the nose for agency staff who didn’t know children or parents...

AppleKatie you’re absolutely right: I’m sure it is area dependent. A lot of the information on these boards is the same, and it’s often unwise for reader s to generalise from it and try to apply our replies to their particular area or circumstances.

With regard to fees, one of the political parties recently commissioned research into the business sustainability of childcare providers. The number crunchers and business experts came back with a figure of £7 to £7.50 as the minimum national average figure that would stop the current decline in childcare places through childminders giving up and nurseries going out of business.

Frightening perhaps, but that suggests that any fee below £7ph can be considered "too cheap".

I would absolutely pay £7-8 pH for a good reliable childminder, I think it is such a responsible job and you are teaching them vital life skills if done properly

Bloody hell, if I was paying whatever a day for my child to be going to dr appointments instead of learning and playing I’d be bloody furious.

Dd goes to a forest nursery. I wanted to find a childminder because of the smaller numbers and more flexibility, but none could offer what her nursery does. School runs aren’t enriching and the sensory areas they offered far outweighed anything a childminder could.

For mine it is few and far between re appointments but the reason I dont mind is that these things are real life and children need to be exposed to doctors, dentists, shops etc. They can learn all-sorts through these activities such as being patient, numeracy, colours, not being frightened of dentists etc. If don't right everything is an experience and my childminder has the same approach.

@SlB09 good points! But I do all those things with dd and they’re free when I do them

Haha yeah that's true

Been with the same CM for a year and a half, she's never had a sick day and takes 2 weeks holiday a year plus the week between Xmas and new year (my office is closed)