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??!!!!

Oh and I don't get charged if she is ill

In 3 years never.

I am considering being a minder at some point and it never entered my head that parents should be expected to pay for ME to have holiday/sick days - what other self employed person manages to do that?!

I understand people wanting a ‘normal life’ experience for their preschoolers when they are in childcare full time, but mine were only ever part time so they had plenty of that with me and went to nursery to play, learn and make friends. 9 years of nursery (between 3 children) for us. One snow day and no other closures. I paid for term time, school hours and could add extra wrap around care and holiday care as needed. I don’t think I realised how lucky I was!

I've been using mine for 6 years, since PFB turned 1. She's never had a day off in that time. She is another one with a registered assistant. She has told me she's having an appointment, would I mind my kids being left with the assistant.
She also does reciprocal stuff with other minders, when mine were tiny they used to visit another childminder who had an amazing garden. One time another cm had a broken boiler so they had a day out to my cms house. The registered assistant is the best thing though.
When her own kid was infectious he was quarentined out of the playroom and looked after by his dad! You don't risk a self employed income for a salaried one.

One had a week off, for a planned operation, which she gave me several weeks notice of. Other than that - never, in 10 years (4 CMs, for various genuine reasons)

Not once in 3 years did our childminder take a sick day. Which was remarkable. She kept on going even when poorly (which we didn't want, but she never called sick).
She had 6 weeks paid holiday each year.

I clicked on this link wondering if it’s about me . We all seem to have been passing various bugs around for a few months and have had days where I have dragged myself through the day knowing parents are relying on me . D&v excludes . I think most minders do.

Re smear . I got permission from one of my parents to have a chaperone at the doctors. However minder ended up been sick that day so went on my own .

I don’t think I would ever take my minded children to the doctors...I would just not go to GP, but I don’t think that’s particularly the right thing to do either.
It’s not the most convenient job to have when you need a couple of hours off. I missed my daughters Christmas concert last year because I couldn’t arrange the morning off with my parents 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Love51 your childminder is The Dream. I’m so envious! They sound completely amazing and I bet your DC had the best time with them!

We used our CM for 2 days a week over 7 years and she had one day sick in all that time. She also took a max of two weeks holiday. She is lovely :)

Never once and yet, dd could go there in the throes of fever etc. I think the woman had the constitution of an ox! I couldn't have managed to work without her.

Why is it that people employed in childcare are not expected to get sick despite the fact that we are the ones exposed to more germs than most people?

I find this thread very illuminating.

People not paying for holidays or sick leave just shows the value they hold in child care providers.

I wonder how many parents would work for companies that didn't provide sick or holiday pay?

@MyBlueMoonbeam the WHOLE POINT of childcare is to provide care for your child whilst you’re working.

I wouldn’t pay for my childminder to have a sick day, same as my work wouldn’t pay me to take the day off because my childminder wasn’t working.

This is why nurseries are fundamentally better than childminders. There is sick pay and holidays. However they are covered, so as a working parent you are never left short. If there is a reason that the nursery closes, it’s very rare and you usually get plenty of notice.

@MyBlueMoonbeamthe WHOLE POINT of childcare is to provide care for your child whilst you’re working.

Don't SHOUT at me - so if your childminder was sick you might have to take an unpaid day - shock horror 🙄

You really don't get it do you?

No I really do. I can’t take an unpaid day because I’m a single mum with a mortgage and bills and a daughter to look after. I can’t afford to lose a days wage. Hence why I use nurseries, where that won’t happen.

It’s the difference in service type re: sick pay, that’s all - nannies get sick pay because they’re an employee, but childminders don’t because they’re self employed.

No one would pay their self employed plumber for a sick day- same thing.

Mine has 4 weeks holiday a year plus bank holidays and has never been sick. Shes the best childcare we could have ever hoped for.

This is why nurseries are fundamentally better than childminders.

For you, for your circumstances. Thankfully lots of people don’t agree and have wonderful, fulfilling and genuine relationships with their childminders, many which are evident on this thread and lovely to read.

Some nurseries are better than some childminder's and some childminder's are better than some nurseries. I mean, that's life isn't ita

Very rarely. She's a single mum and has several dc who have been sick several times though. She always arranges cover though, she's brilliant and dc absolutely loves her.

"Doctors appointments instead of learning"

Of course, doctors' appointments can very much be part of learning, it doesn’t have to be "instead of."

Many parents very sensibly like their children being introduced to real life situations, such as doctors, dentists, shops, public transport, etc etc. They then find them less scary when they have to go to the dentist and so on. Isn’t that a deeper for me of learning than sitting on a carpet listening to a story about going to the dentist?

It depends whether you limit learning to somewhere within four walls (or perhaps the slightly less contained Forest style sessions) or whether you think the whole world can be a 'learning environment '.

"The whole point of childcare is to provide care for your child while you are working."

This is a very narrow view put about by 9to5ers.

What about teachers who need term time only with late finishes for parents evenings, plays, etc?

What about emergency services who need care around shifts and anti social hours? Or NHS staff? Or parents who are on-call? Or even 9to5ers who have long commutes or out-of-town meetings.

I get enquiries all the time from parents who need their children taken to and from nursery, simply because nurseries don’t open the times that working parents need. I work for teachers, police, nurses, college staff, even an office-based civil servant, none of whom can find a nursery to cover their working day. I might add that I also get frequent enquires from nursery staff who choose to use a CM when they could get discounted rates at their own nursery.

Some nurseries are better than some childminder's and some childminder's are better than some nurseries.

Absolutely this. There is definitely no blanket "better".

For example Nurseries, as a whole, are much quicker to insist children are kept at home when unwell than Childminders are. As you have said MustardSCreams : "I take enough time off with dd catching every bug going" but, IME of 4 different CMers over 10+ years, they are overwhelmingly more likely to take your child and have a 'quiet day' with them when they aren't well, than a Nursery is. Childminders are much more likely to be out and about with the children on a daily basis than Nurseries, which is great for their learning. Again MustardScreams ^you6 might be able to do those things with your child on other days, but folk that work 5 days a week can't usually do that, hence why it is appealing for many to have their dc in a more 'home - like' environment, than sitting in the same 4 walls day in, day out. I go into a lot of Nurseries with my job and some are appalling. I am fairly sure there will be some poor childminders out there too. I also go in to some great Nurseries, and I have personal experience of some great Childminders. you relly can't lump all in as one.