Put my mind at rest!

[Gee72]

So our boy will be off to the childminder when DW goes back to work in September. He's just coming up to 9 months and very clingy at the moment, crawling, cruising and generally on the go from breakfast to bed time. He's never been an 'easy baby' and has had my DW constantly chasing round after him. Several people have called him a coiled spring.

Our childminder is experienced and a bit older. We're worried she won't be able to keep up with him at the same time as 2 other toddlers or that he'll get frustrated. Please tell me that she'll be able to calm him down a bit and cope with his energy? Or that he'll be calmer by 11 months? Please tell me you have magic childminder tricks you all employ?! Anything?!

if he got older children to play with it often makes them burn extra energy

If your childminder is experienced, she will almost certainly be able to cope with your son. We "oldies" have probably seen it all before!

If possible, have some short settling-in periods prior to him starting in September. I had one particular "clingy" baby start off by doing only an hour at a time (and she was not happy!!), and then building up slowly. By the time her mum returned to work, the baby was absolutely fine and is now a fabulous 2 year old who loves coming here.