Pros and Cons of childminder

[EmJay19]

Hi everyone
Currently on mat leave and starting to think about returning to work for 2/3 days a week in July. Like the idea of a childminder because of the ‘home from home’ feel and don’t fancy DS being in the same room all day at a nursery.

Asking for people’s experiences of childminders and what the general pros and cons are.

Thanks

We had our oldest at nursery first, then at a childminders. Youngest gas always been at a childminders (they arec3 and 7)
Childminder advantages:

• home from home
• much more outings etc, they are not in the same small room and garden every day
• more personal care
• much more flexible - if i’m late (traffic jam, train delay) i just call and maybe pay an extra hour, not £15 every 5 minutes or similar
• oldest gets taken to school and collected by the childminder, they also have him during holidays
• continuity of care. Personnel in nursery can change very rapidly

Disadvantages

• if the childminder is on holiday, they are closed. So your holidays are predefined

I much prefer a good childminder over a good nursery, but you need to make sure they are actually good

I'd echo both of Yuronas lists

I'd also add in the pros:

• Spending time with kids of other ages

-More flexibility (when I broke my leg my wonderful cm collected DS and dropped him off every day.)

• Tailoring of activities. CM has three kids in the day so can do things to suit those particular kids. My DS is plane obsessed so they often go to the airport for instance

Agree you need to check cm is good first. We met one who had the kids in her lounge all day with a trip to her garden if weather was good.

We started with a childminder but she let us down on numerous occasions at very last min. Her children were ill and then she was ill and not ideal when at 6am you're trying to arrange childcare!! Moved to nursery and much happier. You say you don't like the idea of them being in the same room all day well its not really the case or at least at mine. There are different rooms and they often move around throughout the day depending on activities and how many children they have. Also at that age they don't see it like that as there's lots going on and outdoor play too

I love my childminder. Ds goes on regular outings and I know her socially through play groups etc. She's extreamly flexible and he had developed socialisation well with her due to her having different children (covers shift workers).
Her crafts outings and care has been excellent.

@Klouise777 yes, a bad childminder us horrible!
our nursery was like that, keyworkers changed at least monthly, no predictability when they would open (plus/minus 15 minutes), it was awful
unreliable childcare is horrible

Thanks everyone. Sounds like when you get a good one then has lots of benefits.

@Yurona @TakeMeToYourLiar yes need to check they are good first. How have you done this?

I did loads of research into this in my maternity leave anxiety and basically a good childminder for children age 0-4 is usually the most relaxing for the child. If you get a good one, they also have more individual attention, do the school run which gets them out of the house, trips to park etc. Saying that, with dc2 that option didn't exist and she went to a small nursery and she was also very settled and happy there, and they did have a routine of one room in the morning, a nap room, a lunch room etc so not always stuck in the same four walls. You need to visit a few childminders, get the vibe, check that you get on with them and even better if it's someone you vaguely know I think. Ask if they go out and where, ask how many children they have after school, ask a lot of questions about how holidays work and who pays when for what.

I really like having a childminder- it suited ds who was quite clingy and thrived in the 'home from home' environment. I found one who came highly recommended and luckily a spot became available just at the right time for me. The main disadvantage is that if the childminder or her children are ill then she can't have them, although mine does have an agreement with a group of local childminders who contact each other if they are unable to take their mindees and see if they can sort out someone else to have them for the day instead.

If you find a good childminder they’re great.

Unfortunately my childminder was not good, had sick days at least once a month and really let me down.

Dd has been at nursery for 18 months and has come on leaps and bounds. It’s never closed with a days notice! I wouldn’t consider a childminder again I don’t think. I also object to paying for dd to be taken on school runs rather than learning tbh.

I wanted my daughter to have a normal life during the day. Being in a home, doing the school run for other kids, going to the supermarket, going to the childminder's friend's 'for coffee'. Basically having the life she'd have with me at home.

I have been an early years teacher and a childminder and tbh for my own children I have preferred a nursery. I found an absolutely excellent one with a really small baby room and excellent professional staff with a real emphasis on attachment to the key person. Familiarity is good for children so I don't think 'being in the same room' is really a problem, they feel safe and secure and they have lots of planned activities which change daily and an enriching environment. For me, I like that there is always someone to comfort my child when they are sad (Childminders can't always do this if they have 3 little ones), they're never closed when off sick, and it seems safer to me than being out and about. That said there are some utterly excellent childminders out there, just try to meet lots and go with your gut.

I also had a bad childminder experience. She was often sick, her kids were sick etc. You also had to pay even if they're on holiday (as it's their salary), whilst trying to obtain alternative childcare. We lasted 7 months and then moved to nursery.

Mine have never been confined to one room and often move around. They also have a mini bus so can do outings. Inside our nursery there is also a soft play with a big slide, which is used as a treat so not everyday.

Downsides of nursery, said soft play area was a nightmare when D&V and H,F&M was doing the rounds as it had to be deep cleaned. Key workers can change often - BUT - this has actually done my kids the world of good. They're now at a school with a high turnover of staff, meaning a lot of supply teachers. Some of the other children have been really affected by this, hanging onto their parents legs when they see it's a different person at the door. Mine aren't like this as they're used to change.

Pros and cons for both I suppose but nursery was the best for me. It never closed for sickness - even when one of the staff members passed away. It never closed in bad weather and they were great when my kids had sniffles and weren't quick to send them home. Mine both still go there now for holiday club and love it.

Thanks everyone. I’m convinced! Now just need to find one...

Dd1 went to nursery and DD2 is at a childminder (who also collects dd1 from school) - I was wary about a childminder as had such a good nursery experience with dd1 but she is excellent and I have no regrets.

I had a fab childminder for about 12years in total. The only time we had an issue was when she had to take sick leave due to an ankle injury. She found us a stand in childminder from her network that could cover our specific hours, but as it was a short term contract on a week by week basis until original CM was better, the new CM charged us her 'non contracted hours' rate which was extortionate and more than what I earned. I was grateful for the cover but it did leave me in financial difficulty for a short time. This wouldn't have been an issue at nursery.

When you have found a good childminder, make sure you are happy with all the policies before you sign up. Some childminders want all the benefits of self employment with all the bonuses of employment ( payment for their holiday weeks, sick pay for days they cannot work).

My childminder timed her retirement to coincide with my youngest starting preschool and remains a firm friend to this day.

Hi, I am childminder parents have chosen me as they want a home from home environment, smaller setting so more one on one , I go to a playgroup one a week and meet up with 2 other childminders in the mornings, so the kids get to know them and the children they care for. We do a lot of trips out, craft etc You will need to have a back up plan for when they or there children are ill and they need to shut. The same for when they are on holiday but then you should have been given plenty of notice of these holiday dates. I don’t charge for my sickness, holiday but charge in full for any time of the children I care for have so most parents take the same holiday dates as myself, Sadly when I have been ill and had to close it is when parents have been dishonest with me about their child’s illness and have sent them in from being sick all night, so rather than having a day of themselves they spread it to the whole of my setting and then get p**d off as I have to close for nearly a week while it goes through my whole family. I would say if you have no Emergency back up then a childminder is probably not the best option for you, as even though I meet up with other childminders none of them would have scope to cover my illness, holiday.

It really depends on the individual. There are good and bad childminders. There are good and bad nurseries.

I find children often do best when they use a mixture of both a childminder and a group setting (so long as you’re attending properly with the childminder, and not just using her to cover the 'awkward' hours some nurseries won’t do.)

One word of caution. There’s a common assumption that nurseries are always more reliable. It’s not true. It’s easy to miss more days care with a nursery over time. This is partly because of children picking up more bugs and having to stay home: there are regular MN threads on this issue. Also, nurseries can close for all manner of emergencies. Rising costs mean they are becoming increasingly reluctant to hire agency staff to cover staff sickness: so they might operate above the legal ratios or turn away families at the door.

Thanks everyone.
What‘s the deal usually with term time only? I wrk in schools...

You're more likely to find a child under who will offer term time only, with a retainer fee payable for the holidays. I always suggest to families that the child comes at least one day during holidays (you're paying for it anyway) as it helps maintain routine. Unless it's a term time only nursery, term time hours are unusual I think.

Re: term time only care.

Again, this depends on the individual provider. There is no 'industry standard' and, while there may be localised norms, this will vary from place to place, and there’ll always be exceptions within any given location.

In my area, the vast majority of nurseries will charge full price for the 48-50 weeks they are open, whether or not you attend. There are two exceptions. One allows you to pay half price to be absent during the school holidays; the other allows you up to four weeks' absence for a flat fee of £120, irrespective of what your normal week's charge would be.

There’s quite a variety of TTO arrangements when it comes to local childminders. Some simply close for the school holidays: mainly, but not exclusively, those that don’t take Early Years children. Some offer genuine TTO contracts, where you only pay for term time. As a rule, most charge some form of holiday retainer: 50% being fairly typical.

You say you works in schools. Are you a teacher or I should it some other role?

I meant to ask "Are you a teacher or is it some other role?"

Sorry, messed I up with predictive text typing.

All the nurseries I looked at charge for pretty much every week of the year. My childminder takes a week and a half at Christmas, a week at Easter and 2 weeks over summer. This suits me because I get that time off anyway, so it ends up saving me quite a bit as I don't pay for those weeks she is closed.
As others have said I think children are less likely to come down with illnesses if they're in daycare with 3 other children rather than 30.
My daughter also gets to do a lot more things than she would at nursery. Her childminder takes her to toddler groups, the zoo, local farms, soft play, the park.
We are so lucky our childminder is great though. She is really flexible so we can add more days per week if we need to, and increase hours if we have extra work to do. Definitely the best choice for us.

I’ve found a childminder who offers term time only 🙂 most of the CM in my area did (no idea if they charged half fees/a retainer or what). Only one nursery offered term time only, and it charged a higher daily rate meaning you didn’t save much anyway.

I no also made the experience that childminders are more reliable than nurseries.
a hint of snow - nursery closed for snow day
plumbing issues, electrical issues - closed. my childminder just went to see another childminder who lived further away and had electricity
bug going round - nursery closed as they didn’t have enough people anymore (childminder closed as well, but much shorter)