CM CLUB:Bit of advice please?

[PinkChick]

had to collect mindee up from nursery today, but had important meeting at school this afty, mum of mindee could/would not leave work early, only alternative was to suggest another cm i 'know' fromt he school run(dont know her, just chat)..asked her and she said she was free, asked mum if she wanted to ring/see her and speak befroe i take her child?..no!?

anyway, take mindee to cm's today, walk up the path "beware of the bull dog" sign on door window!..get in, dog is hanging over a baby gate in kitchen, bouncing around, house smelt extreeemly doggy, no paint / paper on walls(ok im decorating too!)and big lcd tv half wired into wall, wire hanging out of wall
mindee was happy enough and cm said ok lets go get some barbies....
dp was with me and said we shouldnt have left her, we used to have dogs but are now strongly against them with children(all different veiws i know),we HAD to attend this meeting, dp had even had to take afternoon off work, and mum refused to leave her work early, this cm is reg and ofsted checked, but i felt so guilty..i rang to check she was ok, cm's hubby said she fine and is on school run with cm right now, rang her mum after home time to ask if mindee alright and to say i had no idea there wasa dog..mum was fine, not concerned at all?
am i stressing for no reason?, i know she wasnt my responsability once shes gone to other cm, but feel like i shouldnt have left her, even though mum couldnt have cared less when i asked...and also, should this cm be cming with in her description a dog to "beware" of and with cables hanging out of walls???

Okay. Here's what I think.You had doubts about the quality of care and the safety standards weren't up to your own. Clearly you wouldn't leave your own child there. I think you'd have been on dodgy ground to refuse to leave the child there. I don't think you had any choice but to leave the child as that is what the parent wanted you to do. The only other thing you could have done was to have phoned the parent explained what you saw. But I don't think she'd have thanked you for disturbing her at work again, and I doubt she'd have rushed out of work on the basis of what you saw. And the other cm wouldn't have taken that very well I expect.

One concern is that giving out another childminder's contact details could mistakenly be interpretated as some sort of recommendation. I suggest you make absolutely certain this mum knows you are not in anyway recommending another childminder. I put this in my handbook to cover myself:- SUBSTITUTE CHILDCARE I have very good relationships with local Registered Childminders and so I may be able to help you to find alternative care during my absence, if required. Please note that this should not be seen as a personal recommendation ? being self-employed, childminders do operate differently and you must be aware that policies and procedures of other Childminders may be different to mine. It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself that any substitute child-carer can meet your requirements and there is no obligation to send your child to any Childminder I may put you in touch with. It is your responsibility to make payments to any substitute Childminder and these costs are separate to, and may not be deducted from, my fees.

I've given out other childminder's numbers, some I would never use myself. But that doesn't mean they won't meet the needs of other families - everybody's standards & requirements are different.

You could make a complaint to Ofsted but the dog was behind a stairgate, no doubt the tv will be fixed ... You can suggest to the parent the things you would check before using her again. Or that you wouldn't touch her with a bargepole. But ultimately its not your decision to make.