Becoming a childminder

[Twinmumtobe1]

Hi!

So iv recently had twins and working out going back to work and paying for nursery is unrealistic - over £1800

I have worked with babies/children in the past and was thinking about it becoming a childminder ( doing all the relevant courses) as I can do this out my home and I enjoy children ( I know it will have it’s challenges)

Childminders
Do you enjoy it?
Is it worthwhile?

Thanks😄

I'm not a childminder but neighbour plus a couple of others in the street are. They love it and it seems to be a licence to print money. I wouldn't enjoy it and I think you do need the right temperament, probably for dealing with parents rather than the kids. They all drive big 8 plus seater vehicles though which I think is required if you want to offer a good range of activities. They also used to offer group outings together which I guess give the kids extra play opportunities.

Check you do the courses your local authority / ofsted want you to do. If you have baby twins of your own, you will only be able to have 1 more child under 5, which limits your earning potential. Not sure about the licence to print money, but I suppose it depends where you live. I am normally earning above minimum wage, but with my losses due to covid this year, the figures aren't looking so great. I don't have any small children of my own now.

Becouse you have twins under 5 your main full time income would be limited to one child under 5. Which if you charged £5 an hour would earn you around £3.50. Most children nowadays are not full time so you can't guarantee having a full time space filled. If the mindee is over 3 your hourly rate could be at the funding rate which maybe much lower. Over 5s would be at school so potentially before and /or after school depending on availability of after school clubs so around £10 to £15 a day....again may not be every day and thats before expenses and tax if you provide meals craft activities etc profit goes down. Obviously you have to take into account that your not paying childcare.
Typically a childminder will work 9 to 11 hour days with children then paperwork, cleaning, set up and prep on a daily basis and some training and cpd thrown in so hours are long....ive just cut back from 5 days to 4 so gone part time and only do a 44 hour week with children now and around another 4 to 7 unpaid on other things....i generally do one 3 hour course every 2 to 3 weeks term time . I start at 7.15 so begin set up around 6.30 and finish at 6 so work ends around 6.45 to 7 unless training especially now as everything needs extra cleaning down due to covid.

and it seems to be a licence to print money hahaha
That is such a ridiculous statement! I’m at the top end of fees round here, £4.50 per hour, I’m able to have 3 children During the day, so £13.50 an hour, minus expenses (food, activities, courses, insurance, heating, resources). It’s hardly ‘printing money’.

It is also not a requirement to drive an 8 seater car. I’ve been childminding for 14 years and don’t have one. We do have a 7 seater car, but I can’t remember the last time we had the back seats up. I’m going to take a guess and say about 2 years ago. Many childminders have ‘normal cars’, but obviously it depends how many children you want to care for, how far school is if you are going to offer school runs and where you want to go.
Janniers post is useful and quite honest (although it doesn’t take me anywhere near as long to sort out before and after the children arrive, it just depends how you run your setting).
I really enjoy childminding and it does fit in brilliantly with your own dc. I think the best way to look at the low pay (due to only being able to have one extra child due to your twins), is that if you Could earn £35 per day looking after someone else’s child or you could Earn £100 and pay £70 For some one else to be look after your babies. That’s how I always looked at it.

I’m a teacher and did it for a little while (about 9 months). I had lovely mindees, one in the day 2 after school on top of my own two. I felt like I spent all my time tidying, cooking and cleaning and although I met people at groups it lacked stimulation. I also hated the idea of Ofsted judging me in my own home (despite thinking they are a waste of time). After I’d paid for the courses and babyproofed the house I made pin money.

I didn’t drive mindees at all (though I could have). School was within walking distance and everything else I used the double buggy-I was very fit. I would be put off by your twins to be honest as I don’t think my child would get much attention.

Must be my neighbour then as she was saying she'd lost one part timer and one after school and was down about £500 a month. She replaced those no bother. She has 4 DC of her own although they are now all at school or just left. Has the 8 seater so she can do trips,/take them all to the pool as well as her own two younger DC. Both others in the street have 8 seaters too an do school pick ups/drops.

Neighbour also does council minding and has a couple of disabled toddlers and also minds one lad on a Saturday which she nets about £12 an hour for- he is the same age and friends with her own son and they get on. She worked all through covid lock down looking after key workers DC.

She briefly looked after my two one day after school when I was away with work and she charged £4.50 an hour then. My Dc are both in Uni now so we are talking maybe 14 years ago?

I'm not slagging her, she's lovely and the kids all seem to do well with her and she's very popular and busy. I think she does just as well from the before and after school business as obviously can have a lot more kids

Her other half works in the same company as me and I know the job he does and roughly what he will be on and she's said she is the higher earner.

You could only have one more child with the ratios but that might be as much as you would like to have with twins!

Where are you? I started with just one child 3 days a week which was about £750 per month but I was in London. You don't pay tax until you earn £12k ish.

If you have a school nearby you could do drop off and pick up which would boost your income, local school pre school/ nurseries need that service as those children would not be allowed to attend the school wraparound care.

It's hard right now as no toddler groups are open but by the time you qualify they might be.
You get lots of tax breaks which is useful.
There is a lot of paperwork but lots of apps to take the load off and huge amounts of online advice and resources.
You do need to love children at all stages (I think) and if you do it's very rewarding.