Where to start looking for a childminder and what to consider

[SammSamm]

I recently moved to Nuneaton and have no family locally to support with child care. its been a tough decision but we have now decided that our LO should go to a child minder so I can work full time. this is my 1st so I'm not sure where to begin looking for a child minder and what I need to consider when making a decision.

Your La should have lists of childminders alternatively make a profile on childcare.co.uk you dont need to pay but make a really good profile showing age of child hours and area start date etc. Then look through liking any that are interesting they will contact you. Then make a shortlist some will gel with you better than others. After that hopefully you can see a few look at references and get an idea of how they work.

Your local LA will have a list of childminders in your area, or do you have a local community Facebook page to ask for recommendations, or any friends that use childminders?

thank you so much for the response

I wouldn’t rely on childcare.co.uk for responses tbh. If you don’t have gold membership you can’t send messages and I know many childminders who don’t have it as it’s just not worth paying out for it.

Can you search on Facebook for a local group/page for the town of Nuneaton and ask for recommendations On there. People often ask for childcare recommendations on ours. In Some areas, childminder groups have set up vacancy pages So maybe search for that kind of thing too.

Don't use childcare.co.uk, hardly any childminders are on there these days as you have to pay to be a member
Local Facebook pages are the best place these days. Where I am we have a parents looking for childcare page that's a great place so I'd definitely look and see if there's something like that available

@Gorbie
Lots are on there as it gives insurance for free that actually paid out in covid loads of free training and paperwork the fee is only the same as Pacey but you get work too. Why would you not pay advertising like any other business. Facebook pages are full of unregistered care

This ones also worth a look

Hi there! I used both my Local Authority website and childcare.co.uk, and have had two childminders. My main bit of advice is trust your gut, and your first impression is usually right. Our first childminder I found through my LA, and was brilliant on paper, Outstanding on Ofsted, Montessori teaching style, lovely house in the leafy suburbs, but it turned out that she was extremely highly strung and didn't get on with my daughter (who was 14 months at the time). We got a vibe from the very start that she was a bit of a disciplinarian, but everything else seemed so good we went with her, but she was not a natural with babies at all, and when I went to pick my DD up she would say things like "What is all this crying?!", and "She threw all my lovely home cooked food on the floor!" and would constantly compare to the other children in her care. My DD was 14 months old, for crying out loud!! She made me feel like my child was defective. Needless to say we quickly moved her out of there! I've quickly learned that a good Ofsted report doesn't necessarily equal kind, compassionate care. My second childminder I found through childcare.co.uk, and she has been so, so wonderful! I interviewed about 4 or 5 childminders, and made sure I knew exactly what I expected - what kinds of toys she would play with, where she would sleep, how many other children were there and what ages were they, what activities will they do? And most importantly, vibe! Do they seem kind, open and honest? Do they actually want to talk to your child, do they get down onto their level?

Hopefully this will help! All the best with your search x

Hi, I have just left childminding, but wanted to advise childminders do use childcare.co.uk to advertise their business and spaces. Some pay to have gold membership which means you can message them for free. Others don’t so you would have to pay for the membership to contact them. I advertised on there but did not pay for membership as it was too expensive and I got most my business word of month or through my website. Also lots of childminders I knew felt as the parent is the one looking for care then it should be them paying to message etc.