Any childminders around to answer a WWYD?

[2anddone]

Hi I am a childminder and I need advice....bear with me it's a long one!

Tested positive for Covid on 17th September was absolutely wiped out by it and closed for the whole of the following week (this meant I refunded all of my parents to the next invoice for the weeks care)

Reopened on 26th to all children except the 14 month old and 7 month old I look after as still felt quite dizzy/nauseous and didn't feel safe carrying him.

Reopened to all children on 27th September including the 2 younger ones.

Managed to open for the rest of that week and the week after to all children still didn't feel 'right' but managed to carry on.

Weekend of 9th October had a really big dizzy spell and chose to close to all children the 10th and 11th then open just for my wrap around care on the 12th and 13th followed by opening to all children which included a 2 and 3 year old on Friday 14th October (again I will need to refund to the next invoice...hate being self employed)

Working on Friday I had a panic attack on the school run so instead of going to the toddler group we came home and played there for the day, my mum who is my assistant had to collect the school children as I didn't feel up to it.

I saw the dr on Thursday and he has referred me for bloods as the dizziness was happening on and off before Covid but has got worse since.

Next week I have blood tests and another dr appointment. I still feel dizzy/nauseous/wiped out and really don't know what to do about next week. I only work term time so only have next week left to work before a week off where I can rest.

My options for next week are...

1. Open to all children and hope I manage and don't have to close due to becoming too dizzy/nauseous/exhausted giving parents only an evenings notice once again to find cover.

1. Open to just my wrap around children meaning I can rest during school hours and give the parents of my tinies notice tomorrow that I am closed to them for the week so they know where they are in regards to needing to cover childcare next week.

1. Open to just my 2 and 3 year old (still don't feel safe with the 14 and 7 month old due to lifting/carrying) letting my wrap around know tomorrow so they can sort breakfast/after school club for the last week of term.

Financially any option is going to cost me a fortune but I need to look after myself....seriously considering having to cut back and permanently only having wrap around children and finding a work from home admin job around school hours.

If you have got this far thank you and please give me some advice

You say your mum is your assistant. Is she there to help you?

The difficulty with being a childminder is reliability is absolutely what the parents need. If they don't have reliability in knowing they have childcare for their children then they will go elsewhere.

How many children are you looking afternoon each day? If your mum could do the bulk of it while you are feeling unwell you could keep things ticking over until half term. Hopefully you can rest then and recover.

Keep trips out to a minimum and set up a nice lot of autumn crafts and activities at home that you can just supervise without too much physical involvement.

I hope you feel better soon.

She is registered as my assistant but can't have the children on her own she works in a school too and is only registered as my assistant to help with the occasional school run but not every day.
I have 6 wrap around care children and 4 early years children over the course of the week.

I completely understand that reliability is extremely important and that is my concern that I will lose my families...however dependent on how long this lasts I may not have a choice. The dr thinks it could be reoccurring vertigo made worse by the Covid infection

@Lindy2 thank you for your reply I really appreciate it

I'll be honest, I work just work. I understand that reliability is almost the single most important thing to parents. We would have a quiet week playing at home, explain to parents why and have my assistant help as much as possible. My husband/ older children would also be happy to lend a hand with prepping meals, clearing up etc to help get me through.

I've certainly worked through worse in the past. Hope you feel better soon.