Childminder and days off? To say something to her?

[Billsandfights]

My baby has been at her childminder 4 half days since August. The childminder then drops her off at nursery for afternoon session.

She is a lovely woman, really welcoming and my baby seems to like her.

The childminder also runs 2 local mother and baby groups which she takes my baby and the other children she cares for to. She’s stopped sending me any pictures of my baby and we think she doesn’t give her enough to drink during the morning she’s with her.

She’s had a few episodes of sickness and I’ve had to find someone else to watch my baby or take time off my very important last year placement. Fair enough people get sick. Unsure of what the deal with fees are when this happens. I pay a few weeks in advance and she’s never refunded me. I feel lately she’s been getting a bit unreliable. She put her car in for service on a Monday and then text me 20 minutes before my daughter was due at nursery to ask if someone could go and get her as her car wasn’t ready. Annoying but my mum was able to do this as she’s self employed. I feel like she’s getting a bit lazy and relying on my mum being available to go get my baby or take care of her for the morning. It’s ok on occasion but it’s getting to be more frequent.

This morning she text an hour before my baby’s start time telling me the snow was too bad and she wouldn’t risk going out in it. Now, I’ve never used a childminder before but I was under the impression that a lot of them care for children in their homes? So again, my mum had to take care of the baby until it was time to go to nursery. In the run up to Christmas my mums business is hectic and she can’t keep doing it.

I’ve asked in the nursery if there would be more hours available but there isn’t at the moment. I’ve filled in a form so my baby will be considered if the space is there.

I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I need the childcare to finish my degree but the unreliability is starting to get to me. Unsure if I should raise it or just suck it up and hope the nursery has more hours come next August.

Are there any other nurseries you could ask?

You need to have a chat with her and let her know she will need to refund going forward if she is not available. This is standard for a self employed childminder, she is not a nanny so you don't have to pay her sick pay. Hoping this will make her more reliable OP!

Hi, some of this is unavoidable. Some, like this "This morning she text an hour before my baby’s start time telling me the snow was too bad and she wouldn’t risk going out in it" I would have said " great I'll drop baby at x and granny will collect at y" - she didn't say she can't look after her, just she didn't want to go out. (Stilll not ideal but your mum wouldn't lose the whole morning.

Can you ask her to credit her illness and unavailable hours onto your next bill so you can pay her less in advance and also for any snow days?

eg I think there have been 7 mornings where you haven’t had DD these we the 1,2,3, 5, 7, 12 and 16 th can you please credit these on the next bill.

when the nursery phones bite their hand off!

Also this

Have a look at your policies that you would have signed and see what it says about illnesses or should she not be able to work what the protocol is.

I have a childminder and if she's sick or cannot have my daughter then I don't pay. If my child is sick I will have to pay.

I don't get photographs every day but she uses an app where I know when she's had a wee, poo eaten, had milk, slept ect.

It doesn't sound like she's very reliable and although your little one likes her if you are not at ease then I would look elsewhere you'll know what kind of childminder your looking for now you have had experience. But check the policy as you may need to give at least 4-8 weeks notice of leaving.

How many children does she have and where does she have them?
Unusual to split day like that - doe she have to take all the children when she drops yours off? At lunchtime/naptime? Prob not ideal.

Was the snow bad enough that it was impractical to load all the children and drive? Not sure i'd want my child beinging driven around in snow to drop another at nursery

She should absolutely be either refunding or deducting from your next invoice the times she isn't open and offering the service, this should be in your contract. It does seem she's quite unreliable but some is unavoidable with a childminder as it's just one person. If it's not working for you I'd maybe have a chat or look for someone else, it will vary depending on their commitments etc as to how often they close.

You would have signed a contract when you first started using her and she should have outlined all her policies for sick days etc so you need to check that and then reference it to have your money refunded

This is why I chose I nursery over a childminder.

I would just put her in the nursery full-time.

Just saying, I don't understand how a childminder can be expected to be sending photos and updates all day long ( or at all) when they should be looking after the children. You need eyes in the back of your head to do that job, I'd be quite upset if thought my child's carer was on the phone rather than looking after the child.
I work in a school and we are not allowed to have our phones out when we are with the children, for very good reasons.

I'm a Childminder. Re sickness the usual standard is that if child is off ill you pay full fees, if Childminder is off ill you get a refund (usually taken off next invoice), but different Childminders have different policies check your contract as it should be in there, or she will have a fees policy.

Childminders are great because they offer flexibility that nurseries don't - I've looked after children before we'll past their finishing time when a nursery would be closed, in an emergency as well as planned to help out parents. However the down side is when they're off ill or if something happens. Re the car, there's nothing she could have done about that, possibly she could have booked in at the weekend but its not unreasonable of her to have expected the car to be ready when the garage said it would be. Re the snow - Childminders are expected to risk assess adverse weather (its a requirement) and they have to think about the walking abilities of everyone with them, if there she any steep areas on their route etc. No one here can say whether she made a reasonable call or not, you'd need to look at her risk assessment- it doesn't need to be written so she might need to explain it to you.

I would have a face to face chat and explain that your Mum is finding it tricky and you feel that she should know.

Check the contract it's normally written that childminder sickness is not charged....then ask for a refund.
If I take a child to nursery the parent pays the whole day anyway so if the child doesn't go they stay with me at no extra charge....I'd have told you the car was in for service and expected back in time. Snow and ice....I'd make a decision once I can see how roads have warmed up in the morning if I felt it was not a risk worth taking I'd offer a child to stay with me or you take.
Personally I don't take children as an infill for private nurseries.

Tbh her contract isn’t very clear, none of the policies are outlined on it clearly. For Christmas she sent out a group text of her days off and what she expects for fees. She doesn’t send invoices, she asks for bank transfer. The one time I questioned about not paying for her taking days off, she was quite snarky with me.

The nursery my baby is at doesn’t have any extra hours for her, I was offered what they had in August and I took them. She’s only 1 so she’s in the baby room. I don’t think any of the babies are in full time hours in there as everyone is out by 4 every day.

This is all moot anyway as she text me this morning saying that one of the other children have got a full time nursery place (half her income apparently) and the parent hasn’t given her any notice so she’s having to look for a full time job after Christmas.

So she's given her notice? When does she think she won't be able to provide the service that you have both signed a contract for?

As a childminder myself I would say this sounds like an odd set up. Your contract should clearly state what fees you need to pay, for example whether you pay on bank holidays, her holidays, sickenss etc. Childminders can set their own policies for this but have to make this clear to parents, which essentually is what the contact is for.

It sounds like generally you're really with her but it might be worth having a face to face chat, just ask if she could offer more drinks in the mornings and if she could send some more pictures (sometimes bluntness about these things can be easier) and if she could send you a copy of her fees policy so you can plan for next year.

She hasn’t given a time line just said she’ll be looking for a job after Christmas.

Apologies, I've just seen that it looks like she's giving up childminding anyway. In that case why not look for another childminder?

Childminders are like hens teeth around my area, it was just by luck this lady had a space when I needed it. I’ll keep looking obviously but I don’t hold out much hope and there isn’t even a guarantee she’ll get a job that fast after Christmas.

I did think the contract was weird but I’ve never had a childminder before, this is my only baby. She gave me a completely blank form that I had to fill out the vague information that she gave me about fees and such. I was just happy to have found someone tbh as I was going back to uni and getting desperate. I had to delay my placement also due to the start date of my baby’s childcare, that’s how tight the window for finding something was.

I suppose the decision has been taken out of my hands anyway so I’ll just need to find a solution.

Honestly this is a blessing in disguise. She sounds flakey at best. The whole set up is odd, and not what you should expect.

Seems a very weird set up

If a cm is I'll they don't charge

Cm Don't usually drop off charges to nursery

If she didn't like driving in snow you should babe said I will drop her off to your house

Surely you would do they anyway ?

Sound a blessing in disguise that she is quitting

If cm are rare why isn't she fully booked and in demand

I pay her on Monday for the rest of the week ahead, as requested. So when she’s taken days off, she’s already been paid for them and hasn’t refunded me. This week when I paid on Monday, I took a day off for last weeks snow day. I got a chunk of money from my uni to help with childcare and I wanted to pay her the whole lot in one go so it was less complicated when I applied again (you can only use the money given for the exact purpose it was given and it was given in 2 lots. 1 for nursery and 1 for childminder). She said she preferred not to be paid so much in one go and to just continue to pay weekly.

My mum was actually the one that was dropping baby off on the snow day, I didn’t see the message till after so baby was taken to her house and her husband answered the door and said she was unwell 🤷🏽‍♀️

This childminder does do drop offs. The nursery is on her way back from the groups she runs so she’s not coming out of her way. And she said it was a service she offered. She also picks up charges as well if need be.

We were talking about this last night actually. The nursery staff have known/worked with her for over 10 years and can’t understand why she’s giving it up instead of just trying to find another child to fill the space. She was booked up until one went to nursery this year and now she’s lost another one. I know someone who needs childcare but I don’t think it would cover what she’s lost and she wouldn’t be able to take on another child to top up due to ratios I think. I can’t find anyone else in the local area with space as there’s very few childminders about.

I was beginning to think she maybe just didn’t want the hassle of such a small baby that doesn’t walk independently yet but every day this week I’ve dropped baby off the other child hasn’t been there. And she told me this morning she’s given notice to the other mum now too so 🤷🏽‍♀️

It’s all very weird tbh. My baby has been offered an extra morning session in nursery and my family are going to chip in and watch baby the other 3 mornings until I can find something else or until I finish university.

The nursery staff told me the other day that there is an older lady childminder who drops off one of the older children into the nursery, so drop offs must be a thing about here. They thought I could ask her if she had space but I haven’t got her details yet and I don’t know how local she is.

Hi
Your childminder was letting you know she didn't feel save going out in the snow which is reasonable. She didn't say she could not have your little one. As it was you who decided to get your mum to have the baby then yes you still have to pay.
And you need to remember you arepaying for the space so if your baby is off you still pay.
But if the childminder is closed then you shouldn't pay.
You are very lucky to find a childminder to take your little one to a nursery! Considering a childminder does the same thing ( following the EYFS). Treasure her!