Am I being unreasonable to think my childminder shouldn't leave my child with her daughter's 17 year old friend?

[Love2dance]

I have a very nice, experienced and flexible childminder. My DS is 14m. CM has a meting at her daughter's school and has told DH she has arranged cover with 17 yr old for 45 minutes. According to our contract we are supposed to be offered an alternative CM in her area if she can't care for him. I appreciate CM wouldn't leave DS with omeone she didn't know but I know little about her and am not happy. What if there's an emergency? Is she first aid trained? Work committments mean we can't take time off. I have not objected in past when CM' daughter covered for short periods as i know her and she is studying child care. I don't want to offend her or upset her but feel i ought to raise it diplomatically if possible, otherwise a precedent may be set.

What do people reckon?

Hi All,

Thanks for all of your messages. I had my checklist as suggested by WanderingTrolley but CM managed to move her appointment. 2 days later she told us she needed to attend a funeral all day the following week (no alternative CM available) and we were offered same girl as before. This time I asked all the QQ, said (as nicely as I could) that I would prefer DS to be looked after by a qualified CM.

After my initial irritation the other day I am now philosophical about it. Sometimes things just crop up. I agree ROSEgarden that DS is ultimately our responsibility, (although this is about the 4th time since Sept that we have been told she's not free and not once has the alternative been available or even offered at first) and I chose not to put DS at risk.

I have the type of job that means I cannot ring in at last minute to say I'm not free so it can cause stress but that's life. We managed to get my MIL to help out so no problem in the end. I hope our CM got the message without any bad feeling that if she is not available and is offering an alternative, it has to be an appropriate one.

least she is leaving her with someone and not alone

I'm a nanny and sometimes i have left my charge with a friend if needed to pop out/do school run and its raining etc - my MB knows this and trusts my judement

CM have different guidelines/legal issues from nannies ( ie nannies can look after more than 3 under 5, or 2 under 1 if nannyshare, but CM cant )

If you are not happy with the situation then you have to tell your CM