Childminders....your thoughts on whether this is reasonable please??

[Notyummy]

My dd is currently at nursery 4 days a week as I work. I am changing jobs and occasionally may be required to work 1 1/2 hours away. Dh is in the military and sometimes works irregular hours or is away completely. DD will be booked into nursery 7 30am - 6pm (although we will not always have to use the full hours if I am working from home). There will be fairly rare occasions when I may not be home for 6pm, and dh is unable to get her. To cope with this, we have been considering putting her into a childminder for one day a week, and also asking if the childminder could do an occasional nursery pick-up and evening meal on days when dd is in nursery. We do not want to take her out of nursery altogether, as she is happy there, but didn't think that asking a childminder to do just occasional pick-ups was fair, as dd will not really know her and it may not make sense for the childminder financially.

Is this a reasonable request?

DD is 20 months btw, and we have no family in the area.

The best thing to do is speak to a couple of cm's in your area, as cm's all offer something different. You may find it difficult, because factoring in your dd for just a few hours a week, will effect a cm's ratios and therefore she will not be able to take on a full time mindee.

However, there are minders out there, who much prefer lots of part timers, so it will suit them. I used to do that. I had all parttimers and it was relatively easy for me to fit children in with odd hour needs!

You won't know until you ask, is all I can say.

I would ask around too. I am a Childminder and most of the children I look after have gone for 4 o clock so it wouldn't effect my numbers.

Phone a couple up and just ask.

My dh is also military, so know what it is like when they go away (or try and get away!) You will find that most of us cm will help as we do understand, and we usually have got rid of the "regular" minded children by then as well

Have you thought about a nanny?

Hi Notyummy,

Have you tried looking at www.childcarelink.gov.uk to find local childminders? Where do you live?

Kind Regards

Katie