Childminder left child in car with an 18yo girl we don’t know?

[BluLavender]

Both me and DH feel really uneasy about this and want to see what other people think. My DD (20 months) had her first full day with the childminder today. She’s a very chatty, friendly lady maybe a little over familiar sometimes.

She was saying how bright and funny DD is and how on the afternoon school run she had to hop out the car to go grab another child from school and was playing peek-a-boo with the 18 year old girl who was sat in the car with her. She quickly explained the 18yo as another child she’s looked after for years and years, she was talking so fast and it was such a whirlwind that I don’t think she really explained why the 18yo was there and has never mentioned this person before until today.

I’m not happy that DD was left with someone we don’t know, also not happy that there’s potentially a situation here where children are left in the car so other children can be picked up from the school? She said she carried her for the other school pick ups. Feel very strange about it all.

Are we overreacting?

No.
It shows a complete disregard for safeguarding. Unless that 18 yo has a DBS they should never be alone with your child.

I think when you choose a childminder then it's more of a family vibe like asking a grandparent to babysit. The story you describe is the kind of thing you wouldn't complain about if a grandparent did it (left toddler briefly with say an 18yo neighbour they knew very well).

If you prefer your childcare to be totally by the book, with every decision scrutinisable and every little decision signed off by head office, you need to use a nursery. That's what we did for that reason. But I completely get that's not what everyone wants

The 18 year old themselves I wouldn’t be overly worried about for now, it’s more the waiting in the car while she picks other kids up, what happens on the days the 18 year old isn’t in the car to watch her? Also I wouldn’t want my baby in regular car trips with the childminder that I wasn’t informed about in advance. The risk is small but your child’s risk of being in a car accident is far higher if she’s in the car every day compared to if she were in nursery and therefore not going in cars without you at all.

No I dont think in general parents have the right to dictate who is with their children in a childminder setting this is one of the long list of reasons we went with a nursery mind you there is still parents we dont know there like us with their children we cant prevent everything with our children the world does not revolve around them

same as they may have visitors over as it is still a family home

Ofsted literally dictates who childminders can leave children alone with! You can have visitors but you cannot leave a child unattended with any adult unless they are a registered assistant unless it is a genuine emergency.

The 18 year old should not be in the car with the child on their own. If they can’t get that basic right then god knows what else they aren’t doing correctly.

Technically it's not allowed, but it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

We had DD previously in a nursery but recently relocated, the nurseries were all full except for one which has recently been in trouble for having staff work there without a DBS so we decided to opt for a childminder arrangement instead… so it’s definitely very different and taking some getting used to, just thought the whole thing felt odd but maybe this is a normal childminder thing which is why she was comfortable telling me about it?! Gosh, dunno. Will have to think more on it.

as but thing in life happen there is not one childminder anywhere that can say 100% they have done evey single thing by the book, same as parents, nursery staff, school teachers no one is perfect

life happens and this is not a criticism of the childminder if people want evything done by the book only it would be impossible to be a parent

It’s not a normal childminder thing. Whilst I agree that when you choose a childminder you are choosing a more home from home setting versus a nursery (the reason we chose a childminder over an nursery for our second), they are still paid professionals and absolutely should be following appropriate safeguarding practices. I would not be happy with this. The issue is you now know that the childminder thinks this is ok and you are completely reliant on her judgement and honesty. I would raise it and look to move to another provider. It’s horrible when things like this rock our trust in those looking after our children. Hope you’re ok x

@CP675 this is exactly how we’re feeling about it. It’s not the judgement call I would have made when I was a nanny in my early 20’s. It definitely does make me question her judgement as for me it is a safeguarding issue… I know other people are saying not everything can be by the book with a childminder but I feel like safeguarding rules should be followed. Also as someone else pointed out, I worry that also if the 18yo wasn’t there would she have been left alone entirely?! Gosh.

Exactly, you now know her judgement isn’t inline with yours and there’s not much that can be done once you discover that. I really don’t agree with posters saying not everything can be done by the book when you choose a childminder. Of course it can and should. Are there childminders (and nurseries) that don’t, yes but they aren’t ones I would use. Are childminders less polished than nurseries and more about children living life in the day of a family setting? Yes, but that still needs to be within the bounds of what is safe and professionally acceptable. They aren’t grandparents/aunties/friends, they are working and providing a service.

As a childminder,yes, we are more home from home.
However, we still have rules to follow, which are the same as nurseries. We can't leave a minded child with someone who hasn't got a DBS at the very least.
The childminder should have taken your child with her.

Same

But this is kind of par for the course with childminders - you are choosing I guess a more relaxed homely environment over the more structured rules of nursery. For example, at some point each day your childminder will need to go to the loo, attend another child etc and so your child will be being left unattended then. Same as in your house if you have another child. It’s not like a nursery where there’s extra hands available at all times.

I wouldn’t be happy with grandparent leaving my child with neighbour I doesn’t know. If I trust my child to her grandparent I expect them to look after her.

It wouldn't bother me if I trusted the carer.

To get child out so to collect another child technically could be more risky than leaving the child safely in the car for a few minutes with a smart eighteen year old woman.
Child miders pick up and drop off children from school. It's a service you might use one day.

You could ask your carer if the young woman has her working with children ticket. Suggest that it could be a good idea.

It also could be worth getting the young woman's details in case she babysits.

I’m a childminder and no you can’t leave them with someone without enhanced DBS and first aid cert. The only time I’ve ever left the children with someone else is when I’ve been on a museum trip with other childminders and we take it in turns to go to the loo. My parents have all consented to this. She will have risk assessed and decided it was safer to leave your child in the car for 20 seconds but it’s still against all rules to leave them with an adult with no DBS. In the eye of the statutory regulations she’d actually be more ok leaving the child completely unattended in car than with someone with no dbs. Just to clarify I wouldn’t do either!!! If she’s going to do that regularly the 18 yr old needs to be registered as her assistant and go through all the checks and be there when inspected etc

No that's not ok, and as a childminder I would never do it.

She needs to have a plan for getting children from school, and she can't leave children with an unregistered adult.

Maybe, if you had been with the childminder for a while and new her teenage daughter for example, she might decide to leave the children in the car briefly because it was raining and you'd be fine with it. But the situation as you've explained, I would not be happy.

I can honestly say as a childminder I have never bent the rules around this, I even registered my own parents as assistants because they would sometimes come to my house or I'd visit them and I didn't want to be stressing about never leaving the room.

Unfortunately this is a huge safeguarding fail and on the first day as well. CM should not be leaving your child with anyone other than a registered DBS checked assistant. Ofsted are very strict on this. It shows a complete lack of judgment and to be honest I would be looking at alternative childcare.

It is absolutely not acceptable for any setting to leave a child in the care 9f anyone not registered as an assistant unless a genuine emergency like being rushed to hospital. All registered settings work to the same legislation.