Childminder drop in session?

[bisbis]

I have been considering both a childminder and nursery for my baby, i'm currently leaning towards a childminder but cant seem to find any that dosent do school pick ups.

I just found out about a childminder drop in session on the net, will it be ok to go there in search of a childminder?

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Hi, you could do, it depends on the drop in session. Have you looked on childcarelink, they have lists of childminders, you could phone and meet a few to get a feel for what we do and who is available in your area.

My drop in session is rather manic with childrens activities, information swapping etc and would be a little difficult place to talk to potential mums.

Where do you live by the way?

Drop in is more of a toddler group, they will be watching mindees so wont be able to give you full attention. I would visit all the childminders in the area you want then you get to see the house and toys aswell, it will give you more of a feel of what the childminder is like. Why is school drop off a problem? You have to have outdoor time anyway (Ofsted do not give you a choice) and for a baby thats likely to be walks in the pram at least over winter.

bisbis - it will be difficult to find a CM that doesn't do school runs tbh - unless she is homeschooling her own children or hers are very young.

gigglinggoblin is right - you have little choice regarding outdoor time so it may as well be on the school run rater than any other?...

Why no school pick ups?!
Surely you'll be shooting yourself in the foot when your lovely childminder who has cared for your little one for a long time turns round and says sorry you'll have to leave. I don't do school pick ups when YOU need your child collecting from school.
Continuity of care is not important to you?

Another thing to think about re school pick ups if you are very against them is if a child minder takes on a child after your own she may then start doing school pick ups, you need to think if you will be happy to go along with that or if you will have to remove your child from somewhere they are settled and happy. Unlikely to find a child minder who will guarantee never to do it. Is it routine that you are worried about? You might find your babies routine starts to fit around the times they go out.

Thank you for your responses.

The reason for avoiding school pickups is because my baby is only 7 months and i can just imagine him having a nap and being disturbed because his minder has to bundle him out for a pick up.

you all make a good point though about him having fresh air and if i find a minder she might end up wanting to do pick ups anyway.

I did find a list on the childcare link but then i was focusing on no pick ups. Thanks again.

Pick ups can be a really positive addition to your babies day actually, some fresh air, new things to see, people to "talk" to, routine etc.

Oh I totally agree the school runs are a POSITIVE thing from my pov. I've had mindees start at 5 weeks old, 8 weeks x 2 and the rest from 5 months onwards and they LOVE the school run - all those big people to stare at (young kiddies just adore big kids, it's like they're god or something ). I have a 7 month old baby of my own and started back childminding when he was 10 weeks old and of course he was on school runs from a couple of weeks old (and 1 trip at 24 hrs old! lol) as I had to take his big brother to school. All I can say is my boy is SOOOOO happy on the school run, he can be in a right mood, tired, teething etc. but as soon as I've got him in the pram and off to school, his face lights up, he no longer needs his dummy and he just laps up the attention!

Also agree that one day you'll need someone to do school runs and you may well regret not choosing a minder who does this. Plus the chances are that if they don't do school runs, they don't have bigger kiddies which is a shame as the thing I love about childminding is seeing the mix of age groups and how they interact and pick things up from each other!