Want to up rates and I'm pregnant, best way to tell parents?

[Blarbie]

I'm a childminder and I charge too low I think. Just £16/half day and £30/day for everything. I've been working since September and my parents are mainly friends - not close, but I know them all. I know many of you in London charge £4/5 an hour, but to be competitive with local nurseries and childminders £3.50 /4 is more realistic here. I plan to up my rate to £18/half day and £34/day.
I was rated "Good" on my Ofsted.
Also I am 12 weeks pregnant so need to tell my parents that I'll be taking October off and will have to lose 1 little girl of 3.5 days/week and 1 boy of 1 day/week.
I already have a daughter of 21 months, so with the new one (all being well) I'll only be able to look after 1 under 5. My original plan was to up the school pick ups to compensate, but with SPD already I am actually dropping the one school pick up I do have.
How do I drop both bombshells or which should I drop 1st? I don't want to lose anyone before time.

Anyone else on computer while children asleep?

I wanted to up my rates after not having done them for over a year but had the same problem, was about to tell them I was pregnant so I decided to wait until after my maternity leave but I notified them 6 months in advance. I personally think that although you may be low, the fact you've only been doing it since Sept so not even a year has passed plus you are about to tell them you're pg, might be a bit much??? But then again, you know you're parents best

Good luck.

I'm with looney - might be a bit much doing both! Can you not wait to put your fees up til you come back from mat leave?.....

sorry but as a paretn if you told me in one breath that you were having to take Oct off AND were raising rates, I'd immediately start looking for a replacement.

Pregnancy will became obvious sooner rather than later I guess so I would tell tehm that first and try to arrange for CM friends to fill in if any of them have room as it will stop paretn shopping around for a new cm to replace you for that month.

Personally I'd leave the increase until you get back afetr materntiy leave if you can.

OK. Fair enough. But I'll still have to tell the parents that I want to keep after I pop (all being well) that I want to up rates. Maybe leave that for a while til they've got used to the idea of me being pregnant?
You're right, but I really am much cheaper than other childminders and nurseries in the area and I feel a bit like I'm doing myself a disservice. I may have only childminded since Sept, but I've worked with children most of my life and am a qualified teacher.
I will start to find a stand in for Oct. The kids I want to keep are the ones who I look after a couple of half days or a couple of whole days so it'll be less stress for their parents I hope. I think I'm going to sit down with my favourite Mum first and see how it goes with her.
The fact is I'd probably be better off on 9 months maternity allowance, but I quite like the kids I have and it's nice for my daughter to have the playmates, plus I don't want to disrupt the kids/parents happy routine too much.

I totally get what you're saying about being cheap BUT it's what the parents signed up for and from their pov, may seem it's a bit soon to up the price. I sort of had the same problem but was my own fault for not setting a higher price sooner. Good luck, I was so worried about telling mine but it all worked out fab luckily. One parent wasn't happy for me to have 4 weeks off so we agreed on 12 weeks. In the end, none of them went to other childminders, they had other ways of getting through those 12 weeks and then all came back with their usual days etc.

Hope all goes well

Thanks, how well did you manage after the 12 weeks? Could you have handled 4? I won't be bottle feeding. I know after 2 weeks with my daughter I felt "back to normal" and was able to go to a short meeting about a school project without her. I ran a business working in schools and only stopped work for a couple of weeks, but it was mainly from home so easy to position baby on pillows feeding while I typed/made calls etc she was also very easy and got into a nice little routine early on.

2nd pregnancies/ babies are never the same as the first! You may also find, like looneytune, that your parents aren't happy with you just taking 4 weeks off - you may be exhausted with 2 under 2's of your own, let alone another little one in your setting, especially if you're breastfeeding on demand. My oldest dd was 3 when I had second and I went back to work after 12 weeks - it was mega, mega tiring (mentally and physically!). I could no way have added another child into my setting before then.

To get back to your original post - tell them first about your pregnancy. that gives parents time to think about their options. You may lose a parent, you may not - that is the nature of this job, unfortunately . I'm currently doing maternity cover for a cm friend, knowing the child is going back to her in September, but another of her parents looked for another cm shortly after she told them about her pregnancy because she didnt want her child to be to-ing and fro-ing between carers.

Most cms I've known who were pregnant have had to start all over again after their maternity leave, but if you keep in touch with other cms, they can pass any enquiries your way when you're ready to return.

I would hold back on increasing your fees until you come back from maternity leave. Maybe tell them that they will be increasing at the end of your ML?? Then you are giving them plenty of notice. Also, what is in your contract regarding reviews? I review mine every January and parents 'expect' a review of charges then - don't know how they would react if I told them at any other time.

Good luck - am sure everything will work out fine for you.

Tell them about your pregnancy.
For all new customers - charge them a fee for food - see CM Food Charges - that way your currently listed Per 1/2 Day / Full Day price listed on ChildcareLink need not change.
Also consider what other things could be chargeable - outings for example.

Thanks. Next week is my telling time. I'm going to have contract review meetings. I'm most worried about my closer friend whose child I mind 4 days as I will definitely be losing her child but maybe keeping some of the others I have on fewer days. I'll just have to bite the bullet.
I don't even know how to tell people - argh!! I'm telling mil tomorrow and my friends after my minding parents as I don't want anyone to find out second hand.
It didn't matter so much first time around as nobody was directly affected.

Told 2 parents who I want to keep and they're very happy for me. I won't raise prices for a bit, I've enough to think about.

If you only started in Swptember, I'd be annoyed that prices were going up in less than a year. It's your fault if you set them too low, not theirs. I think you should wait till the one year mark which would tie in with after your mat leave.

Blarbie, is the reason you are loosing your "closer friend" because you're pg and the new baby will affect your numbers?

If so, I think you can expect her to be pleased for you. There are other CM's out there although it is an inconvienience for her, perhaps you'll be able to point her in the direction of a goody (is there anyone on here in your area?).

Oh and btw.... CONGRATULATIONS (Most importantly.. I think!)

I agree with the others that its not fair on the parents to raise the prices so soon, you really should have done more research before setting your rates. No reason why you can't up them after maternity leave though.

Congrats on your pregnancy. That said I think you are being wildly unrealistic to think you can work as a CM when you have a tiny newborn and a sibling to look after, esp if you intend to breastfeed, many babies need to feed very often for the first 3 months and that wouldnt combine well with caring for other kids IMHO.
Better to take proper time off and arrange for longer cover.

Thanks ABC. Yes that's why I'll lose her. You're right, it'll hopefully just mean another CM gets the work.
Thanks for congrats Pannacotta. I'm not that unrealistic, my CM sister took a week off! I'll still have to feed, care and entertain my dd so can't see why an extra of same age who knows me, my house, my routines etc will be a problem. In fact as I know the children I'm keeping and my dd get along well I think it'll make my life easier.